Ps4 New Hard Drive Install

How to upgrade your PS4 difficult drive

By Contributions from Matt Hanson , Adam Vjestica , Mike Jennings last updated 25 April 22

We prove you how to upgrade your PS4 hard bulldoze, including the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro, plus reveal the best difficult drives available right now

Do you need to upgrade your PS4 difficult drive? Chances are that if you lot're constantly deleting games from your library, the answer is a resounding yep! Thankfully, upgrading the hard drive on your PS4, PS4 Slim or PS4 Pro isn't as tricky equally it sounds and yous'll discover the clear and uncomplicated instructions in this guide brand the whole process stress-free.

While you lot tin can definitely accept advantage of the all-time PS4 deals bachelor right now and bag yourself a new auto at a great price, you'll save a lot more money if you lot just upgrade your PS4 hard bulldoze. This keen fiddling flim-flam is a great way of extending the life of your machine and get it performing at its acme again.

I of the big benefits of upgrading your hard bulldoze is to create extra storage infinite. There's only 500GB of that available on the standard PS4 and PS4 Slim and 1TB on the PS4 Pro, so information technology only takes a couple of large games and you're soon out of room.

Some games, like Call of Duty and Marvel'due south Avengers, need about 100GB of hard bulldoze infinite, so yous tin can see how quickly your infinite would exist used up if you're a fan of storage hogs such as these. Beyond the extra space, if you lot slot a super-fast SSD into your console, you'll also see a significant speed improvement, although you'll want to read up on the pros and cons of using an SSD before you exercise that.

There are ii ways to expand your difficult drive capacity on PS4: supercede the internal drive or attach one of the all-time external hard drives. These are both proficient options, only fitting a new internal bulldoze is undeniably a cleaner pick.

This guide will show you how to upgrade your PS4 hard drive, including instructions for the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro and a video to walk you through everything. Oh, and don't worry, no matter what drive you're slotting within your car, it won't void your warranty.

Best hard drive upgrades for PS4

Before taking your PS4, PS4 Slim or PS4 Pro apart you demand to take a replacement drive gear up – which ways doing a scrap of research. We've done the numbers to notice out which drive is the best choice, whether yous're looking for an all-round option, a budget production or a super-fast SSD.

Best hard drive for PS4

Seagate FireCuda Gaming SSHD 2TB

If yous desire to upgrade your PS4 difficult drive and are looking for the all-time hard bulldoze pick right now, so you should seek out an SSHD. These drives combine platter-based storage with smaller, faster portions of flash memory, and they learn which files you lot apply frequently and move them to the faster flash storage – so they tin be loaded faster. If y'all play the same games frequently, you lot'll see a operation improvement.

The 2TB chapters ways that you'll go loads of extra space fifty-fifty if the games you install don't benefit from the flash retentivity portion of the drive, and information technology'll certainly never be slower than the PS4's internal drives. Information technology's not particularly expensive, either.

Best budget difficult bulldoze for PS4

Seagate Barracuda 2TB

If yous're on a tighter budget then you tin can ditch the hybrid portion of the hard deejay and opt for a conventional drive. This won't deliver much of a performance boost over the PS4'due south normal hard disks, merely Seagate'south drives are certainly no slower. They're bachelor in loads of capacities, but 2TB is as high as you tin go before the drives get too thick to fit inside Sony's consoles. The prices on offering are tempting: a 1TB model costs simply $50, and the 2TB model is the best-value option thanks to a toll of $77.

Best SSD for PS4

Samsung 870 QVO

Samsung is the kind of consumer SSDs, and so information technology'southward no surprise that the firm's solid-state products are the all-time options for slotting inside your PS4. The 870 QVO offers great performance levels that are several times faster than the PS4's difficult disks, and you'll see noticeable upgrades to loading times and functioning in the PS4 and PS4 Slim and even larger speed improvements in the PS4 Pro, which has a more than mod storage interface.

Samsung's drives offer slap-up speed and reliability, and their consistent 7mm course gene means you lot can choose a bulldoze with a capacity between 1TB and 8TB depending on your needs – SSDs don't accept the aforementioned physical size restrictions are hard disks. As ever, though, SSDs are more expensive than hard disks – the 1TB and 2TB models price $110 and $224 respectively, and the 4TB and 8TB drives sit at hefty prices of $450 and $899.

