Do you intend to replace the stock hard disk drive in your PS4? If not, you might want to take a look into it if you frequently delete games to save up space, or you’re encountering performance issues with your PS4, like slowness, freezing, or data corrupted related errors.
Why Do You Need To Upgrade Your PS4’s Internal Hard Drive?
Fortunately, replacing the hard drive in your PS4, PS4 Slim, or PS4 Pro isn’t as difficult as it may seem. And in order to make the procedure as stress-free as possible, our detailed guide has been developed.
For a new system at a low price, you can definitely look for buying the new PS5 console. However, you can also save a ton of money by merely replacing the stock hard drive of your PS4 with a new, more powerful drive. This will help extend the console’s lifespan and improve its performance, especially if you chose an SSD for the upgrade process.
Best Internal Solid State Drives (SSD) For PS4 [2022]
Of course, giving your PlayStation 4 more storage capacity is a major advantage of upgrading your hard drive. The basic PS4 and PS4 Slim only have 500GB of storage, whereas the PS4 Pro has a greater 1TB. It won’t take many large games to entirely occupy your hard disk on low-end hardware.
You can see how rapidly your space would be consumed if you’re into these space-hungry games—games like Call of Duty: Warzone and Marvel’s Avengers require approximately 100GB of hard drive space.
Beyond the additional storage a hard drive offers, your console’s speed will noticeably increase if you install a lightning-fast SSD. However, before you do that, you need educate yourself on the benefits and drawbacks of using an SSD in PS4.
Replace the internal drive or connect one of the top PS4 external hard drives to increase your console’s storage capacity. Both of these are excellent choices, but installing a new internal drive is unquestionably the cleaner choice. especially if your gaming space is limited.
With instructions for both the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro, this tutorial will teach you how to upgrade your PS4 hard drive. Oh, and rest assured that installing any drive into your machine will not violate the warranty.
The Best Internal Storage Upgrades For PS4
You must have a replacement drive available before working on upgrading the internal storage of your PS4, PS4 Slim, or PS4 Pro, which requires completing some research. Whether you’re searching for an all-purpose drive, a low-cost item, or a lightning-fast SSD, we’ve done the math to determine which drive is the best choice.
Best PS4 Internal Storage Upgrade Options [2022]
The PS4 Internal HDD Upgrade Guide
Here are the steps to how to upgrade your PS4 internal hard drive with a new drive.
Step 1. Get the Right Upgrade Drive
The first step in upgrading the hard drive of your PS4 is to purchase a compatible replacement hard drive or SSD. When it comes to hard drives and SSDs, the PS4 employs the 2.5-inch SATA standard, which is so outdated that it’s currently mostly reserved for less expensive devices.
Due to the size of the caddy that resides inside the PS4, which safeguards the drive and holds it in place, any drive you insert into your PS4 must be between 9.5mm and 12.5mm height. This is not an issue with SSDs, but many 4TB hard drives are a touch too large, so it does prove to be rather restrictive.
There are many considerations to make when purchasing a new hard drive or solid-state drive. If you’re pressed for time, there are a few general guidelines.
Hard disks are the more cost-effective options, but even 7,200 rpm drives won’t have excellent performance; at most, you’ll receive a marginal speed improvement over the console’s original drive, and at worst, you’ll only equal it while increasing capacity. You will pay roughly $60 or less than $80 for a 1TB or 2TB hard disk.
As for an SSD, it will significantly increase loading times and game performance of your game console, especially if it’s a PS4 Pro, but SSDs are more expensive; 1TB and 2TB models typically cost around twice as much.
Step 2. Back Up Your Data
So, have you got your new PS4 HDD replacement? The next step is to back up everything on your PS4 that you really do not want to lose. The bad news is that game installs cannot be backed up. To reinstall everything, you need to download them all again.
Since your Trophies won’t be in the backup data, you need start by syncing them. Simply select “Sync Trophies with PSN” by pressing the controller’s “OPTIONS” button. Now everything will be secure for your Trophies.
Members of PlayStation Plus don’t need to worry too much about game saves either because they will be saved to the cloud automatically. To be extra safe, you can backup your files to an external hard drive or USB stick.
Simply plug in the drive, then select Settings > Application Saved Data Management > Saved Data in System Storage from the PS4 menu. You can choose to copy your saves to a USB disk from this menu. You must choose the files for each game separately, so you might wish to exclude any games you will never play again.
Go to the system menu, select backup, and then select everything on your console besides its trophies. You can decide what files or data you wish to keep, decide which USB drive to use, and then view how much space is still available on the disk. The PS4 will resume after you confirm the procedure before creating the backup.
