Add External Drive To A Ps4 Or Ps4 Pro
For users who have an earlier model PlayStation 4 system, they can save only about 12 to 15 games onto their PlayStation . Though users can upgrade the hard drive inside PS4 to improve capacity and speed, some of them still want more storage on external.
In this case, connecting an HDD to the PlayStation is a good choice. Please dont worry its not difficult, even easy, to install the external hard drive to your PS4 or PS4 Pro.
You need to know the following things before you start to install an external hard drive.
How To Move Ps5 Games To External Hdd
Honestly its not a very complicated process. To get started, all you need to have is an external HDD that supports USB connectivity. We recommend an external HDD that supports USB 3.0 as the speeds are far faster in terms of transfer rate. A external SSD is also one we recommend, but if its cost purposes definitely a USB 3.0 supported drive. If you are using one already for PS4 games this same one will also work. You PS5 also has to be up-to-date on the latest software. More information about updating PS5 software can be found at the official PS5 Software update page.
Step 1: Plug in your external HDD and allow the system to format the drive. If you are already using this drive on the PS5 for PS4 games then you will not need to format.
Step 2: Now that your drive is properly formatted, you can now begin copying PS5 games over to it. To do this, navigate to the system settings and then go to storage, select console storage, and finally select games and app.
Step 3: From this next menu, you will want to hit R1 to move to the Move PS5 Games tab. You will get a small warning that the games are only playable on the internal SSD. Acknowledge it and now you can freely pick whatever PS5 game you want to move over. Easy peasy!
Why Move My PS5 Games to an External HDD?
Copying from an external HDD to internal is significantly faster than redownloading.
Can I Play PS5 Games Off an External Hard Drive?
How Do I Move PS5 Games Back to PS5?
How To Transfer Games To A Ps5 External Hard Drive
Knowing how to transfer games to a PS5 external hard drive helps you boost the limited storage space that the console ships with.
While 825GB sounds great on paper, in practice only 667.2GB is usable after the OS is taken into account, and games are getting larger. Install Demons Souls, Spider Man: Miles Morales, and Returnal, and youve already chewed through 160GB.
Eventually, Sony will let you install an internal M.2 drive, but that feature is disabled at launch, and compatible drives will likely be hugely expensive at least to begin with.
Fortunately, there is another option. The PS5 supports external hard drives between 250GB and 8TB in capacity, but there is a caveat: you cant play PS5 games directly from them, due to speed limitations.
That doesnt mean these drives are useless, though. Not only can you move PS5 games to external storage for quick installation, but you can still play your PS4 games from attached storage.
Weve tried and tested the best external hard drives for PS5 elsewhere if youre still shopping. But if youve already got one ready to go, heres how to transfer games to a PS5 external hard drive.
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How To Use An External Hdd On Ps5
If you’ve already got an external HDD that you use on your PS4 or PS4 Pro, then you can simply connect it to your PS5 and continue using it. Do keep in mind that you’ll need to ensure you’re using the same PlayStation Network account to continue playing your games, as your licenses are tied to your PSN username. Be sure to connect your external HDD to one of the two USB ports on the back of your console, as these are high-speed connections.
If you’re using a new external HDD, then you’ll have to format it for use on PS5. All you need to do is connect it to your console then go to Settings> Storage> Extended Storage> Format As Extended Storage. This will take a few moments, but you should be prompted at the end of the process that your external HDD is available to use. Be sure to enable the Always Install PS4 Games to Extended Storage option if you want to automatically install all PS4 software to your external HDD.
If you already have PS4 games installed to your PS5’s SSD, then select Console Storage> Games and Apps> Items You Can Move. Select the games you want to transfer to your external HDD and confirm using the Move button. Once you have games installed on your external HDD, they’ll be denoted by a cylinder symbol. You’ll also find them in the Extended Storage section of your Game Library.
Transfer Everything From Your Old Playstation To Your New One
With the PS5 finally in some peoples hands, those people are probably trying to figure out what to do with their PS4 games.
Storage has been a bit of an issue for the last couple of years thanks to an ever-increasing amount of GBs per game.
Its one fo the main reasons that so many people ended up investing in an external HDD, and while that was fine with the PS4, theres a better way for the PS5.
