Saving PS5 games to an SSD is not a bad idea. The PlayStation 5 doesn’t have a lot of room for video games, so investing in external storage is almost a must. An ssd is faster than a hdd, so transferring games is done in no time. Unfortunately, it is not possible to play PS5 games from an external drive; this is only possible from an internal SSD.
Connecting an SSD to the PlayStation 5 is easy. You connect the external drive via the supplied cable. First turn on the PlayStation 5 and then plug the USB cable from the SSD into an available port. The system immediately recognizes the external memory.
Then go to Settings (top right of the main menu) > Storage > Extended USB Storage and then you will immediately see the just mounted external drive. In this window, select the option Games and apps and press the option Moving PS5 games.
Moving PS5 games to and from an SSD
Now a list of games that can be moved will appear on the screen. Select the game that should go from the internal to the external ssd (check that game). Then press the Movebutton on the right of the screen. Now a pop-up will appear. That pop-up states, among other things, that PlayStation 5 games can only be played from the internal SSD.
Do you want a PS5 game so you have to move it again, but this time to the internal memory. If that’s not a problem, press OK.
One reason to put games on an external SSD is so that you can take them with you to your friends. This way you don’t have to wait until a lot of GBs have been downloaded and you only have to copy a game to the internal memory of your friend’s PlayStation 5.
You must first safely disconnect the SSD from your own PS5. You do that in the same Extended USB Storagemenu, as mentioned above, via the option Safely remove from PS5. Press that button and then press OK and then you know for sure that no files are damaged. It is possible that the PlayStation 5 has just received an update or is installing an update. If the SSD suddenly disappears from the PS5, that can cause problems.
Also for PS4 games
When the PS5 games need to be brought to the internal memory of the console, simply repeat the steps as described above. Select the Move PS5 games option again, check the game to be moved and confirm your choice.
It is also possible to play PlayStation 4 games from external hard drives. PS4 games moving is also possible via the menu Extended USB Storage and then the Move PS4 content option. Some games then have slightly shorter loading times, so that’s very nice.
Don’t have an SSD for your console yet? Read our article with the best SSDs for your PS5.
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