How To Increase Xbox One Storage Using An External Hard Drive
For Microsofts console, it is impossible to remove the hard drive, so they enabled the option of using external hard drives. But you need to know if they are compatible with the console. There are two requirements for hard drive to have:
- It must have at least a 256GB capacity.
- It must have USB 3.0 technology.
When we connect a hard drive to any of the USB inputs, we will receive a notification in the console indicating that the unit must be formatted for the console to run games and applications without any problem.
In the case that we do not receive the notification to format the disk, we can do it manually by following the steps below:
- Scroll left from the Start screen to open the guide.
- Select Settings.
- Select System and then Storage.
- Select the storage device and then, Format games and applications.
If everything goes well, we will be able to see that our storage increases. To be able to move the applications and games of the internal disk to the hard drive, we will have to go to My games and applications, we will choose a game and click on Manage game. In this section, you will be able to transfer the game to the external hard drive.
How To Connect An External Hard Drive To Your Ps4 Or Ps4 Pro
PS4 with a connected Seagate 5 TB HDD
It was a long time coming but you can finally connect an external hard disc drive to your PlayStation 4 or PS4 Pro. The days of swapping games in and out of the meager 500 GB internal drive in the PS4 or the larger 1 TB drive in the PS4 Pro are over. Connecting the HDD to either console is easy and only takes a few minutes. Heres how to do it.
You can use any external HDD that has a USB 3.0 connection. The PS4 and PS4 Pro will address up to 8 TB of storage. I used a Seagate 5 TB Expansion drive and the process went very smoothly.
The external drive needs to be formatted to work with the PS4s and after formatting, I had 4.6 TB of usable storage space. Keep that large footprint in mind when considering the size of the external HDD you plan to use.
The PS4s will only recognize one external storage drive at a time. If a drive that has been previously formatted for external storage on the console is connected, it will not format a second drive and will not recognize a previously formatted second drive. Also, the external drive cannot be connected to the console through a USB hub, it must be directly connected to one of the USB ports on the PS4 or PS4 Pro.
Format as extended storage
Here’s how to connect the external HDD.
Under Settings, go to Devices.
Under Devices, go to USB Storage Devices.
Under USB Storage Devices, press Format as Extended Storage.
Thats all there is to it. My 5 TB drive took less than a minute to format.
How To Format An External Hard Drive For Ps4
Formatting is required whenever you connect a new external hard drive to your PS4. Once the formatting process is complete, you can use it as a plug-in game drive on any PS4.
Follow these steps to format your PS4 external hard drive
- From your home screen, select the Settings menu
- Scroll down to the Devicestab
- Scroll down to the USB Storage Devices
- You will notice that your PS4 has automatically detected the HDD
- Here, click on the Format as Extended Storage
- Follow the prompts and click on Format
Your external HDD will be ready for use once the formatting completes. To do so
- Navigate back to the Systemmenu
- Select the Storageoption just below the Devicestab
- You will find your internal system storage. And you will find the new external drive displayed separately
After formatting completes and your external hard drive is recognized by the PS4, this external drive will automatically be renamed as Extended Storage. Your external storage will be designated as the default Application installation location. You can change the default storage drive right from the Storagemenu.
After you have installed the game, you can unplug the device and use it on any PS4 device without having to go through formatting and re-downloading.
Whats the best part?
This will allow you to plug and play on your friends PS4 as well.
All of your PS4 games can travel with you, allowing you the flexibility to carry your games without having to carry the entire PlayStation or re-downloading the games.
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External Hard Drive Support Comes To Ps4
I love my PS4 game console, but one aspect that has frustrated me since launch is its lack of external hard drive support. Sure, the internal 500GB hard drive is easy enough to swap out, however youre limited to just one drive. Plus, not everyone wants to grab their screwdriver and physically open up their PS4 machines. Meanwhile, its rival Xbox One has let you connect up to two external hard drives for nearly three years now.
With PS4s latest 4.50 system update, codenamed Sasuke, the console now supports external hard drives. Yes! While many other features were added with this update, whats got people talking the most is the HDD support. Youre now able to connect portable or full-sized desktop drives, up to 8TBs in size, to your PS4. This is amazing news as it means you can expand PS4s default space by up to 16x the capacity. Thats huge.
Read on to see how easy it is to install an external drive to your PS4.
Choose The Location For Installed Games
If you like, you can choose where PS4 games install to by default. You can’t change this while games are downloading, so it’s smart to set this up as soon as you’ve connected your drive.
Visit Settings > Storage and hit the Options button on your controller to show a new menu. Select Application Install Location here, and set it to Extended Storage. This will configure your external drive as the default save location.
