Physical media has many advantages over digital media, but that doesn’t mean much if your Xbox refuses to read your discs! There are several reasons why this might be happening, but we’ve covered the most likely issues.
1. Don’t Use a “Lens Cleaner”!
Before any troubleshooting steps or diagnostics you can perform if discs aren’t working on your Xbox, please don’t even consider using optical disc “cleaners.”
These are usually CDs or DVDs with a small brush attached and, in some cases, fluid that you put on the applicator. The idea is that as the disc spins, it cleans any dust or other grime off your driver’s laser assembly.
These have always been dubious, and some can even damage your drive. Besides, modern drives don’t use trays to hold the disc and are designed to keep dust and other dirt out, so this is unlikely to be your problem.
2. Is the Drive Making Weird Noises?
Apart from fans and maybe mechanical hard drives in older Xbox generation consoles, the disc drive is one of the few components with moving parts. Any mechanical device can go wrong for various reasons, and in many cases, you can tell this has happened just by listening.
Any grinding, clicking, or otherwise repetitive and unpleasant noise from the drive can be a vital clue that something has gone wrong and requires a technician to fix it. If you’re hearing things you shouldn’t from your disc drive, skip to the end of the article for advice on what to do next.
Don’t try any more discs; hopefully, the discs you tried so far have not been damaged by your faulty drive.
3. Restart Your Console
If you get a disc reading error, the first thing you should do is restart the console. It could be a minor glitch. Press and hold the Xbox button on your controller until the power menu appears, then choose to turn off the console. Unplug it for a minute, plug it in again, and power it up.
4. Check the Disc for Damage or Dirt
If the disc still won’t read, it’s likely a problem with the disc rather than your console. Check the disc under a light to see any severe scratches or cracks on the data surface.
Some types of discs tolerate scratches much better than others. Blu-ray discs, for example, can deal with far more scratch damage than DVDs.
If the disc is dirty, wipe it with a microfiber cloth that won’t scratch it further. If there are greasy or otherwise resistant dirt marks on it, you can use a little warm, soapy water, but wait until the disc is completely dry before putting it back in your Xbox!
5. Put the Disc in Correctly
This might sound silly, but did you put the disc in with the label facing the right way? For all Xbox models with disc drives, the disc label must face upwards if the console is horizontal or to the left if you have a console in its vertical orientation.
6. Go Offline
Sometimes, the disc or drive is not the issue, but online validation. So disconnect your Xbox from the internet, install the game offline from the disc, and then connect to the internet again. If the disc still fails to read, or the installation hangs even when you’re offline, it’s probably not this issue.
7. Eject and Reinsert DVDs or Blu-Rays
If you’ve started to play a DVD or Blu-Ray movie and are greeted by a black screen, it’s probably not the disc but a glitch we’ve seen mentioned by Xbox users. The fix is simple–just eject the disc and put it back in.
8. Check If Only One Disc Type Fails
Different types of discs use different types of lasers. Blu-ray drives usually have two lasers, one for reading CDs and DVDs in the red spectrum and one for Blu-rays in the (you guessed it) blue spectrum.
This means that if only one or the other group of discs works on your console, there’s a good chance that the corresponding laser diode has stopped working. That’s bad news because it means you need a new drive or at least a repair. However, it’s also good news because this is a pretty cut-and-dry diagnosis.
9. Switch Orientation
Some Xbox consoles are designed to work in the horizontal or vertical orientation, but in some instances, this can cause an issue with your drive. If your drive doesn’t seem to work, try switching orientation to see if this helps.
This type of issue first became apparent with the first generation of Xbox 360 hardware, which was the first Xbox console to support a vertical orientation. Some gamers experienced a problem where the drive would scratch discs when vertical, and we think even today, the horizontal position is probably best for discs.
However, you should never switch the orientation of the console while the disc is spinning! Even though modern drives might handle this better than the old Xbox 360 did, at worst, the disc might shatter in the drive and really mess things up.
You should also know that if changing orientation fixes your disc read error, this is only a temporary fix. That’s because if this relieves the problem, it means your drive has a physical issue, and you’ll have to get it looked at eventually.
10. Switch to Energy Saving Mode
This is another fix we don’t quite understand, but some Xbox Series X and S owners have fixed their disc reading errors by changing the power settings. Whether this is really at the heart of the issue is debatable, but at least this is easy and safe.
Go to Profile & System > Settings > General > Power options
Then select Shutdown (energy saving) option.
Then reboot your console and check whether your drive issue has gone away. You can also change the power setting back to what it was before, and hopefully, the issue will stay away—at least for a while.
11. Use The Online Installation Trick
Many Xbox games are not complete on the discs or can have patches that download most of the game again. In fact, when you use certain types of discs, such as Xbox 360 discs in an Xbox Series console, the disc is only used for license validation, and the entire game is downloaded from the web.
With Xbox One and Xbox Series consoles, there’s a trick to make the console download the game data from the internet rather than from the disc. As long as the Xbox at least recognizes the disc as valid, then the license can be read.
All you have to do is start the installation from the disc, press the Xbox button with the three horizontal lines, and choose “View in Store.” Once you’re there, cancel the installation while in the store, and then select it when the “Install” button appears.
Now, the game should be installed from the network rather than the disc. We’ve seen different people have different levels of success with this fix, but it’s worth trying if a specific disc is faulty.
12. Try a Factory Reset
As usual, the last-ditch attempt should be a factory reset. Just make sure all of your save data is backed up to the cloud before you go ahead. For detailed instructions, read How to Factory Reset an Xbox One or Xbox Series X.
13. Get Your Drive Replaced or Repaired (If You’re Lucky)
If nothing you’ve tried gets your drive working again, then there’s little choice but to take the console in for repairs. However, it’s not as simple as putting in a new drive and calling it a day. Based on our web research for the latest generation Series consoles at least, it seems that the specific drive and mainboard are mated, most likely as an anti-piracy measure.
Some repair guides and demos show that it’s possible to transplant some components from the old and new drives to maintain the pairing while making the drive functional again. So, for example, if you only need to replace the laser diodes or a motor, a repair might be possible. However, if the drive cannot be repaired, a replacement may not be possible.
If your Xbox is still under warranty, then this is a non-issue. After all, you’ll get a whole new console in the worst case. Even if your Xbox isn’t under warranty anymore, we recommend speaking to Xbox support before taking your console to a third-party repair center since the official repair path might be more affordable. However, we’ve seen some users in online forums quote numbers as high as $300 to replace a drive, which makes no sense for a $500 console!
Regardless of the outcome, ensure that all your saved games and other data have successfully synced to the web before sending your console in since they will likely factory reset it. In fact, you should factory reset it yourself before taking it in to protect your data.