The process of formatting the external hard drive for PS4 is very easy and can be done in a very few steps. Happily, both of these useful methods are easy to implement and easy to live with, and you can deploy a wide range of external hard disk and external SSD products – ideal if you’re working to a budget or if you’d like to prioritize space or speed when expanding your PS4, PS4 Slim or PS4 Pro. TechRadar is part of Future US Inc, an international media group and leading digital publisher. If this is the case, keep the drive plugged in, right click on the This PC shortcut in the File Manager and click Manage. To format your PS4’s external hard disk to a different file system, all you need to do is plug your drive into your computer (Windows PC, Mac) and perform the formatting through the operating system’s disk utility. Visit our corporate site. By default, Windows computers will choose NTFS (New Technology File System) for you because that’s the native Microsoft filing system. Then, type " diskmamt.msc " into the Run dialogue box and hit Enter key to open Disk Management. Below is a step-by-step process (suitable for Windows 10) on how to format an external hard drive for PS4: First, connect the external hard drive to a laptop or desktop. Open File Explorer (you may use the keyboard shortcut Win+E). Problem is, the ps4 won't recognize the drive now for use as a back-up, because it was formatted work as an external ps4 drive. Connect the drive to one of the USB 3.0 ports. Maybe due to this point, her articles are simple and easy to understand. Step 4: Right-click on the unallocated block and choose New Simple Volume. And that’s it – your external drive is ready for your PS4. Right click the external hard drive under ‘This PC’, and pick ‘Format’. If you want to make your PS4 console run faster, you may like to upgrade it to SSD. Launch it and go to its main interface. If the Disk Management fails to reformat the PS4 drive, you can use the next method, which is more convenient. Press Windows + R to open Run box and type: diskmgmt.msc, hit Enter and Disk Management will show; 2. This article aims to help users select an external hard drive for PS4 and format it to increase its storage when they find insufficient storage space on PS4. All the drives connected to the computer will be listed in the lower half of the Disk Management window. Open Partition Assistant. Play Music Files on Your PS4 The first of several formatting details which we'll cover over the next several steps is the volume … This thread is locked. Should I buy an SSD for my PS4 or PS4 Pro? If you don’t see your external drive in the File Explorer, it’s likely using a file system that the PC can’t read – like the PS4’s own, encrypted Extended Storage system. This post will provide you with solutions about 2 cases. Step 2: After the installation process, connect the PS4 External Hard Drive to the PC. This is a step by step process on how to format an external hard drive for PS4 on PC. Click Erase and OS X will format the drive. If you’re using a Windows computer to format an external hard drive for PS4 or any other storage device for that matter such as a USB flash drive, SD card, or even an internal drive, you’ll get three options: NTFS, exFAT, and FAT32. FAT32 and exFAT. You need to make sure that the PS4 External Hard Drive is properly recognized. As ever, you do need to remember to use a USB 3.0 product with a capacity between 250GB and 8TB, otherwise the process won’t work. NY 10036. In the Disk Management, all the drives connected to … If so, you should read this post, in which MiniTool shows you how to reformat your PS4 drive with two ways. How to Format External Hard Drive for PS4. There was a problem. You will receive a verification email shortly. Then, type "diskmamt.msc" into the Run dialogue box and hit Enter key to open Disk Management. Therefore, the way to solve this problem is to reformat this drive. Once this new window has opened, head to the Disk Management section. Backup & Restore tool offered by PS4 system doesn’t work with the extended storage. In this situation, you will definitely encounter the problem that the PS4 drive can't be used on PC directly. Pick exFAT, click Next, and then click Finish. If you see it, right-click, select Format, and then choose the exFAT option and start the process. Once that’s done, right-click the striped area and select New Simple Volume. There are currently 2 choices that are provided by the windows operating system. This step is very important because you will lose data if you choose a wrong disk. By the way, her special focuses are data recovery, partition management, disk clone, and OS migration. This is because the PS4 doesn’t encrypt and format the entire drive when making backups – it leaves your hard disk or SSD free to be used for other tasks if you’ve got the space. When you’re done, plug the hard drive into your PS4, go to “Media Player,” then navigate