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Transfer Ps4 Data To Pc
Though we have given you 2 different methods of reading HDD data from PC, however, most of the time, it is not successful. There are different reasons:
- The file format of your PS4 HDD is different. Due to this, your HDD may not appear in Windows.
- PS4 HDD does not create a single partition. You will see a number of partitions for a single PS4 drive.
- Data of PS4 HDD is always encrypted. If you copy your data, you cannot read it directly.
But still, sometimes, you need your PS4 data on your PC or any other backup drive. This may include game saves, captures, or other data, which can prove quite useful in case of a data loss.
Therefore, some of the best methods to transfer data from PS4 to PC are:
Psa: You Can Now Use An External Hard Drive To Transfer Games Between Ps4s
Historically, Sony have locked down PlayStation hard drives tighter than Fort Knox, with encryption that prevents users from swapping them between devices without losing all of their data. However, with the release of system software update 4.50, it is now possible to use an external hard drive to transfer games between PS4s.
First, you’ll need to attach a USB 3.0 HDD to your console and set it up – full instructions for doing this can be found in our guide for how to use an external hard drive for extended storage on your PS4. Here’s advice on where to find a good PS4 external hard drive. When it’s ready, either download some games onto the external drive, or transfer them from the internal drive using the Move to Extended Storage option found under Settings > Storage > System Storage > Applications.
With the games now stored on the external hard drive, you can take it and plug it into a different PS4, where the games should appear on the home menu screen. As long as you’re logged in on the PSN account which owns the games and are signed in online, you can then launch them and start playing immediately. This means that you can store a game on your external drive, then take it over to a friend’s house and play it on their console without having to download it all over again – very handy for those 50GB+ installs.
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How To Play Media Files On Your Ps4
Gone are the days when your games console would be used exclusively for playing games and maybe watching a couple of movies. Today the PS4 is an all-powerful multimedia center capable of doing everything from streaming your Spotify playlists to watching Netflix. Rumour has it that an upcoming patch will make your PS4 capable of scratching your back while whispering ASMR nothings in your ear.
As of 2015, your PS4 is also very capable of playing media files that you keep on an external USB hard drive , and in this article well show you how.
Related: How to Connect a PS4 Controller to Windows 10
Transfer Games From Ps4 To Your External Hard Drive
To transfer the games and other data from the PS4 to the external hard drive, you can simply press the Options icon on your game and pick the options for move to USB extended storage.
If you are trying to install more than one game, you can move to the options for transferring the content in one go. You can check out the options through the path – Settings > Storage > Console Storage > Games and Apps. These steps would be helpful in providing you access to the options for delete and moving the multiple gams at once. Tick all the games that you want to transfer and click on MOVE.
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Ps5 External Hard Drive Requirements
Not all external storage devices are guaranteed to work with the PS5 console. If you decide to use an external hard drive for PS5, the following requirements need to be met.
- The transfer rate of a PS5 external hard drive needs to be SuperSpeed USB 5Gbps or better.
- The external hard drive should have a capacity of 250GB minimum and 8TB maximum.
- An external hard drive cant be connected to PS5 through a USB hub. You cannot connect multiple USB drives to your PS5 at the same time, which means you can only use one at a time.
If you are looking for the best external hard drive for PS5, you can consider the following ones:
You can visit Amazon or the official website to get more information or buy the best external hard drive for PS5. Don’t forget to consider the requirements mentioned before when you buy such an external drive. As for how to use the best external hard drive for PS5, please refer to the following contents.
Disconnecting Your Ps4 External Drive Safely
It’s important to disconnect your PS4’s external drive properly when you want to remove it. Disconnecting while it’s in use, even in Rest Mode, could damage your data. The system assumes the drive is connected, even when you power off the PS4, until you tell it to disconnect using the below steps.
Hold the PlayStation button on your controller to open the Quick Menu, then visit Sound/Devices. Select Stop Using Extended Storagehere, and hit OK to confirm. Now it’s safe to disconnect your external drive.
If you can’t do this on the Quick Menu for some reason, you can also disconnect the drive by hitting Stop Using This Extended Storage at Settings > Devices > USB Storage Devices.
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What Can You Do With An External Hdd On Ps5
You may be wondering why you should buy an external HDD for PS5. The answer is simple: if you’re planning to play a lot of PS4 games on your next-gen console, then you’ll need the additional storage space. With the SSD being relatively small and required for PS5 playback, offloading your backwards compatible PS4 games to an external HDD gives you a dramatic amount of freedom. It also helps with the following: How to Remove Other Storage Space from PS5.