Best budget SSD for PS4

Crucial BX500

Crucial's drives don't quite accept the performance levels of Samsung's drives, simply in the PS4 that is less important thanks to their older storage connectivity systems. Drives like the Crucial BX500 even so deliver a skilful performance boost over the PS4'south internal drives, and they're just equally reliable as Samsung'southward products.

The BX500 is a piffling cheaper, too. It's possible to become a 480GB bulldoze for $49 if you'd like to give your PS4 a speed boost without whatever extra space – handy if you lot often play the same selection of games. Its 1TB and 2TB models come in at $100 and $199 respectively.

What you need

1x PS4
1x Phillips screwdriver
1x ii.v-inch SATA HDD or SSD
1x USB stick or 1x FAT32 USB HDD or SSD
1x laptop or PC with internet
1x PS4 controller
1x microUSB cable

Step one: find the right replacement

When it comes to wanting to upgrade your PS4 hard drive, the first thing to practise is to purchase your replacement hard drive or SSD. The PS4 uses a 2.5-inch SATA format for hard disks and SSDs, and it's quite an archaic design now – it'southward more often than not only used for more affordable drives.

Any bulldoze you lot install into your PS4 needs to be under nine.5mm tall thanks to the size of the caddy that lives inside the PS4, which protects the drive and keeps it in place. This is no problem for SSDs, but it does show to be a footling limiting as many 4TB hard drives are a shade besides chunky.

When looking for a new difficult disk or SSD there are plenty of things to conduct in mind – click here to read our guide on the pros and cons of hard disks, SSDs and solid-country hybrid drives.

At that place are a few rules of thumb if you're in a rush. Hard disks are the more than affordable options only even seven,200rpm drives won't accept peachy performance – at best you'll get a slight speed boost over the console'south existing drive, at worst you'll just equal it while improving chapters. A 1TB or 2TB hard disk volition toll you effectually $sixty (around £l, AU$80) or less than $80 (around £100, AU$160).

An SSD will deliver a more significant improvement to loading times and game performance, especially on a PS4 Pro console, just SSDs are more expensive – 1TB and 2TB models tend to cost effectually twice every bit much.

Stride 2: Redundancy your PS4

Got the hard drive? The next pace is to backup anything you definitely don't want to lose on your PS4. The bad news is that you tin can't backup game installs. Your dwelling house internet volition but have to have a beating to reinstall the lot.

Y'all should start by syncing your Trophies get-go since they won't exist included in the backup data. Simply press the 'OPTIONS' button on your controller and select 'Sync Trophies with PSN'. Your Trophies will at present be rubber and sound.

PlayStation Plus subscribers don't need to worry likewise much almost game saves either, every bit they will automatically be saved to the deject. Withal, if you lot want to be actress-safe, you can back them up to a USB stick or external hard bulldoze.

Simply insert the drive, and then in the PS4 menu go to settings > awarding saved data direction > saved information in system storage. Here you'll see an choice to re-create your saves to a USB drive. Yous need to select the files game-by-game so yous might want to leave out any titles you're never going to play again.

To back upwards everything on your panel outside of its trophies, head to the system card so into the backup option. You'll be able to select what you desire to preserve, choose a USB bulldoze to use and see how much infinite you'll take left over on the drive afterward. Confirm the process, and the PS4 will restart before making the backup.

Stride three: uncovering the hard drive

Once you are happy you're not about to wipe out your gaming history, make sure there'south no disc in the drive and turn the PS4 off completely (not standby). If your PS4 heads to standby as standard, hold downwards on the PS push button until the power menu pops upward, and so select turn off PS4. Next, unplug all the PS4's cables (that'due south the HDMI lead and power cable most likely).

Prepare the PS4 on a steady surface, put a paw on the shiny peak plate and motion it to the side a picayune. This is really a simple plastic drive encompass that's not held in place with screws only a basic prune.

One time it'south free of its moorings, you lot'll be able to elevator the cover off to reveal function of the PS4's metal skeleton. At that place's non much harm you can exercise here, though, every bit it'due south but the hard drive on prove.

To uncover the hard drive inside the PS4 Slim, unclip the plastic cover by hand. This clip tin can be found on the left-hand corner of the PS4 Slim at the rear of the console.

With the plastic clip removed you lot'll see the hard drive caddy of the PS4 Slim secured with a single spiral.

To uncover your PS4 Pro's hard bulldoze, simply identify the system upside downward on a flat surface and locate the pocket-size plastic panel on its rear. Apply the trivial tab abreast the Ethernet port to pop the panel off.