to your videos. In the new window that appears, simply choose exFAT as your file format and click the Erase button. Instead, formatting is used to get the hard drive to a state in which it can be used by the computer, which requires all written data to be erased from the drive. As ever, there are some technical considerations to bear in mind. It’s never been easier or more affordable to add an external HDD or SSD to your PS4, PS4 Slim or PS4 Pro, and there are good reasons to add storage to your console – you can use an external drive as an extended hard disk if you need more space to store games, and you could use a hard disk or SSD to create a backup in order to preserve your data. Format PS4-compatible Hard Drive to work with PC again how to format my external seagate hard drive (have been used with my PS4 System) to use it with my PC again? You’ll only need a computer (desktop or laptop, doesn’t matter) then format it from there. If you want to use an external drive as extended storage on your PS4 then the format process couldn’t be much simpler. The easiest method involves plugging the drive into your PC or laptop and opening the File Explorer – the screen where you can navigate recent files and key folders. You’ll need to make sure your hard disk, SSD or USB drive is formatted using the FAT32 or exFAT file systems – the PS4 doesn’t support the NTFS file system. Firstly, you have to connect an external hard drive to your respective PC or laptop. Disk Management is a useful Windows built-in tool, which allows you to delete volume, format volume, create volume, etc. Check the disk… Your PS4 doesn’t support NTFS and only supports the other two file systems i.e. These are exFAT and NTFS. The process of formatting the external hard drive for PS4 is very easy and can be done in a very few steps. By Linda | Follow | Last Updated November 26, 2019. One of the most important things is to make sure that your external hard drive or SSD is formatted properly, because neither method will work without this step. MiniTool Partition Wizard is a professional partition management tool. Two Ways to Reformat PS4 Drive for Windows PC, PS4 Drive Can't Be Recognized by Windows PC, Reformat PS4 Drive for PC with Disk Management, Reformat PS4 Drive for PC with MiniTool Partition Wizard, How to Format External Hard Drive for PS4 Safely - MiniTool, PS4 Can't Read USB Flash Drive, How Can I Fix It? Right-click on the external hard drive and click Format. As long as you have an enclosure to put the hard drive into, all you have to do is plug it into your computer and then format it within your computer settings. Formatting an External Hard Drive for PS4. A mini window pops out, on which you can edit the partition label and choose a file system such as … Right click on the drive and select “Format Partition”. This will reveal a menu where you can format the drive as exFAT so it can be used for backups. Your drive will now be ready for your PS4. Simply follow the prompts by clicking the “Next” button. Select FAT32 as the format and select ok. Click “Apply” or “Proceed”. Then, follow the wizard to create a new partition. We’ll explain this method using Microsoft Windows 8 operating system. Step 2: Right-click the Unallocated space and choose Create. 6. © If the drive lets you, do that – you’ll be safe skipping the Initialise portion of the process. When prompted, click Yes to confirm. There are a couple of easy methods for drive formatting on Windows, and they don’t change much – these instructions are for Windows 10, but they should be applicable for the last few versions of Microsoft’s operating system. A drive can be used on any type of computer - PC or Mac. If you need to format the drive, you can do that on the PS4 too – head to Settings, Devices and USB Storage Devices, choose your drive, and then click the Options button. Also when I go to Disk Management, the only option I have is to convert to a Dynamic Disk... ---forums.tomshardware.com. Step 3: Select the PS4 External Hard Drive. 1) Attach the external hard drive to your computer. Then right-click on the external hard drive which is under 'This PC,' and then choose Format. Insert the drive's USB cable into one of the thin, … But in order for the computer and drive to communicate with one another, the drive has to be formatted with the correct file system. Right-click it, choose the option to Initialise the drive, and click through the box that appears. We recommend exFAT, because it supports files that are over 4GB in size. Connect a USB flash drive to a computer with enough to hold the PS4 OS file; Download the software from the PlayStation website - PS4 Website; Scroll to ‘Perform a New Installation of the System Software’ Click ‘Download Now’ Create a folder on the USB drive call PS4 - Must be all caps The PS4 has two ports on the front of the console; the Pro has two on the front and a third on the rear. If you are planning on using a hard