How to hook up an Xbox One to a computer monitor

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Xbox One

We all know how easy it is to hook up a game console to a television. You take an HDMI cable and connect it to both the television and the console, but for for some folks, well, they just want to hook up a game console to a spare monitor. I’m one of those folks.

I have been a remote worker for the past 6 years. I do a lot of work from my hacked together standing desk. Sometimes I like to keep the television on for a little white noise. I use my Xbox One as more of a media center than a game console these days. My Late-2011 MacBook Pro (still going strong!) does not have the ability to handle two external monitors through its lone display port, so I decided to try to hook up an extra monitor of mine to my Xbox One.

I already had an HDMI to DVI cable, but what I quickly discovered was I was unable to hear any sound. (Of course, you wouldn’t get any sound,  dummy!) The 24″ Dell monitor I have does not have built-in speakers or an auxiliary jack to connect speakers directly to it. And, of course, there are no speakers or auxiliary jack built into the Xbox One. So I began to search for a way to get sound from my Xbox One.

The speakers I have connect via a 3.5 mm headphone jack. I purchased an HDMI to VGA adapter from Amazon for less than $10 that also included a 3.5 mm audio port built-in.  I connected the HDMI to VGA adapter to my Xbox One and to a VGA cable connected to my monitor. I also connected my speakers via the audio port of the HDMI to VGA adapter. I booted up the Xbox and heard that now iconic Xbox One boot up chime.

I found this to be the easiest and cheapest way to hook up an Xbox One to a computer monitor. If you know of a cheaper and easier way, please share it in the comments below.