The new DualSense controller with adjustable triggers and support for 120Hz gaming are just two of the exciting features included with the PlayStation 5. Nevertheless, the 825GB SSD that comes with the system is rather little. You won’t be able to install many games on your system as a result. Thankfully, you can play your PS4 games on your PS5 by installing them on an external hard drive. Well, here’s how to install games on your PlayStation 5 external hard drive.
Use External Hard Disk to Play PS4 Games on PS5
You cannot move any next-gen games to external storage because they all run on the fast SSD of the PlayStation 5. On your new console, though, you might be playing a lot of PS4 games. To preserve space on your PlayStation 5’s incredibly small SSD, you can quickly install these titles on external hard drives or external SSDs.
This guide will go through how to save your PS4 games on an external hard drive and play them on a PS5. We will go over everything you need to know about using removable storage for PS4 games, including how to automatically install games on your hard drive.
As always, you may jump to any section of this page using the table of contents below.
Format External Hard Disk to Store PS4 Games
You must first format the new hard drive with your console if you’re connecting it to store PS4 games on. Here’s how to go about it.
- Connect your external hard disk or SSD to the PS5 console.
- Go to Settings -> Storage.
- Select Extended Storage and then go to Format as Extended Storage .
- Click Yes on the warning screen that shows up.
You will be able to store PS4 games on your external hard disc since it will be formatted as expanded storage for your console.
Enable/Disable Installing Games on Extended Storage
Once you have configured an extra storage device for your PlayStation, new PS4 games will automatically be installed there. This eliminates the concern that outdated games would eat up valuable SSD space. You may quickly disable this function if you decide you don’t want it.
- Go to Settings -> Storage.
- Select Extended Storage and turn off the toggle next to Always Install PS4 Games to Extended Storage .
Your external hard drive will not be automatically stored when you install any new PS4 games on your PS5. Instead, they will be set up on the internal SSD of your PS5.
Eject or Disconnect External Hard Disk from PS5
Now, I believe that you typically just rip the wire out of the port to remove your external hard drives from your PS5. It is not advised because it may cause data loss and perhaps hard drive corruption. Well, here’s how to unplug and eject an external hard drive from your PS5 so you can plug it into another device.
- Go to Settings -> Storage.
- Select Extended Storage and click on Safely Remove from PS5
The external hard drive can then be removed from your PlayStation 5 without fear of data loss or corruption.
Save Storage Space by Moving PS4 Games to External Storage
On the SSD of the PlayStation 5, space is limited. Furthermore, there is essentially no way to add more storage to your console until Sony publishes the list of SSDs that can be utilised to do so. Thus, having at least your PS4 games stored on an external hard drive or SSD to free up space on your PS5’s SSD is a really cool function. Are you starting to install PS4 games on an external hard drive, then? Please tell us in the comments.