How to format a USB drive for the PS5
When you plug a USB drive or external hard drive into your PS5, you expect it to just work. Instead, you're often greeted with an annoying USB drive's file system is unsupported error. The PlayStation 5 doesn't support standard Windows NTFS formatting, which means you have to prepare the drive before the console will accept it.
Before you start, you need to decide what you are using the drive for, as the setup is completely different:
- For media & captures: If you want to move 4K screenshots and video clips from your PS5 to a computer, you should format the drive to exFAT on a Windows PC or Mac.
- For game storage: If you want to store games to free up internal console space, you must format the drive directly on the PlayStation 5 console as extended storage.
⚠️ Important: Formatting a drive erases absolutely everything on it. Make sure to back up any important files to your computer before moving forward.
Method 1: Format as exFAT on a PC (for photos and videos)
While the PS5 technically supports both FAT32 and exFAT, I highly recommend exFAT. FAT32 has a strict file size limit of 4GB. Because high-quality PS5 video clips easily exceed 4GB, FAT32 will cause your transfers to fail. exFAT has no file size limits.
- Plug the USB drive into your computer.
- Open File Explorer (⊞ + E key).
- Click This PC.
- Right-click on your USB drive.
- Select Format.
- Select exFAT at File system.
- (Optional) Give the drive a name under Volume label (e.g., PS5-Media).
- Ensure Quick Format is checked.
- Click Start.
- Confirm the warning by clicking OK.
- When the process is complete, click OK.
- Click Close to close the Format window.
Once finished, you can safely eject the drive, plug it into your PlayStation 5, and start copying your captures from the Media Gallery.
Method 2: Format on the PS5 (for USB extended game storage)
If you are plugging in an external hard drive (between 250GB and 8TB) specifically to store games, let the console handle the formatting. It will use a custom format optimized for your console.
💡 Crucial step: You must plug the external drive directly into one of the USB ports on the back of the PS5. The front USB-A port (or a cheap USB hub) does not supply enough power or speed for game storage.
- Plug your external drive into one of the USB ports on the back of your PlayStation 5.
- Go to Settings (the gear icon on the home screen).
- Open Storage.
- Select USB Extended Storage from the left-hand menu.
- Click Format as USB Extended Storage.
- Click Yes.
PS5 USB storage: Common questions
Can I play PS5 games directly from an external USB drive?
No. PS5 games require the ultra-fast speeds of the console’s internal SSD or an upgraded internal M.2 SSD. You can store PS5 games on a USB drive to save game data, but you have to copy them back to the internal storage when you're ready to play. (Note: You can play older PS4 games directly from a USB drive plugged into the PS5).
Why won't my PS5 read my USB drive?
If it's already formatted to exFAT and still isn't showing up, check the port. Extended storage hard drives require a SuperSpeed USB connection, which means they must be plugged into the back ports of the PlayStation 5.
Related:
How to play USB media on PS5: Movies, music & photos
How to play videos with subtitles on PS5 (SRT file fix)
How to copy PS5 screenshots & 4K video to USB
References:
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/ps5-extended-storage/
https://www.playstation.com/en-us/support/hardware/play-video-music-discs-usb-drives/
https://www.windowscentral.com/software-apps/windows-11/how-to-format-a-usb-drive-on-windows-11