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4 Methods to Format Hard Drive for PS5 for Optimal Performance
To format hard drive for PS5 and set it as the extended storage can be easy. Here are 4 methods that can help you to format external hard drive for PS5, and ensure it is compatible with your device.
By Irene / Updated on August 27, 2024
Why do you need to add an external hard drive for PS5?
The PlayStation 5 (PS5) is the latest generation gaming console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment. Launched in November 2020, the PS5 represents a significant leap in gaming technology, delivering an immersive and captivating gaming experience. In addition, the PS5's ultra-high-speed SSD significantly reduces loading times, allowing for near-instantaneous access to game worlds and resulting in seamless gameplay and heightened immersion. The console also embraces backward compatibility, enabling players to enjoy their existing PS4 game library with improved visuals and smoother gameplay on the PS5.
However, although the PS5 boasts more advantages than the PS4, it still has some shortcomings compared to the elder one: it has limited storage. The PS5 only offers 667GB of usable space out of its 800+GB capacity, which is less compared to the PS4's 1TB hard drive. If you are a gaming enthusiast, it is necessary to add an external hard drive for extra storage.
Why format hard drive for PS5?
If you want to add a large external hard drive like SSD or USB for PS5, the first step is to format it. Why is this necessary? The main reason is to ensure the disk is compatible with your PS5 console.
Formatting hard drive for PS5 can ensure compatibility and bring a smoother gaming experience with data access speeding up. This operation creates dedicated space for system data, thus efficiently using the full storage capacity.
In maintaining data integrity and system stability, it also plays a vital role by erasing existing data and starting fresh, eliminating potential problems like corrupted files or fragmented sectors that can negatively impact gameplay performance. Furthermore, a formatted hard drive enables easy organization and management of the game library.
Now, here's another question: what format does your external hard drive need for PS5? As you may know, you can format it to NTFS, FAT32, or exFAT. As a game storage, it is more recommended to choose exFAT.
NTFS is primarily used for Windows systems, and while FAT32 is more universally compatible, it has limitations on file size and partition size that make it less suitable for the large files typical in modern gaming. ExFAT, on the other hand, supports larger files and partitions, making it the ideal format for use with the PS5.
How to format external hard drive for PS5
There are 3 methods allows you to format PS5 external hard drive on PC and 1 methods for formatting on PS5 console. You can choose what you like. Before the process beginning, there is something that you need to pay attention to:
1. If the partition on your drive exceeds 32GB in size, you will encounter limitations when trying to format it as FAT32 using Windows' built-in tools such as Disk Management, DiskPart, and File Explorer.
2. If your hard drive experiences a RAW file system or becomes write-protected due to a corrupted file system, the standard formatting method provided by Windows cannot perform the formatting operation as usual.
Method 1. Choose a powerful tool for PS5 external hard drive format effectively
If you're seeking a comprehensive solution with advanced features and greater control over the formatting process, AOMEI Partition Assistant is an excellent choice. It is a powerful partition management software that enables you to optimize and organize your hard drives efficiently.
In terms of formatting, it surpasses the FAT32 limitations of the built-in tools in Windows. This tool provides the ability to easily and effectively format large USB flash drives, SD cards, and other storage drives. Moreover, the software is also capable of formatting drives to FAT32, exFAT, NTFS, Ext4/Ext3/Ext2 on PC. If you need, you can also convert NTFS to FAT32 without data loss.
Now, free download it and see how to format external hard drive for PS5.
AOMEI Partition AssistantThe Best Windows Disk Partition Manager and PC Optimizer
Step 1. Right-click the hard drive partition that going to be formatted and choose “Format partition”.
Step 2. As the most recommended file system for formatting external hard drive for PS5 is exFAT, so select “exFAT” in the drop-down list behind File System. Then, click “OK”.
Step 3. In the main interface, you can preview the operation. Click “Apply” to perform it.
- Tips:
- In the event that your flash drive appears as unallocated space, simply right-click on it and select "Create Partition" to directly create a FAT32 partition.
- If your large drive currently has the NTFS file system, you can convert it to FAT32 without data loss by using the "NTFS to FAT32 converter" feature during the reformatting process.
- If you want to format the internal hard drive partition where Windows installed on, you can create a bootable media and format C drive under Windows PE environment.
Method 2. Formatting external hard drive for PC5 with File Explorer
File Explorer is a common choice for PS5 external hard drive format. However, these inbuilt Windows tools just can provide basic formatting functionality.
Step 1. Locate the drive, right-click on it, and select "Format" from the drop-down menu.
Step 2. Choose a preferred file system, give your drive a new name, and check the box for "Quick Format".
Step 3. Then click the Start button to begin formatting your external hard drive.
Method 3. Do PS5 external hard drive format via Disk Management
Disk Management makes it easy for users to access to formatting process. But it primarily supports the exFAT file system for formatting external hard drive for PS5. Other file systems, such as NTFS or FAT32, maybe not supported.
Step 1. Right-click on your desktop's "This PC" icon and choose "Manage". From the popup window, click on "Disk Management" located under the "Storage" section on the left.
Step 2. On the right side, you will see a list of all the disks, partitions, and their details. Right-click on the partition you wish to format and select the option to "Format".
Step 3. Set a volume label and choose a file system, then click "OK". Confirm the operation by clicking "OK" once again.
Step 4. Please be patient as the formatting process will take some time to complete, and you can find you have successfully format SSD/USB for PS5.
Method 4. Try PS5 Console to format hard drive for PS5
If you're using an external hard drive on a PlayStation console for the first time, you'll need to format it to ensure compatibility. Here's how to format an external hard drive for the PS5 using a PS5 console:
Step 1. Connect the external hard drive to the back of your PS5 console.
Step 2. Using the controller, navigate to "Settings" and then select "Storage".
Step 3. Choose "USB Extended Storage" and then "Format as USB Extended Storage". This will initiate the formatting process, which may take some time.
To sum up
As we can see, although there are methods available, still you can choose an easier way to format hard drive for PS5. With AOMEI Partition Assistant, it is easy to avoid limitations in capacity, compatibility, and hard drive type.
If you upgrade to the Professional Edition, more advanced features are accessible for you to better manage your computer by yourself. For example, You can move installed programs to another drive to release the hard drive space, convert between MBR/GPT, migrate OS to SSD for performance enhancements, and so on. Windows Server 2008 (R2), 2012 (R2), 2016, 2019, 2022, and SBS 2008, and 2011 users can choose the Server Edition to effectively manage their devices.
