When someone turns on their game console, they want to have access to their games at all times. Unfortunately, issues sometimes happen, and games you purchased digitally are just out of your reach. If you are trying to launch a game or app on your PC or Xbox and get the message, “You need to be online to open this on this device,” you could want to pull your hair out. Here is how to fix it.
Related: How to fix “The person who bought this needs to sign in” error on Xbox
How to fix “You need to be online to open this on this device”
Check Xbox Status/reset internet and Xbox
If your Xbox or PC says, “You need to be online to open this on this device,” it is telling you exactly the issue that is stopping you from accessing your content. You cannot currently connect to the Xbox servers, and that is keeping you out. Our first recommendation is to check the Xbox Server Status page to ensure the service is not currently down. If any of the entries have a red sign on them, check to see what the latest update says about the situation.
If nothing is showing up on the status page, try restarting your router and PC or Xbox. Hold the power button down for about 15 seconds on your console so it fully shuts down. Wait about 30 seconds, and then turn it back on.
Set your Home Xbox
If you game share with a friend or family member on your console and have your console set to their Home Xbox, you can potentially work around this issue by putting it back as your account’s Home Xbox. To do this, open up Settings and go to Personalization under General. Click My home Xbox and checkmark it to make whatever console you are on the main destination of that account’s content.
Anyone playing there can access your games and subscriptions, but the other console you had set as the Home Xbox can not access that content without being signed in to the account directly. Also, you can only switch Home Xbox three times in a year, so don’t do this too much.