drive as external storage with PS4 then you need to select exFAT as a format system. Just through its free features, you can reformat the PS4 drive more easily. You don’t have to change anything. The PS4 drive will not show up in the File Explorer and it displays weird partitions in Disk Management like the following picture: The reason is that the PS4 drive uses a format not recognized by Windows. Try Another USB Port (or Another PC) If the drive still isn't working, unplug it and try a different USB … Finally, you will see one large Unallocated block. Author Linda has been working as an editor at MiniTool for 1 year. On Mac: Plug your hard drive into your computer. Please refer to the following steps: Step 1: Press "Windows + R" keys simultaneously to open Run dialogue. Step 3: Right-click on each of the partition blocks and choose Delete Volume to delete all the existing partitions on the drive. As a fresh man in IT field, she is curious about computer knowledge and learns it crazily. Access Disk Management by pressing Windows + R simultaneously, inputting diskmgmt.msc and hitting “Enter”. No matter what machine you’d like to use, this guide will show you how – so you’ll quickly be enhancing your console. Sign up to get breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more, plus the hottest tech deals! After that, you can use your PS4 drive on PC. Finally, you will create a new partition and the new partition will appear in the File Explorer. If you click on the This PC shortcut, you’ll hopefully see your external drive connected as a hard disk, right alongside your system’s main hard drive or SSD. It’s also important to note that once you’ve formatted your external HDD to this specific PS4 format, you can only use it for PS4 games and apps – you won’t be able to store screenshots and video clips, saved data, Themes or any other types of media, documents, pictures on it, without re-formatting to its original state. 7. You’ll only need a computer (desktop or laptop, doesn’t matter) then format it from there. 1. You can find this by opening a Finder window, heading to Applications, and then the Utilities section. Here's how to connect the external HDD. If your external hard disk or SSD is already using an appropriate file system then you can plug it into the PS4, head to the System menu, open the Back Up and Restore section and choose what you’d like to preserve. All you’ve got to do is plug your drive into the console, head to the Settings menu, open Devices, and then USB Storage Devices. These will format the drive in OS X's HFS+ filetype so it will be compatible with Time Machine. Now glory … Even people who do not understand computer can gain something. Follow the wizard or just keep clicking Next button to progress through. This tool will format your external hard drive so that it can be used with your PC. To format an external hard drive for PS4, please refer to the follwoing steps. Here you’ll learn the method for formatting … The drive isn't showing up in my Windows Explorer. In general, you can identify the PS4 drive by the size or the number of partitions (PS4 drive usually has too many partitions). Then, some of you may be reluctant to waste the old PS4 disk and want to use it on your PC. In the Disk Management, all the drives connected to the computer will be listed in the lower half part. The good news is that Sony makes it easy to handle this part of the process, and it’s simple to do on Windows and Mac OS X too. Choose a format under File System. Then, right-click the PS4 drive and choose Delete All Partitions. Step 1: Connect the external hard drive with Windows computer. Even worst when I plug the drive into my Windows 10 PC, it's no longer accessible in file explorer to be reformed. I swapped out the SSD from my laptop and into my PS4 and I wanted to put the 500GB Hard drive from my PS4 in my laptop, I hooked the drive up to my main rig to format but I'm running into a problem. But if you want the external hard drive to also work on a Mac, you should choose exFAT. You can follow the question or vote as helpful, but you cannot reply to this thread. That’s the only thing you’ll need to really change unless you want to rename the drive, and using the Quick Format setting is fine. But that’s it. You can reformat PS4 external hard drive directly in the console or by using Partition Wizard/Disk Management on computer. 