How to Make Your PS4 Install New Hard Drive

As your PlayStation 4 game collection grows, the need for additional storage space becomes apparent. If you find that the existing hard drive on your PS4 can't accommodate your growing library, you might consider upgrading to a new one with a larger capacity. The good news is that the process of upgrading your PS4 hard drive is very doable and can be very simple with the right approach.

Step-by-step guide on PS4 install new hard drive

When it comes to the process of installing a new hard drive on your PS4, for many avid gamers, the conventional approach involves the direct replacement of the old drive with the new one. Swapping out the PS4 console's drive is a straightforward task, requiring nothing more than a screwdriver. However, this process necessitates a careful sequence of steps: backing up all your data, reinstalling the PS4 operating system on the new drive, and ultimately restoring your games. While this can be perceived as a bit intricate, it's a manageable endeavor with the aid of one or two USB drives. Let's now delve into the detailed steps on how to install a new PS4 hard drive:

Step 1. Insert an empty USB drive into your PS4 game console. Navigate to "Settings" > "System" > "Back Up and Restore" on the home screen. Select the "Back Up PS4" option to selectively back up the desired data.

Note: If you are a PS Plus subscriber, an alternative method is to go to "Settings" > "Application Saved Data Management" > "Saved Data" in System Storage and choose "Upload to Online Storage."

Step 2. After the backup is complete, go to "Power" > "Power Options" > "Turn Off PS4" to shut down the console completely. Wait for the light to stop blinking and unplug the power cable.

Step 3. Turn the PS4 console around and locate the hard drive cover to the right of the ports. Find the notch on the side and use your finger to swing it open.

Step 4. Unscrew the screws and then pull the hard drive cage toward you. Remove the screws holding the old drive in place and replace it with the new hard drive.

Step 5. Insert another USB drive (not the one used for backing up PS4 data) into your computer. Format the USB to the FAT32 file system to ensure compatibility with the PS4. Create a folder on the drive named "PS4", and within the "PS4" folder, create another folder named "UPDATE".

Step 6. Visit the PS4 System Software Update site, download and install the system update files into the "UPDATE" folder you created in the "PS4" folder.

Step 7. Eject the USB flash drive with the system update and plug it into your PS4 USB port. Press and hold the power button until you hear the second beep to enter Safe Mode.

Step 8. Choose "Initialize PS4" and press the "X" button on the console.

Step 9. Press "OK" and select "Next" to install the PS4 update files. Once done, read the System Software License Agreement, select "Accept", and press the "X" button. The system software will begin installing on the PS4.

Step 10. After the update is completed, the PS4 will restart. Press the PlayStation button on your controller and log into your PS4 account.

Step 11. Insert the USB drive with the backup and go to "Settings" > "System" > "Back Up and Restore" > "Restore PS4".

Note: If you backed up via PS Plus, go to "Settings" > "Application Saved Data Management" > "Saved Data in Online Storage" > "Download to System Storage".

Easier way to install PS4 new hard drive without reinstalling games

Essentially, the original traditional method involves the multi-step process of backing up your PS4 data, replacing the old drive with a new one, and then restoring the backup to the new hard drive. There is no doubt that this process can be quite time-consuming.

Today, we're excited to introduce a more straightforward way to replace your PS4 hard drive without reinstalling all your games. This involves transferring all data from the old hard drive to the new hard drive via the disk cloning method. By employing this technology, all games can be seamlessly migrated to the new disk and run just as they did on the old disk.

To perform this cloning task easily, the recommended software is AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. This versatile partition manager features Disk Clone Wizard to clone every sector or only used sectors from one disk to another. Importantly, this includes clones of operating systems, programs, apps, games, and more.

The result is a new hard drive with everything including games booting and loading successfully after cloning. You can proceed by following these steps about how to install a new hard drive PS4:

First, follow the instructions of the first method to remove the original hard drive from the PS4 console. Connect the old and new hard drives to your Windows computer using a USB connection. Make sure your computer's operating system recognizes both drives.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, click "Clone" in the main interface and select "Clone Disk".

Step 2. Choose the hard disk that you need to clone as the source disk and click "Next".

Step 3. Select the destination disk to store the data on the source disk, and then click "Next".

Step 4. Then, you can check the source and destination disk in the next window or change to “Sector to Sector clone”, and click the "Confirm" button to continue if there is no problem.

Here, you can also click the "Settings" button to adjust the partition size on the destination disk or tick "4k alignment" to improve the reading and writing speed of SSD if the target disk is an SSD drive.

Step 5. At last, click "Apply" and "Proceed" in the main interface to start cloning the hard drive.

Step 8. Once the cloning process is complete, proceed to install the new hard drive into the PS4 console, replacing the old hard drive. This approach ensures a smooth transition to the new Hard drive, with no need to reinstall games or other data.

Conclusion

In fact, there are at least two possible ways to make your PS4 install new hard dirve, each catering to different preferences and needs. AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a reliable solution, especially if your goal is to complete the upgrade without reinstalling everything.

In addition, AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro does more than just facilitate PS4 hard drive upgrades. It offers a range of additional features that make it a comprehensive tool for disk management on Windows computers. These features include migrating OS to SSD, converting between MBR and GPT partition styles without deleting partitions, splitting partitions, and even converting dynamic disks to basic disks without losing any data.