The latest firmware update for the PlayStation 5 activates the slot to expand its internal storage. Find out how to install an M.2 SSD in just a few steps.
A few weeks ago, Sony deployed the second major update to the PS5 operating system, with the arrival of a novelty particularly awaited by gamers: the activation of the storage expansion port of the console allowing the installation of an M.2 SSD.
By default, the Sony console has 825 GB of storage space, part of which is occupied by the console system. In the end, the PS5 only has a little more than 600 GB of storage to install games and applications. Which can be very little when the game library of the console is enlarged.
With the activation of the storage expansion, it is possible to install a NVMe PCI Express 4.0 SSD from 250 GB to 4 TB. However, it will be necessary to opt for a model offering a drive speed of at least 5.5 GB / s. Five formats are supported by the PS5: 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280 and 22110.
As NVMe PCIe 4.0 SSDs are subject to heating, they are normally sold already equipped with a heat sink. If your model does not have one, you will need to plan to purchase an additional heat dissipation system to attach to your M.2 SSD.
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To extend the memory of our PS5, our choice fell on the Western Digital WS-Black SN850 of 1 TB with integrated heatsink, a model cut for the PS5.
Sony has done it right. The installation of an M.2 SSD in the PS5 is within the reach of all, and the manipulation is not very complex. The most difficult will ultimately be to dismantle the console shell. But once the gesture to get there is mastered, the operation is child’s play. Here’s how to do it.
Before you start installing an additional SSD in the PS5, be aware that the internal software of your console must be up to date. Normally, when you start your PS5 and an update is available for download, a notification is automatically displayed on your TV screen.
If you’ve been dodging these updates so far, it’s time to install it. Without it, your console will not boot if the SSD has been inserted into the expansion storage slot.
1. Remove the base
If your console is attached to its stand vertically, first disassemble it by removing the screw using a flathead screwdriver.
2. Remove the shell
Then position the console horizontally, the side with the logo facing the table on which it is placed, and with the CD player facing you.
Lift the upper left corner of the shell slightly with your left hand and then slide the right part of the shell down.
3. Open the hatch
Using a Phillips screwdriver, remove the screw from the access door to the storage extension slot next to the fan. Then remove the metal plate and its small black screw.
Attention to detail, Sony has stamped its screw symbols square, round, cross and triangle, symbol of its console since its origins.
4. Remove the SSD fixing screw
Still with your Phillips screwdriver, remove the black SSD retaining screw and the small metal ring that acts as a spacer, and keep them safe.
5. Mount the SSD
Now drop the metal spacer into the hole corresponding to the size of your SSD. Then connect the M.2 SSD in the console connector, paying attention to the key.
Press firmly on it, but without forcing it, to connect it until a small click is heard. When you release the SSD, it should rise slightly. This is completely normal.
6. Secure the SSD
Press down on the SSD to hold it flat in the console against the spacer and replace the black screw. The SSD is now fixed.
7. Close the hatch
Replace the metal plate to close the PS5 storage extension slot and screw it back on.
You can also reposition the console shell and reassemble its base.
8. Format the drive
Reconnect your console and turn it on. At startup, the PS5 automatically detects the presence of a new SSD and therefore offers to format it. Select Format M.2 SSD and press the cross with the joystick.
A message should then appear indicating that the SSD formatting is complete.
9. Select the installation disc
If you’ve just installed an M.2 SSD in your PS5, it’s probably because you’re starting to run out of storage. Now that you’ve extended it, you need to configure the console to install your future games on this new location.
To do this, go to Settings, then enter the Storage menu.
Next, go to Install Location and set the install location for PS5 Games & Apps and PS4 Games & Apps by selecting the freshly installed SSD in your PS5 as the default location for installing your next games. .
Note that you cannot merge the internal storage of the console with the M.2 SSD. So all data from the same game must be stored in the same location. Also, M.2 SSD can only be used to install games and apps on it. You will not be able to store your backups or screenshots there.
10. Move your games to the SSD
If for some reason or another you want to move games stored on the console’s internal memory to the M.2 SSD you just installed, the manipulation is quite possible.
To do this, from the main menu of the console, highlight the game to be moved. Then press the Start button on the controller and select Move games and apps.
You just have to select the elements to move, then to validate by choosing Move, then by validating with the cross on the joystick.
You can repeat the operation as many times as necessary to move your games and applications from the internal drive of the PS5 to the M.2 SSD and vice versa, depending on your needs.