At the time of writing, you can use an external HDD to store and play PS4 games only. All of your Create button Media Gallery content and Saved Data will be stored on the PS5’s SSD. It’s also currently impossible to transfer PS5 games for safekeeping. If you don’t currently have an external HDD you can use, then check out the following link for some recommendations: Best PS5 and PS4 External Hard Drives.
How To Move Game Data From Ps4 To Usb Drive
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Format Ps4 Hdd Using Easeus Partition Master
The step by step method to format a PS4 drive using EaseUS Partition Master is given below:
- Download EaseUS Partition Master from here.
- Run the setup and install using the on-screen instructions.
- Connect your PS4 HDD or SSD to your PC or laptop.
- Now Launch the tool and enter its interface.
- Here select the drive that you want to format.
- Right click on the selected drive and click Delete All.
- Click on OK for deleting all partitions on Disk.
- After this step, the partition deletion operation will be added as a pending operation.
- Now click on Execute Operation and then click Apply to delete all partitions.
- Next, right click on the drive and select Create.
- Here, set the Partition Size, Label, File System, etc. for a new partition and click on OK.
- Again click on Execute Operation and then Apply to create a partition successfully.
With this method, your PS4 HDD or SSD is automatically formatted as well as new fresh partitions have also been created.
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How To Use An External Hdd On Ps4 The Right Way
· Updated 16/09/2018
The limited storage capacity PS4 comes with has incited fanboys to search for a workaround that helps to expand that storage capacity to the limit determined by user. Previously, users were only allowed to add more storage to PS4 by replacing the internal hard drive of PS4 with a larger and, probably faster hard drive. The standard, and most common upgrade size was 2tb, as it was the largest standalone solution for PS4 storage upgrade, because there was no internal hard drive that conformed to the PS4 storage upgrade compatibility standards larger than that. Other companies, though, offered an accessory called Data Bank that allowed users to use 3.5-inch hard drives with more than 2tb of capacity to upgrade PS4 storage to as large as 8tb.
IMPORTANT NOTE: If youre looking for the best external HDD for PS4, you better then view this article instead.
That was history. Now, after more than a year of releasing PS4 System Software v. 4.5, the overwhelming majority of PS4 users who solely look for a storage expansion for their game console would go for the external hard drive solution instead of upgrading the internal hard drive and handling the hassles that may come with it.
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Read/transfer Ps Vita Data
A lot of PS4 lovers are also having issues with PS Vita storage access. That is why we have also included this topic in the given guide as well.
For this method you need to link your Sony Entertainment Network account with your system. Your PS Vita as well as PC must be connected to same Access Point . Both your Vita and PC must be connected to the internet. Once you make sure all these pre-requisites, proceed as follows:
- Download Content Manager Assistant from here and install it.
- For first time you need to register your system with the computer.
- To do the registration, open the Content Manager Assistant and enable the Network Connection Settings.
- For Windows, right click on the CMA icon on notification are in taskbar. Now go to Settings -> Network Connection Settings. Here enable Connect to PS Vita System or PS TV System Using Network by ticking the checkbox.
- For Mac, do the similar process by clicking the CMA icon in the menu bar.
- After this, on Vita, select CMA Icon -> Copy Content.
- Here click on PC Icon and select Add Device.
- Now follow the on-screen instructions.
- A list of different computers will be displayed that you can connect to.
- Select your desired computer that you want to connect to.
- A number will display on your PC, enter this PIN on your console.
- And voila! You have successfully registered your Vita to your computer.
- Now you can easily transfer your data by clicking CMA Icon -> Copy Content -> YOUR SYSTEM on your Vita.
Ps4 External Hard Drive Not Recognized Not Working
by PS4 Storage·03/06/2021
It happens a lot to PS4 users that when they try to connect their external hard drive to PS4, the PS4 system wont recognize it and the PS4 external HDD wont work. This is just a pesky situation for which many users seek a permanent fix.
What you, as a PS4 user, need to know is that theres no one reason that causes the PS4 external hard drive not working. And, depending on the cause of the problem, the solution varies from user to another.
In fact, therere several reasons that cause PS4 external hard drive not recognized or showing up. Sometimes its the external hard drive that promotes this situation. On the other hand, it can be the PS4 system itself that causes this problem.
In this case, many users get an error message that states: The USB storage device is not connected. Other users dont get any message at all, its just that the PS4 system no longer responses to the external HDD connected to it. So, if youre getting that error message, most of the below methods will help. But if nothing works, please scroll down to the bottom of this article and visit the recommended page. There youll find additional tips and more details on this specific error message.
As for this article, youll learn what makes PS4 external hard drive not working, what are the possible reasons, and how to resolve this issue entirely.
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