Step 3. Remove PS4 Cover
Make sure there are no discs in the drive and turn the PS4 off entirely once you are confident you won’t be wiping out your game history (not standby). Hold down the PS button until the power menu appears if your PS4 automatically goes into standby, then choose to switch it off. Next, unhook every cable from the PS4 (likely the HDMI lead and power cord).
Place a hand on the slick top plate of the PS4 and tilt it slightly to the side while it is resting on a stable surface. This is simply a straightforward plastic drive cover that is secured in place by a simple clip rather than screws.
Lifting the cover off will allow you to see a portion of the metal skeleton of the PS4 after it is untethered from its anchors. But since only the hard disk is on display, there isn’t much damage you can do.
Remove the plastic cover from the PS4 Slim by manually unclipping it. On the back of the PS4 Slim, in the left-hand corner, is where you’ll find this footage.
When the plastic clip is taken off, a single screw holds the PS4 Slim’s hard drive caddy in place.
To uncover your PS4 Pro’s hard drive, simply place the system upside down on a flat surface and locate the small plastic panel on its rear. Use the little tab beside the Ethernet port to pop the panel off.
You can view the hard drive caddy and the one screw holding it in place by taking off this lid.
Step 4. Free Up The PS4 HDD Caddy
You’ll note that the hard disk is not completely visible on the standard PS4. Using a Phillips screwdriver, we need to remove one screw from the frame holding the hard drive.
It is the biggest one you’ll see on the metal surface and has the original PlayStation button icons set into it.
You can simply pull the drive caddy out of the PS4’s body by pulling it out horizontally after the screw has been removed.
You only need to remove the one screw holding the caddy in place in order to replace the hard drive in the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro.
The hard disk caddy will then be able to slip out.
Step 5. Pull Out the Hard Disk
The hard drive is secured to its metal chassis by four additional screws. The same Phillips screwdriver you used to remove the HDD frame can also be used to release them, which are located on its sides.
But all we need to do is remove the screws. Furthermore, you’ll see some rubbery components that the screws sit on to cushion any shocks to the drive; leave those in place.
The procedure for changing the hard drive in the PS4 Slim and PS4 Pro is essentially the same.
Step 6. Replace the PS4 HDD With The New Drive
It only requires inserting your new hard disk or SSD after the original hard drive has been made available, then undoing the previous steps. Put those four screws in the sides, insert the caddy again, secure it with the large screw, and then replace the PS4’s slick plastic HDD cover.
The procedure is the same regardless of whether you have a PS4 Slim or PS4 Pro. Replace the plastic cover after inserting the hard drive or SSD into the caddy, fastening it, and then sliding it back into the Slim or Pro console.
Are you certain that you verified the hard drive or SSD was a 9.5mm-tall or less 2.5-inch SATA drive before purchasing if it doesn’t fit?
You should be finished in 15 minutes if everything goes as smoothly as it did for us.
Step 7. Download & Install the PS4 System Software
You now own a PS4 with entirely empty storage. The hard drive you just removed contains the console’s operating system; the drive within your console is entirely empty.
You must use a different computer to download the software in standalone form. It may be found on the PlayStation website, and it currently occupies about a gigabyte.
Full instructions are provided on the PlayStation website. You’ll need a USB drive, external hard drive, or SSD with enough space to hold the download. It must be formatted using the FAT32 file system and installed into the appropriate folder. To start the PS4 in safe mode, hold down the power button for seven seconds, or until you hear two beeps.
Then, after plugging in your controller with a USB cable, you can reinstall your system software by choosing option seven. After that is finished, you can restore your backup file, at which point your PS4 should function normally, although with a newer, better hard disk or SSD.
Conclusion
Is it worthwhile to upgrade the hard disk in your PS4? Absolutely. If you’re quick, it’s simple, won’t take more than 30 minutes, and can even cost less than the cost of a new game if you use a hard drive. Additionally, if you invest more on an SSD, your system will get a significant speed gain. It’s almost as if Sony is encouraging you to do it because it doesn’t even void your warranty!
The main decision to make with the release of firmware 4.50 is whether to upgrade the internal hard disk or go external. The other important decision is between a cheaper hard disk and a more expensive, faster SSD.
If you’re tempted to choose an external, USB-connected device over an internal upgrade, keep in mind that you’ll need to locate space next to your console for the new device and remember to bring it with you whenever you move your console.
Despite being pleasantly straightforward, upgrading your PS4 hard disk does require some knowledge and can be intimidating to open your console. You will, however, be pleased with the increased space no matter what choice you select.
For avid gamers, you won’t have to remove titles from your collection in order to create room for the newest additions. Just consider that today’s largest games can exceed 100GB in size, and the 500GB and 1TB drives that came with the PS4 simply cannot accommodate that many titles.
Additionally, if you can use an SSD, you’ll benefit from a significant speed gain and tons of additional capacity. It is obvious whether to choose a hard disk or an SSD.