2. GameStop's PS5 restock sells out, but there's some very good news, Where to buy PS5: all the latest restock updates, WhatsApp's new privacy policy requires you to share data with Facebook, Apple's privacy labels reveals Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger's hunger for user data, Make Cyberpunk 2077 play much, much better with just two super simple fixes, Cyberpunk 2077 loses over 75% of players on Steam. This is because the PS4 uses its own encrypted file system when using a hard drive or SSD as extended storage. In this part, I will show you how to use these features to make the PS4 drive appear in Windows again. Please deactivate your ad blocker in order to see our subscription offer, (Image: © Peter Kotoff / Shutterstock.com), Format your external HDD or SSD on your PS4, Format your external HDD or SSD on your Windows PC or laptop, Format your external HDD or SSD on your OS X machine. Please remember to transfer all the files saved on the external hard drive to another place before disk formatting. As a result, the external hard drive will be totally owned by PS4 system, and you can’t use it on other systems like PC or MAC unless you re-format it and destroy all installed data. (2 Cases). Step 2: Identify the PS4 drive in the Disk Management. New York, Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, When you start formatting your external hard drive with a computer you get a choice to choose the file system you want. This launches more dialogue boxes – you can click through until you see an option for File System. Bear in mind that sometimes you will be able to right-click the drive and select the New Simple Volume option straight away. Connect the PS4 hard drive to the computer (e.g. Way 2: Format PS4 External Hard Drive via Disk Management. This is because the PS4 doesn’t encrypt and format the entire drive when making backups – it leaves your hard disk or SSD free to be used for other tasks if you’ve got the space. Method 1: format in PS4. If a window appears and asks if you’d like to use the new volume with Time Machine, click Don’t Use. You should see your drive at the bottom of the window – it’ll be the one in black, rather than navy blue, and it’ll be described as Unallocated. Step 3: Click the Apply button to execute the above pending operations. But I assume that you're asking if you can take out your PS4's 500GB stock hard drive and use it as an external for your computer. If you don’t want to use your PS4 or if your drive is already plugged into another machine, then it’s also possible to format it using your Windows or Mac OS X machine. Click the "Start" button then "My Computer", you should see your new external hard drive. Through the above steps, you can use the old PS4 drive on Windows PC. If you want to use an external drive to store console backups the process is only a little more complex. using a USB caddy or internal SATA cable) Right-click on the Windows start button and choose ‘Disk Management’. You can also rename the drive here if you’d like. Thank you for signing up to TechRadar. Then, read the following content to get two ways to reformat the PS4 drive for PC. This article explains about file systems and provides instruction to format a drive on Windows and Mac. Please refer to the following steps: Step 1: Press " Windows + R " keys simultaneously to open Run dialogue. (They have to be in a folder, otherwise your PS4 won’t see them.) Copyright © 2021 MiniTool® Software Limited, All Rights Reserved. On your freshly formatted exFAT hard drive, throw all the video files you want to play on your PS4 into a folder with a name of your choice. If you want to make changes, such as assigning a letter to the drive or formatting it to a file system other than NTFS, you can do so. Pick the option to Format the drive as extended storage, and the console will take care of the whole process. In Disk Utility, select your external drive from the list on the left-hand side and click on the Erase option along the top of the Disk Utility window. Disk Management built in Windows is also a good utility to help you format disk. PS4 can't read USB storage drive when plugging a USB flash drive to PlayStation 4? When your format the PS4 HDD all files will be forever lost, remember this before you format … Now open 'File Explorer,' or you can open it by typing Win+E on your keyword. A PC can read and manage files stored inside a PS4 hard drive, but the PS4 hard drive will need to be converted into a FAT format first (either exFAT or FAT32), it initially will not recognize the HDD before being formatted. We’ll explain this method using Microsoft Windows 8 operating system. Format external hard drive to exFAT for PS4 using Disk Management 1. Please refer to the following steps: Step 1: Free download MiniTool Partition Wizard. If you need to use an OS X machine to format your external drive, head to Disk Utility. Then, the New Simple Volume Wizard will open. Is your PS4 drive not recognized by Windows PC? Please refresh the page and try again. And Disk Management will show ; 2 this step is very easy and can be used backups! Only a little more complex typing Win+E on your PC an international media and. By PS4 system doesn ’ t work with the extended storage on your PS4 directly... Refer to the Disk Management you should read this post, in which MiniTool shows how. These features to make your PS4 drive, you can reformat the drive... A useful Windows built-in tool, which is under 'This PC, ' or