1:22 Storage space is at a premium with. Even if you're more inclined to pick up hard copies than download full games, patches, DLC and installs can fill up the standard hard drive on your PlayStation very quickly. On the bright side, it's very easy to add more storage to your console. You can either replace your current hard drive with a new one or, since, simply connect an external one. Add an external drive The 4.50 software update, which becomes available on March 9, lets you add any USB 3.0 hard drive as external storage. A few things, though:.

The hard drive can be up to 8TB in size. The hard drive must use USB 3.0. Only games and applications can be stored on the external drive - game saves are stored on the internal drive If you'd rather not fuss with an external drive, read on to find out how to replace the internal drive with a newer, bigger drive. Add a new hard drive If you want to score a little more space, here's how to put a new, bigger hard drive in your PS4. The whole process should take about 15 minutes. A quick note before you start: You probably have some data you don't want to lose.

If you want to keep that data - and eventually move it to the new hard drive - Sony explains how you can. What you need.

PlayStation 4 (duh). Phillips-head screwdriver. USB flash drive (at least 1GB). 2.5-inch laptop hard drive. PlayStation 4's Replace the hard drive.

Disconnect your PS4 from the power supply. Remove either the casing on the rear if you have a PS4 Pro or the top left chassis plate on a PS4 classic. Unscrew the hard drive bracket. It'll be kept in place with a screw engraved with the PS4 button symbols. Take out the housing bracket for the hard drive. Remove the four screws holding the drive in the bracket (but make sure to keep the rubber inserts).

Replace the existing hard drive with the new one, screwing it in. Download the software. Download the operating software on your computer. Connect the USB flash drive to the computer and format it to FAT32, which will erase all the data on the drive and allow it to be recognized by the console. This can be done on Windows by right-clicking the drive, selecting Format, choosing the 'FAT32' option from the pull-down menu and clicking the Start button. Create a folder on the flash drive called PS4, and a folder within that called UPDATE, both in all caps. Upload the installer file to your flash drive, dropping it in the UPDATE folder.

Plug the PlayStation back in and start it in safe mode by holding the power button for 8 seconds. Select 'Initialize PS4 (Reinstall System Software).' . Run through the prompts and enjoy your upgraded hard drive! Some tips. There are some issues with formatting the flash drive with the operating system installer in Windows 8. We butted heads with that ourselves, and had to use a computer with a different operating system to prepare the flash drive.

Speaking of issues with the flash drive, make sure it fits in the recessed USB ports on the PS4. Don't be like us. Make sure you grab the full operating system install and not just the upgrade to the latest version. Both files have the same name, but the full install will be much larger. It's a sneaky link farther down on this page that looks like this.

There are a few things you need to know before you connect the external hard drive:. You must use an external drive with USB 3.0.

You can use an external drive that is up to 8TB in size. You can download and install games and applications directly to your external storage, but your save files will continue to be stored locally on your PS4's internal storage. All of the games and applications stored on the external drive will appear in the Content Launcher on the Home Screen. Editors' note, March 8, 2017: This story has been updated to include new information from the PS4 4.50 software update.

Users have wanted the ability to install games and applications on an external hard drive since the system came out. Well, three years later it's finally happening with the release of. It's not very hard to use an external hard drive with your PlayStation 4, but we'll take you through the steps, and even go over which hard drives are the best to use with your PlayStation 4, in the article below. How to Use an External Hard Drive with the PS4 When picking a PlayStation 4 external hard drive, it must meet certain qualifications. Any hard drive you choose has to be a USB 3.0 device. It doesn't matter if it's a solid-state drive or a traditional hard disk drive, in fact, you can even use a hybrid SSD + HDD. Additionally, the external hard drive you use with your PS4 must be at least 250 GB and smaller than 8 TB.

Also note, you must format your hard disk, so don't use one that has data on it that you want to preserve. Once you have a drive that meets the qualifications above, hook it up to your PlayStation 4 via a USB port. Once you've connected the external hard drive and verified that it's drawing power via its indicator light, go to the settings menu on the PlayStation 4. In the Settings menu, go to Devices, then USB Storage Devices. In that menu you'll be able to select the external hard drive and format it for use as extended storage. Once you've formatted the external hard drive you've connected to the PlayStation 4 you're ready to go.

You should then be able to move and delete application data on both the internal and external hard drives connected to the PS4 using the Settings menu. Unfortunately, you can only use one external hard drive with the PlayStation 4 at a time, so make sure you get one big enough to hold everything you want to store. The Best External Hard Drives to Use With the PlayStation 4 As stated above, any external hard drive you get to use with the PlayStation 4 must be USB 3.0, over 250 GB, and under 8 TB. With that in mind we picked out some of our favorite external hard drives that we think are the best to use with the PS4. High-End External Hard Drive PKT SSD2GO. The PKT SSD2GO offers some of the latest features available for a solid state drive.

The SSD2GO is rugged and has write speeds of up to 560MB/s which is faster than the internal hard drive your PlayStation 4 came with. It supports the USB 3.1 standard and comes with USB-C to USB-C and USB-C to USB-A connectors, the latter of which you'll need to use to connect it to the PlayStation 4.

It's the priciest of the drives we've picked out starting at $179.99 for a 256GB drive and $549.99 for a 1TB drive. However, if you want a solid product with the most modern features, the PKT SSD2GO is the hard drive for you. Mid-Range External Hard Drive Western Digital My Passport Ultra. If you're not looking for something that's blazing fast or has a bunch of bells and whistles, the Western Digital My Passport Ultra is a great product.

The My Passport Ultra isn't a speed demon at only 5,400 RPM, but it's cheap and reliable. The Western Digital My Passport Ultra starts at $64.88 for a 1TB model and $119.99 for a 2TB. This is a great hard drive to pick up if you're more interested in having more games installed at once then accessing those games faster. Economy-Range External Hard Drive Whatever Hard Drives are on Sale on Amazon and an External Enclosure. If you're looking for something that will get the job done and provide external hard drive space for your PlayStation 4, just look on Amazon for anything that's on sale.

Hard Drive Requirements For Xbox 360

More than likely you'll get smaller 500GB or smaller hard drive models from less known manufacturers, but they'll work as long as they meet the guidelines above. Try not to buy an HDD used or refurbished, though; there's no telling what data might be left on them or how reliable they are. Refurbished SSDs are usually a safe buy, but make sure that you update them with their latest firmware via PC before you put them in an enclosure. Enclosures themselves can be had relatively cheap. Most of them consist of a shell and a small SATA 3 to USB 3.0 adapter, which will work fine with a PlayStation 4. The release date for PlayStation 4 4.50 hasn't been announced yet, but it's currently in beta testing.

You can look for it to come out in the next few months. When it does, you can use the guide above to make sure that you've formatted and installed your external hard drive correctly and have a good hard drive that meets the requirements.