Everything To Know About Upgrading Your PS4 Hard Drive

Neal Bricker

Now that Sony has finally released a much-awaited update involving external hard drives and additional storage for your beloved Playstation 4, a lot of players are excitedly ordering new hard drives to upgrade their system with.

Originally, the Sony Playstation 4 only shipped out with 500GB internal HDD memory. 500GB of memory translates to only about 10-12 games sized 40GB-50GB. This was a huge problem for many gamers who feel like this space simply wasn’t enough for them. Truly, for the most die-hard, most seasoned gamers, a collection of 10-12 games is probably way too few in numbers.

Thankfully, upgrading your PS4 hard drive doesn’t have to be a pain in the neck. It’s a smooth and easy process that you can do yourself in order to have more storage for your gaming system. However, there are a few things you should consider before picking out a new internal hard drive.

We’ve listed down what makes a good PS4 hard drive in one of our previous articles, but here’s a short list, in a nutshell.

1. Hard Drive Type
   Before anything else, you first have to check the type of hard drive that you’re going to be using. Is it 2.0, 3.0, 3.1 compatible? 2.0 drives are the older drives. They’re the slowest out of the three, and most of all, they’re not compatible with the latter two. While the other two are backwards compatible, meaning you can use 3.0 devices on 2.0 ports, you can’t use 2.0 devices on 3.0 ports. The PS4 has a 3.0 port, which means you can only use either a 3.0 or 3.1 hard drive for your gaming system. Anything less than that and you won’t be able to use it, even if you try.
2. Hard Drive SizeOnce you’ve finally ensured that your new hard drive is 3.0 compatible, check to see how big the actual hard drive is. The PS4 hard drive slot only accommodates a 2.5in hard drive with a thickness of less than 9.5mm, so make sure that you get one with the correct size. Laptops usually have the same size for their own internal drives so you shouldn’t have a problem searching for one. It may be hard to get something with a much larger memory space, though. 
3. Hard Drive Memory
   Lastly, if you’re upgrading your hard drive for PS4, you should make sure that it’s actually worth the upgrade. Choose something over 500GB, preferably over 1TB. You can even go up to 2TB if you wish. Your only limit here is the physical size of the 2TB drive, but if you find something that fits the physical limits that’s mentioned in the previous point, then you’re good to go. At 40GB-50GB per game, upgrading to 1TB expands your collection to 20-24 games, while upgrading to 2TB further expands that to 40-48 games.

Upgrading Your PS4 Hard Drive

With that out of the way, now you’re all set to upgrade your PS4 hard drive.

Step #1: Prepare all the necessary materials.

You’re going to need to prepare a few tools first before upgrading your PS4 hard drive.

1. a Phillips head screwdriver
2. 2.5” HDD
3. external hard drive for backup
4. USB drive to download the update

Step #2: Backup your drive.

We all know the dangers of failing to backup our files. From losing important files to deleting priceless memories, it’s too much of a risk. Always make sure to backup your files before even touching your disk!

Thankfully, backing up your disk is easy thanks to the built-in feature of the PS4. Just plug in your external HDD, select Settings on the menu, then click System, then Backup and Restore, then Back-up PS4. Wait for it to finish, and that’s it. The waiting time can go from a few minutes to a few hours so be patient. Believe us, it’s worth it.

Step #3: Download the latest software update from PS4.

While waiting for your PS4 backup to finish, head to your computer and pull up the Sony website. You need to download the latest software update first in order to make sure that everything will work correctly once you’re done upgrading your PS4 hard drive. Remember, the ability to upgrade and add external drives was only added in the last update, so if you’re not updated, it’s not going to work. Drop that latest software update to the USB drive.

Step #4: Open up the PS4.

This part may seem scary, but actually it’s not! You can look up some good articles online that will walk you through the entire process with no sweat at all.

Step #5: Boot in safe mode and restore the system.

Your PS4 will only show you a blue screen that shows its inability to load, but don’t worry, that’s supposed to happen. Plug in the USB drive and install the Software Update. Reboot. When your system comes back on, go back to Settings, then System, then Back up and Restore. Click that, wait for it to finish and you’re done!

See, upgrading your PS4 hard drive doesn’t have to be a huge headache. Just make sure that you’ve got the right HDD and the right tools for the job and you’re on your way to enjoying that nice extra storage space right there.