XVD File

Files with the XVD extension serve as a container for data essential for the operation of the Xbox One console. These are encrypted, wrapped binary format files of various types. On a PC, they can represent a virtual hard drive installed by a specific driver - Microsoft Gaming Filesystem Driver. This is the case for Xbox Play Anywhere games.

Content of XVD files - Xbox One console data

In XVD files - Xbox One Virtual Disk, there can be various types of system data stored. The console saves them on the built-in hard drive. A file with the XVD extension contains a header with metadata and hash values for the data blocks following the header. Files like System.xvd or host.xvd may store:

• system image,
• system data, configuration,
• update information,

Usage of XVD files

Direct use of XVD files may occur when there is a need to update a console that does not have an Internet connection. The files are saved on drives formatted in NTFS system. Updates can be downloaded from Microsoft servers, saved on portable memory, and connected to the console. Besides, there are tools such as xvdtool, which allow for checking file information and their possible decryption and conversion.