So, heres everything you need to know about this issue.
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How To Transfer Ps4 And Ps5 Games To An External Hard Drive
Months after the PlayStation 5 launch, we can finally transfer PS4 and PS5 games to an external hard drive. This quality-of-life feature was previously only available for PS4 titles, but the newest April firmware update has enabled this ability for current-gen offerings as well.
Its important to note that you cannot play PS5 games from an external drive, you can only move them between the SSD and external drives. Transfering is far quicker than deleting and reinstalling, so this is a welcome addition. Nothing has changed with PS4 titles, which can still be moved and played from either drive.
While youre waiting on your external drive to format, why not check out this PS5 and Xbox Series X UI comparison, and read-up on whether console scalping should be illegal.
Ways To Move Games To External Hard Drive
Stop hopping from page to page. Saving time, we have compiled two reliable methods.
| Comparison | |
|---|---|
| Move games & platforms to external hard drive. | Change games install location one by one. |
| Easy-to-use | |
| Fast | Not sure |
If an automatic game migration solution is your preference, you can click “EaseUS game mover” on the table. And, if you enjoy a manual way without third-party software in saving games on an external hard drive, then pick “Manual Ways” on part 2.
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How To Use An External Hard Drive For Extended Storage On Your Ps4
ByIain Wilson19 December 2019
Increase your Playstation 4 storage by up to 8TB with this guide to setting up an external hard drive
Once of the great things about the PlayStation 4 is how easy it is to add an external hard drive to expand the storage space you have available for games and apps on your system. Previously you could only increase system storage by replacing the internal HDD, but thanks to various system software upgrades all you need to do now is hook up an external hard drive to one of your USB ports and you’re away. The HDD you use for this must be USB 3.0, and the PS4 will supports sizes from 250GB all the way up to a whopping 8TB! Read on and follow these simple steps for set up, and you’ll be boosting your PS4 extended storage in minutes.
- Looking for a new PlayStation 4 HDD? Here are the best PS4 external hard drives to buy
First, you need to format the drive to make it compatible with PS4 storage. Plug in your HDD then head to Settings > Devices > USB Storage Devices and select it. Choose the Format as Extended Storage option and follow the prompts to prepare it for use.
Once formatted, the external hard drive will become the default install location for any future downloads, as well as any games you install from disc. Note that only games and apps can be stored on the external drive, with saved data and captures remaining on the system storage.
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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S To Transfer Games From Ps4 To Your External Hard Drive:
Now youve got extra space on your console and your games should start loading quickerenough talk, lets get to playing!
For more tips and tricks on how to optimize all your gaming needs, check out our additional videos at Inside Gaming with Seagate.
Thanks for reading and happy gaming
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How To Transfer Games To A Ps5 External Hard Drive: Format The Drive
Note that you can skip this section if youve already formatted your external hard drive, or if youre bringing your drive over from a PS4.
1. Plug in your external drive, and then head to the PS5 Settings menu. Its the cog-shaped icon next to the time in the top right corner of the screen.
2. On the next menu, navigate down the list to Storage and press X.
3. Select USB Extended Storagefrom the menu on the left-hand side.
4. To work on PlayStation 5, your drive needs to be formatted to work as USB Extended Storage. This will lose everything on it already, so make sure any files on it are backed up before you begin.
When you’re ready, press Format as USB Extended Storage to enable the drive on PS5.
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Format Your External Hdd
Most storage devices will be a specific format out-of-the-box . To prepare it for use with your PS4 youll need to format it to a special type to ensure it will work:
- Go to the Settings menu from your PS4 home screen.
- Scroll down to the Devices menu.
- Choose USB Storage Devices.
- Select your external HDD, then choose Format as extended storage.
Youll see a number of warnings that formatting your device will remove any previously installed data, so before you hit OK, make sure that theres nothing stored on the device that you dont want to lose.
Its also important to note that once youve formatted your external HDD to this specific PS4 format, you can only use it for PS4 games and apps you wont be able to store screenshots and video clips, saved data, Themes or any other types of media, documents, pictures on it, without re-formatting to its original state.
