PS5: so you can transfer your games to an external hard drive

After the last upgrade, PS5 will finally allow move games to an external storage drive. However, this update does not solve all the problems. For example, these titles will not be playable from the external HDD, but will need to be stored on the internal SSD. In this article, we will learn how to transfer PS5 games to external hard drive, in addition to making some important clarifications that must be taken into account.

When Play Station 5 was released, users were somewhat disappointed. And is that the Storage capacity of the new SONY console had certain limitations, being even inferior to PS4. This is a problem, as our library of games for PS5 was so far scarce. In addition, the compatibility with the titles of its predecessor came to increase this problem. But the last upgrade from your firmware comes (at least to some extent) to resolve the conflict.

At last, PS5 games could move to a external disk by USB. The negative point is that these will not be able to be executed from here and they need the internal SSD to boot. So, to play, we must transfer them from the external disk of the console (there is no other option if we want to have a large library of games). But don’t worry, we can take them back to the external disk and move them as many times as we want. Thus, the storage capacity of our machine will not be so compromised.

Actually, in the absence of a solution that Sony is already looking for, the new patch will mainly serve to store PS4 games on the HDD (we are still waiting for big releases). In this case, yes they can be executed from here without needing to store them in the console.

External hard drive requirements

The first thing you should know is that any external hard drive is not compatible to transfer games from the PS5. Sony has established a number of requirements.

As detailed by the company, a unit will be necessary SuperSpeed ​​USB 5 Gbps or later. It must also have a minimum of 250 gigs capacity, and a maximum of 8 teras. They also do not guarantee that all devices will work with the PS5 console. Even though you can connect multiple USB expanded storage drives, only one can be used, never two at the same time.

Formatting the HDD

If you already have an external drive that you used as an expanded storage drive on PS4, Sony explains that it will only need to be connected to the PS5. From here, you can access all the games on the Play Station 4. But it is possible that the new update will not recognize the format. The same is true if you have purchased a new disc. The console will not recognize it. That is why you will need to make a formatting of your HDD.

To do this, you must first connect your disk to one of the USB ports from the back of the PS5. Now with your active user, go to the settings from the console, then select the option Storage. Now choose USB expanded storage and then format as exFAT.

In the case of PS4 it differs a bit. The process begins by selecting Settings. Then we go to Devices. After going to the section where the external HDD is located, we select format as extended storage.

Now, your external

hard drive is ready to store PS5 games. Another recommended option (since the PS5 titles are still few), is to store all the PS4 games on your HDD, and reserve the internal SSD for the PS5 ones. So, at least as long as you buy more games, you will save yourself having to transfer them to your new console every time you want to play.

Move PS5 games to external drive

Once you have downloaded a game to your console, you can transfer it seamlessly to your brand new external hard drive. The process is very simple, and it is a highly recommended utility if you are going to continue downloading more games.

To move a game from the console to the HDD, in the same way as when formatting the disk, we must connect it to one of the USB ports on the back of the console, specifically the blue ones.

Then we will go to Games library and we will select the game in question. We give to options and we choose between Transfer to USB Extended Storage / Transfer to Console Storage (in the case of PS4 games) or copy (in the case of PS5 games).

For the opposite process, that is, transferring PS5 games stored on the external disk to the console, we also have to access the games library. Once here, we go to the options menu and choose copy to console storage. We influence once more. This process is necessary to run PS5 games as it cannot be done from external hard drive. On the other hand, when we want to play a PS4 game, we can do it from the storage HDD.

Copying PS5 games is faster than downloading them again. It is also a faster and preferable option than reinstalling them from disk if the game is on USB expanded storage.

Download games directly to HDD

Another interesting option, beyond transferring the games between the console and the disk, is download them directly to our HDD external. This can be done with the PS4 games that we want to play on PS5.

For this we must go to the settings from our console. Then we choose Storage – Expanded storage. Now, we just have to activate the tab Install PS4 games on USB expanded storage. In this way, we will save the process of moving a PS4 game to our external drive.

Delete data from external drive

If you use the external hard drive, you may also need more space to purchase new games. Maybe you have an older title that you already play little or nothing. In such case, you can remove it also from the configuration of the console itself.

To do this, go back to the icon Settings of the PS5. From option Storage, go to USB expanded storage. Now choose Games and apps and then, Delete content. Then select the data or games that you want to do without and act remove.

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