In this post you’ll learn how to upgrade your PS4’s hard drive to a nice shiny new one. Maybe you want your PlayStation 4 to load games a bit faster, or you need extra space for more games, or both.
I did this recently myself, I put a terabyte solid state drive in, which replaced my original 500 gb hard drive. So now I’ve got my games loading faster and double the space!
I went for the Samsung 860 Evo. It boasts some really good specs, I got the terabyte one. But it also comes in a range of other sizes too. It’s solid state which means it’s generally more reliable and faster compared to most spinning HDD’s. And this drive has been built for speed and performance, so it’s great.
I checked out the reviews before buying and it seemed to be mostly glowing reviews and I’ve noticed some considerably good performance from it, since installing. So it’s one that I would recommend checking out. I got mine off Amazon, here’s a couple of links to it if you want to have a look:
Here’s how I installed it:
1: BACKUP YOUR ps4
First thing you’ll want to do is backup any important files from your old hard drive, such as saved files and items from your capture gallery. You’ll get a prompt to save any trophies too, as they’re saved separately.
- Format a USB drive or external hard drive to exFAT or FAT32 first, then plug it into the PS4.
- Go to [Settings] > [System] > [Back Up and Restore]
- Confirm what files you’d like to back up, then back them up.
Please note that you can choose whether or not to back up your applications (your games). I eventually choose not to because I backed up to a USB pen and there wasn’t enough room for my applications too. Then I just re-installed all my games when I was done. I did this either by inserting the discs or going into my PSN library and re-downloading my purchased games.
If you’d like more info on how to do a backup, here’s a link to the official PlayStation website on how to do it right here.
2: take the old drive out of your playstation 4
This is so quick and easy to do, it’s great.
- Slide the top of your PS4 off and that will expose the inner part of your PlayStation that houses the hard drive.
- There will be a small screw that you need to undo before taking out the drive.
- Then the drive will slide out
- You’ll notice the old drive will have 4 screws holding it in place to the enclosure. Just undo them and your hard drive will slide out.
Make a note of what way round the drive is first, so that you’ll know what way to put the new one in.
3: install your brand new drive in your ps4
Revert the process you just went through by taking the old drive out. Screw the new drive into the enclosure, making sure it’s the right way round. Then slide it back in to your PlayStation 4.
Make sure you screw the hard drive enclosure back in so that it’s secure, then pop the PS4 lid back on. See how easy that was? Now all you need to do is restore your files and you’re good to go!
4: Restore your ps4 operating system
Seeing as it’s a fresh hard drive installation, you need to install the PlayStation operating system. It was on the old drive, but those files aren’t included in the back up you did. Don’t worry, it’s very straight forward to do.
Go to the official PlayStation website and download the latest version of the operating system. You can find a link to the page right here. I recently had some trouble downloading the link from Google Chrome. If it doesn’t work for you, try a different browser.
Once you’ve downloaded the file, pop it onto a USB pen. You can use the same one you did the back up onto earlier, as it’s already formatted for a PlayStation. Just make sure you DON’T reformat it, as that will delete your backup files.
The PlayStation OS file must go onto the USB pen in a certain way. It goes like this:
- Have a folder labelled “PS4”
- Inside that folder, have another folder labelled “UPDATE”, and place the file you download inside that
- The download file should be labelled “PS4UPDATE.PUP”
Now pop your USB pen into the PS4 and turn it on. The PlayStation will give you on screen prompts on what to do. Just follow along and the PS4 will do the rest.
If you get an error code, it may be because you downloaded the wrong file off the official PlayStation page (there’s two). For me, the correct one was the second one. Or maybe the file isn’t in the correctly labelled folder. So just check.
All the info for this is quite handily laid out on the official PlayStation website which I linked already. Just check it out if you’re unsure on any of the details. It was very straight forward when I did it.
5: Restore your backup files
Now the operating system has been installed, you’ll want to restore your old saved files etc from the backup you did in the beginning. Make sure you’ve got the drive that you backed up to plugged in to your PS4 and here’s what to do:
Go to [Settings] > [System] > [Back Up and Restore] and choose to restore your PS4. Then follow the on-screen prompts. The PlayStation will do the rest!
And that should be you! Brand new hard drive installed and working. All your saved files will be there and you’ll be signed as your PSN user on your console. You may just have to re-sign in to be able to use network features. Enjoy your new hard drive!
Here’s a handy video recapping all the points made in this post. Check it out if you like! Feel free to subscribe to the channel to be kept up to date with all Hard Style Gaming videos.