With this cover removed you lot'll come across the hard drive caddy and the single screw holding information technology in place.

Step four: freeing upward the caddy

On the regular PS4 you'll notice the difficult bulldoze is not even so in full view. In that location's ane screw we need to unscrew to release the frame that holds the hard drive, using a Phillips screwdriver.

It'south the largest one on the metal surface you'll run into, and is inlaid with the classic PlayStation button icons.

In one case the spiral is removed, you tin merely pull the bulldoze caddy out horizontally from the PS4's body.

To supervene upon the hard drive in the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro, you lot'll just need to unscrew the single screw that holds the caddy in identify.

You volition then exist able to slide out the hard bulldoze caddy.

Step five: releasing the hard bulldoze

There are four more than screws that hold the difficult drive to its metallic frame. These sit on its sides, and can be released using the same Phillips screwdriver you used to gratis the HDD frame.

It'south but the screws we need to take off, though. You'll also notice some rubbery bits the screws rest against to absorb whatsoever shocks to the drive: leave those at that place.

This is pretty much the same process for replacing the hard bulldoze of the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro.

Pace half dozen: Swap the difficult drives and replace

Once you've freed up the original hard drive, it's simply a case of putting your new hd or SSD within, and so reversing the process you've merely performed. So put those iv screws in the sides, get the caddy back in the PS4, fasten it in place with the large screw and put the shiny plastic HDD encompass back on the PS4.

If you accept the PS4 Slim or PS4 Pro, the process volition be the same. Place the hard bulldoze or SSD into the caddy, secure, so slot it dorsum into the Slim or Pro panel, screw it in, and replace the plastic cover.

If the difficult drive or SSD doesn't fit, are yous sure y'all checked it was a nine.5mm-tall or less 2.v-inch SATA drive before buying?

Should the process go as swimmingly as information technology went with us, you should be done within 15 minutes.

Step seven: download the PS4 software

At present you have a PS4 with a completely blank memory. The console's Bone is stored on the hard drive you just removed, and the drive within your panel is completely blank.

You demand to download the software in standalone form, using another computer. Yous'll find it over at the PlayStation website (opens in new tab), and it takes up around a gigabyte at nowadays.

Yous'll need a USB drive or external hard drive or SSD with enough infinite to concur the download, and it must be formatted using the FAT32 file organization and installed into the correct folder – full instructions are available on the PlayStation website. Press and concur the PS4'due south power button for seven seconds – or until you hear two beeps – to boot the PS4 into safety mode.

You can so connect your controller with a USB cable and select option seven to reinstall your system software. Then, once that's done, you lot can restore your backup file and your PS4 should be back to normal, albeit with a newer, meliorate hard disk drive or SSD.

Conclusion

Is upgrading your PS4 hard drive worth doing? Absolutely. It's like shooting fish in a barrel, takes less than one-half an hr - if you're quick - and can even be relatively cheap: effectually the price of a brand-new game if you're using a hard disk. And, if y'all spend more on an SSD, you lot can get a solid speed boost for your automobile, too. It doesn't even invalidate your warranty - it's as though Sony is willing y'all to do information technology!

The fundamental question equally of the inflow of the 4.50 firmware is whether to opt to upgrade the internal difficult drive or become external. The other big question is whether to opt for a more affordable hard disk drive or a pricier, quicker SSD.

If you lot're tempted to stick with an external, USB-continued product instead of an internal upgrade, and then carry in mind that you lot'll demand to find infinite alongside your console for a new product – and remember to accept information technology with you whenever you movement your console.

Upgrading your PS4 hd does take a little flake of enquiry, and it can exist daunting to open up your console – even if the process is pleasingly elementary. Nevertheless, whichever decision yous make, yous'll be happy with the expanded space.

For enthusiast gamers, you lot'll no longer have to delete games to make space for the new additions to your library. Only remember about it: the biggest games can top 100GB these days, and the PS4's original 500GB and 1TB drives just can't store that many games.

And, if y'all're able to employ an SSD, then you can get a great speed heave as well as lashings of extra capacity. Whether yous go for a hd or an SSD, it's a no-brainer.

Check out our picks of the best PS4 games

You might also want to check out the best PS5 external hard drives (opens in new tab).

Andrew is a freelance journalist and has been writing and editing for some of the United kingdom'south top tech and lifestyle publications including TrustedReviews, Stuff, T3, TechRadar, Lifehacker and others.