Once formatting is complete, youll see a message confirming that its been successful and a small green light will appear next to the devices name, letting you know its activated as the main storage location.
Connect And Format Your External Drive
A compatible USB drive is needed to take advantage of external storage. PlayStation lists the external hard drive requirements as:
- SuperSpeed USB 5 Gbps or later
- 250 GB minimum, 8 TB maximum capacity
- You cant connect the drive through a USB hub
- Two or more USB extended storage drives cant be connected at the same time. You can connect multiple USB drives to your console, but you can use only one at a time
How do you format an external drive on PS5? Simply slot the device into one of the USB ports found on the back of your console and if you were previously using the hard drive on a PS4, youre ready to go! An additional screen might appear, but this is just checking the drive is correctly formatted and shouldnt take more than a minute.
If your drive does need formatting, go to Settings > Storage > USB Extended Storage > Format as USB Extended Storage.
Formatting an external drive on PS5
If formatting more than one hard drive, you can switch between them by choosing Select Another USB Drive.
Any data already on an external drive will be wiped during the formatting process, so make sure to have backup data saved elsewhere if its important.
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How To Use A Ps4 External Hard Drive With Ps5
But wait, there’s more good news if you’re already using a PS4 external hard drive with your PS4 – and most likely you will be if you’ve been on the PS4 train for a few years.
You can simply take your PS4 external hard drive and plug it straight into your PS5, and it’ll recognize all your games. Heck, it’ll even queue up any PS5-specific updates there are for those installed there. Hack!
Sam Loveridge is the Global Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar, and joined the team in August 2017. Sam came to GamesRadar after working at TrustedReviews, Digital Spy, and Fandom, following the completion of an MA in Journalism. In her time, she’s also had appearances on The Guardian, BBC, and more. Her experience has seen her cover console and PC games, along with gaming hardware, for over seven years, and for GamesRadar, she is in charge of reviews, best lists, and the overall running of the site and its staff. Her gaming passions lie with weird simulation games, big open-world RPGs, and beautifully crafted indies. Basically, she loves all games that aren’t sports or fighting titles!
For Playing External Media Files:
This is also a simple process, all what you have to do is the following:
See the image below:
Thats everything you need to know. Hope this guide was easy to follow and clear to understand.
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Move Your Ps4 Games Between Your System Storage And Extended Storage
The process for moving your PS4 games and apps to either system or extended storage is very similar. Follow which variation you need:
In your PS4’s Settings, select Storage.
If you want to transfer content to an extended storage device, select System Storage. If you want to transfer content to your PS4’s system storage, select Extended Storage.
Select Applications, and press the Options button on your PS4 controller. Depending on which way you’re moving data, you’ll either see Move to Extended Storage or Move to System Storage. Select whichever option appears.
You can choose which games and apps to move, with options to select or deselect all. Tick the items you want to move, select Move, and then OK.
Wait for your content to move, and you’re done! You can also hit Circle on your controller to cancel the moving process at any time.
Installing Games And Apps To Your External Hdd/internal Storage
Once formatted, your external HDD will be set as the default download location as long as it remains plugged in.
If you want to switch back to your PS4 internal storage for downloads , thats easy too:
- Go to the Settings menu from your PS4 home screen.
- Scroll down to Storage.
- Choose which location you want to download to either System Storage or your external HDD.
- Press the Options button and select Application install location to set the target download location either System Storage or Extended Storage.
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How To Backup Ps4 Hard Drive On A Windows Pc
To backup PS4 in Windows, first you need to connect your PS4 hard drive and the formatted external hard drive to a Windows PC. You may remove the hard drive from PS4 with a Phillips screwdriver. Then, you can backup PS4 games to external hard drive with a handy freeware AOMEI Backupper Standard.
â It offers you four types of backup: System/Disk/Partition/File Backup, which can meet your different needs.â It allows you to perform incremental and differential backup instead of full backup every time, thus saving backup time and storage space.â All Windows PC operating systems like Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP are supported.
Just follow the steps below to perform PS4 hard drive backup. You can also backup PS3 to external hard drive in the same way.
1. Download, install and launch AOMEI Backupper. Click âBackupâ on the left pane and select âDisk Backupâ.