PS5 External Hard Drive Guide: What Works, and What Can You Play From It?

A PS5 will take a USB hard drive or portable SSD as extra storage if it's between 250GB and 8TB and runs at SuperSpeed USB 5Gbps or faster, though Sony doesn't guarantee every device will work. The catch is what the drive is for. You can't play PS5 games directly from USB extended storage. You can keep them there, but to play one you copy it back to the console first. PS4 games play straight from the drive.

If you want somewhere to keep games you'll come back to, without deleting and re-downloading them, a USB drive does that job. If you want more room to actually play PS5 games from, you need an internal M.2 SSD instead, and our internal M.2 SSD upgrade guide covers those. We haven't connected these drives to a console ourselves.

PS5 external drive requirements

The drive has to be "SuperSpeed USB 5 Gbps or later", which any drive sold as USB 3.0, USB 3.1 or USB 3.2 meets. It has to hold between 250GB and 8TB. And it has to plug straight into the console, because a drive connected through a USB hub won't work as extended storage.

You can connect several USB drives, but only one can be used as extended storage at a time. Sony also says "Not all devices are guaranteed to work with the PS5 console", whichever drive you buy.

Which port to use

Every PS5 has four USB ports, and one on the front is the slower Hi-Speed kind. Connect extended storage to a SuperSpeed 10Gbps USB-C or USB-A port, as Sony's ports guide sets out for each model.

On the original, larger console (Sony's CFI-1000 group) the slow port is the front USB-A, and the front USB-C and both rear USB-A ports are the 10Gbps ones. On the CFI-2000/7000 group both front ports are USB-C, and the 10Gbps one is the port Sony says PS VR2 must use. For most people it's simplest to plug the drive into one of the two USB-A ports on the back and leave it there.

External hard drive or SSD for PS5?

For storage you'll copy back from now and then, a hard drive does the job and gives you far more space for the money. A portable SSD is quicker when you copy a game back to play it, which matters if you swap big games in and out every week. It's also smaller and has no moving parts, so it copes better with being knocked off a shelf.

What an SSD won't do is let you play PS5 games from USB. That rule is the same for both.

Four drives that meet Sony's rules

All four are drives we've reviewed, and each was on sale new and in stock when we checked on 4 November. They're all within Sony's 250GB to 8TB range, and their listings or makers specify USB 3.0 or faster.

If you want	Drive	Type and size	Price
A drive sold specifically for PlayStation	Seagate Game Drive for PS4/PS5	Hard drive, 5TB	£179.99Price checked 19:15 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details
Room for a smaller library	Seagate FireCuda Gaming Hard Drive	Hard drive, 2TB	£93.99Price checked 18:31 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details
The most space	WD My Passport	Hard drive, 6TB	£198.99Price checked 18:45 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details
Faster copying back	Crucial X9	Portable SSD, 2TB	£199.99Price checked 17:46 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details

Seagate Game Drive for PS4/PS5 5TB: the one sold as officially licensed

Seagate's listing calls this 5TB external hard drive "Officially Licensed" for PlayStation. It's USB 3.0, has a blue LED, and comes with two weeks of PlayStation Plus. Nothing in Sony's rules needs a licence, so the question is whether that and the PlayStation styling matter to you.

Price: £179.99Price checked 19:15 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details · ★★★★½ (4.5) from 3,934 ratings · Seagate Game Drive 5TB review

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Seagate FireCuda Gaming Hard Drive 2TB: for a smaller library

If you only need room for a handful of games you're not playing right now, 2TB may be plenty. The FireCuda's listing doesn't mention PlayStation, but it gives the connection as USB 3.2 Gen 1, which meets Sony's 5Gbps minimum. It's bus-powered, so it runs from the USB port with no mains plug of its own, and the listing also mentions RGB lighting and Seagate's data rescue service. Big PS5 games can run past 100GB each, so whether it holds your whole library depends on the games.

Price: £93.99Price checked 18:31 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details · ★★★★½ (4.5) from 1,161 ratings · Seagate FireCuda Gaming Hard Drive 2TB review

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WD My Passport 6TB: the most room

The biggest drive here, and still under Sony's 8TB ceiling. WD's page rates it at up to 5Gb/s over USB 3.2 Gen 1, which meets Sony's minimum, and gives it a three-year limited warranty. The console formats the drive for itself when you set it up, which wipes whatever's on it.

Price: £198.99Price checked 18:45 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details · ★★★★½ (4.6) from 105,298 ratings · WD My Passport 6TB review

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Crucial X9 2TB: the portable SSD

Pick this if copying games back is the part that annoys you. Crucial's listing quotes read speeds of up to 1,050MB/s over USB 3.2 Gen 2, says the X9 works with PlayStation, and puts a USB-C to USB-C cable in the box. On a CFI-1000 console that suits the front USB-C port. On a CFI-2000/7000 console, use the front 10Gbps USB-C port (the PS VR2 one), or a USB-C to USB-A data cable rated at 5Gbps or more for a rear port. Portable SSDs cost more per terabyte than hard drives, so you're paying for the quicker copies.

Price: £199.99Price checked 17:46 GMT, 4 Nov 2026 · Details · ★★★★☆ (4.4) from 8,264 ratings · Crucial X9 2TB review

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Can I use my PS4 external hard drive on PS5?

Yes, if it was set up as extended storage on the PS4. A drive used that way on a PS4, or on another PS5, doesn't need reformatting. Plug it into a 10Gbps port and it's ready, and any PS4 games on it will play straight from the drive.

Setting it up

A new drive, or one you've been using with a computer, needs formatting first, and that erases everything on it. Back up any files you want to keep. Then plug the drive into a 10Gbps port, go to Settings, Storage, USB Extended Storage and choose Format as USB Extended Storage. Don't unplug it or switch off while it's formatting.

To move a game across, highlight it in your Game Library, press the options button and choose Move Games and Apps. To play a PS5 game later, find it under the Installed tab and choose Copy to bring it back to the console. Set the USB drive as the installation location for PS4 games and they'll download straight to it.

When you want to unplug the drive, either switch the console fully off first (power light out) or use the safe-removal option for USB extended storage in the Storage settings. Pulling it out without doing either can corrupt data.

Common questions

Can I play PS4 games from an external drive on PS5?

Yes. PS4 games play directly from USB extended storage. Only PS5 games have to be copied back first.

Can I play PS5 games from an external SSD?

No. The rule is about USB, not the type of drive, so a fast portable SSD is no different from a hard drive here. Only the console's own storage and an internal M.2 SSD can run PS5 games.

Can I use a USB hub or two drives at once?

Not for extended storage. The drive must connect directly to the console, and you can only use one for extended storage at a time.

Is there a size limit?

Sony's range is 250GB to 8TB. A drive bigger than 8TB isn't supported as extended storage.

How we put this page together

The rules are Sony's, from PlayStation's UK support pages "USB extended storage on PS5 consoles", "USB ports guide for PS5 consoles" and "How to add an M.2 SSD to a PS5 console", read on 4 November 2026. The four drives are ones we've reviewed that were on sale new and in stock that day. Drive details come from the product listings and, for the WD, from WD's own page. We haven't tested them on a console.