How to Repair a Scratched or Damaged Video Game Disc

If you’re looking for the best way to repair a scratched or damaged disc for your gaming console, you’ve come to the right place.

While digital downloads overwhelmingly dominate game and movie sales, there is still a large group of people who prefer discs or don’t have access to internet connections fast enough to download digital copies of games on a regular basis.

As a matter of fact, there are only three Xbox consoles to date that don’t have disc drives – The Xbox Series S, Xbox Series X All-Digital Edition, and the Xbox One S All-Digital Edition. And lot of gamers wanting to player older titles not available on the Microsoft or Xbox store would need access to physical copies of games…which leads to one problem.

Video game discs take an absolute beating. Whether they’re dropped, mishandled, or damaged by the console, they can end up with permanent scratches that result in games not loading. Sometimes this damage even renders as errors, such as the unreadable disc error on the Xbox 360, which only happened a short time after the red ring fiasco upon launch.

While fixing your disc can be straightforward, not everyone has access to a fancy disc repair system or kit.

Helping those people is our goal.

This article will walk you through how to fix a scratched or damaged video game disc, whether it’s for your Xbox, Playstation, PC, Gamecube, Wii, or other gaming console.

The Options for Video Game Disc Repair

When it comes to fixing a scratched game disc, there’s no single “one-size-fits-all” approach. Some gamers have great luck using basic household items—like applying a dab of non-abrasive toothpaste and buffing gently, or wiping the surface with a clean, lint-free cloth and isopropyl alcohol. Others swear by commercial disc repair kits and polishers designed to smooth out scuffs. In some cases when the damage is too severe for a quick fix, you might consider taking the disc to a professional resurfacing service, where commercial-grade (aka expensive) specialized machines can help bring it back to life.

And as a reminder, there are always plenty of ways to buy replacement disc second hand. Microsoft used to have a pretty good replacement program, but I believe it’s a thing of the past. So in the mean time, check out these ways to find your favorite retro Xbox title:

• Buy Used Xbox Games on eBay
• Buy Used Xbox Games on Mercari
• Find Your Local Game Exchange or Entertainment Swap

Option 1: Use Toothpaste and Deodorant

If your Xbox is having problems reading your video game disc, it’s typically due to scratches on the disc that are big and/or deep enough to prevent the disc driver laser from properly reading it.

Although there is no way to “replace” the scratched portions of the disc, you can polish it with varying compounds to trick the laser into thinking the disc is readable.

In some situations where the disc is severely damaged, this trick helps you get the disc to read just long enough to install an Xbox game from a disc so it can be played without relying on the disc to be working at all times.

The quickest and easiest way to fix your scratched CD, DVD, or Blu-ray disc is to use toothpaste and deodorant.

Sound crazy? Maybe.

But it works (see the thousands of comments on our YouTube video to prove it), and we’ll show you how to do it:

What You’ll Need

• Damaged, scratched, or unreadable disc.
• White Stick Antiperspirant Deodorant
• Toothpaste (plain white paste without beads or additional abrasives)

Step 1: Wet Disc

The first thing you’ll want to do is wet your disc with some lukewarm water. It can be cold, but it definitely can’t be hot.

This will make applying the toothpaste and deodorant much easier in the next steps.

Step 2: Apply Toothpaste from inside out using your finger

Using a clean finger, apply plain white toothpaste to your wet disc from the inside out. Be sure to only apply the toothpaste in one motion, from the center of the disc to the edge. This helps prevent you from further scratching or damaging the disc.

After you have applied the toothpaste, allow it to dry on the disc for 8-10 minutes. This will allow the compound to dry and harden on the disc, filling in some of the scratches that have caused the disc to become unreadable.

Step 3: Rinse and Dry Disc

After you have applied toothpaste to your scratched disc, and the toothpaste has had 8-10 minutes to dry (your time may vary), the next step is rinsing off your disc.

We recommend lukewarm water, like before. Just make sure the water isn’t hot so you don’t damage your disc.

Use a clean t-shirt or soft cloth towel to dry the disc after you’ve rinsed it off.

Step 4: Repeat steps 1-3 using deodorant [Optional]

Do the same thing in steps 1 through 3, but with deodorant.

We can’t cite any scientific evidence on this one, but with the numerous discs we have repaired, using both toothpaste and deodorant seemed to have had the most success.

Whether it’s the combination of the two or just the fact that we’re applying substances twice, it seems to fool the Xbox almost every time.

Option 2: Find a Family Video or Video Rental Store

Family Video and other video rental stores (yes, they still exist!) usually have disc repair machines for their use. As a customer, you can also pay to have your disc repaired.

Typically they will charge you ~$2 to repair a single disc (this may have changed with inflation in 2023…)

This is a more advanced process than toothpaste and deodorant, but a similar concept.  It will help polish and buff out scratches in your game disc. If this cannot repair your disc, nothing will and you will need to buy a new digital or physical copy of your video game.

You may also be able to find disc repair machines at local retro game stores or game exchanges.

Click this link to open Google Maps and find the closest store to you.

Option 3: Use Plastic Polish to Buff Scratches in Your Disc

Plastic polish is a popular to method to remove scratches from your CD, DVD, or Blu-ray disc.  Not only is it easy to use, but there’s a good chance you have some lying around your house.

Using a clean, 100% cotton cloth, apply plastic polish to the disc in a similar manner as the deodorant and antiperspirant. When dry, buff the disc out with another clean cotton cloth.

We recommend using McGuires PlastX Clear Plastic Cleaner and Polish. McGuires is the absolute best when it comes to car detailing, so it’s definitely safe for your $60 disc. It’s also cheap at ~$7 as well. 

Option 4: Buy a Disc Repair Machine

Similar to what you might find at a Family Video, the JFJ Easy Pro Video Game Repair Machine is available on Amazon for $199.99 (when I created this post in 2016, it was $134.99!)

This is a one-stop-shop solution for fixing damaged or scratched video games, DVDs, and Blu-rays. If you like to keep your discs clean and scratch-free, this is your solution.

As we mentioned numerous times throughout our video and article if your disc is damaged badly enough, nothing (including this awesome machine) will be able to bring it back. You just can’t simply rewrite data that has been forever destroyed without burning a new copy of it.

Did you fix your scratched or damaged disc?

Damaging your disc sucks, but fixing your disc doesn’t have to.

Did this work for you? If so we would love to hear about it.

Have any suggestions to help others fix their scratched or damaged Xbox discs? We would love to hear from you too.

If so, drop a comment below, visit our Contact page, or head over to our YouTube channel and connect with thousands of other gamers who have had problems and fixed their unreadable disc error, scratched, or damaged discs.