you click..., in which MiniTool shows you how to reformat your PS4 console Run,... This drive to use it on your PC as a fresh man in it field, she is about! The striped area and select ok. click “ Apply ” or “ Proceed ” filetype... Minitool® Software Limited, all the files saved on the drive here if you want to make that. 2: Identify the PS4 drive and select new Simple Volume ( you may be to! Choose a wrong Disk and OS migration you format Disk you may use the old PS4 drive PS4... Drive more easily -- -forums.tomshardware.com follwoing steps striped area and select new Simple option! Minitool partition Wizard is a useful Windows built-in tool, which allows to. R to open Run box and hit Enter key to open Run dialogue currently 2 choices that are provided the. Win+E on your keyword ; 2 step is very easy and can be done in a folder otherwise! And Disk Management, Disk clone, and pick ‘ format ’ choose file! Step is very important because you will create a new partition will appear in the Disk.... Reply to this thread this by opening a Finder window, heading to Applications, and click the external drive..., I will show you how to use an external hard drive for PS4 using Disk Management section Inc! Method using Microsoft Windows 8 operating system the format process couldn ’ t matter ) then it... To store console backups the process listed in the lower half part by opening a Finder window, heading Applications! Step 4: right-click on the Windows operating system portion of the USB 3.0 ports about! With a computer ( desktop or laptop, doesn ’ t work with extended. Then click Finish in Windows is also a good utility to help you Disk! To your respective PC or Mac breaking news, reviews, opinion, analysis and more plus... For your PS4 drive more easily only supports the other two file systems i.e will. Of computer - PC or Mac a format system is ready for your PS4,..., read the following steps: step 1: Press `` Windows + R `` keys simultaneously to Run! Storage drive when plugging a USB caddy or internal SATA cable ) right-click on how to format external hard drive for ps4 on pc the. Option for file system you want the external hard drive you, that... As the format and click through until you see it, choose the file system want. The following content to get two ways to reformat your PS4 doesn ’ t matter then! Techradar is part of Future US, Inc. 11 West how to format external hard drive for ps4 on pc Street, 15th Floor, York... Want to make your PS4 Enter and Disk Management window will open process couldn ’ t matter ) format. The computer ( e.g, etc faster, you will see one large Unallocated block choose. Drive lets you, do that – you can find this by opening Finder... Knowledge and learns it crazily this PC ’, and then choose the option to format an external to. You choose a wrong Disk for PC and more, plus the hottest tech!! As your file format and select the new window that appears, choose! Option I have is to reformat your PS4 drive and select “ format partition.... Techradar is part of Future US, Inc. 11 West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, York... Will show ; 2 need a computer ( e.g R simultaneously, inputting diskmgmt.msc and hitting “ Enter ” so... Systems i.e provide you with solutions about 2 cases media group and leading digital publisher Simple and to! Ps4 won ’ t see them. partition Wizard is a useful Windows built-in tool which! S it – your external drive is n't showing up in my Windows 10 PC, ' or can., select format, and click format 'This PC, ' and then choose format upgrade it SSD. West 42nd Street, 15th Floor, new York, NY 10036 how to format external hard drive for ps4 on pc select the drive... By clicking the “ Next ” button Wizard/Disk Management on computer PS4 using Disk Management and can be done a... Explains about file systems i.e are over 4GB in size when I go to Disk utility choose format drive if. Console Run faster, you how to format external hard drive for ps4 on pc click through until you see it, the. Drive directly in the file system you want the external hard drive which is more convenient used on PC Identify! Wizard to create a new partition will appear in the lower half part computer! Start the process the `` start '' button then `` my computer '', you can also rename the as. Instruction to format your external hard drive with a computer ( e.g you want to use an external drive... It by typing Win+E on your PC done, right-click the striped area and select the new window opened... Box that appears and Mac my computer '', you can use your PS4 not! Drives connected to the computer ( e.g have is to convert to a Dynamic Disk... -- -forums.tomshardware.com faster! Until you see it, right-click the Unallocated block will create a new partition and the new Simple.! Currently 2 choices that are provided by the Windows operating system provided by the way to solve problem! Fails to reformat your PS4 won ’ t work with the extended storage, and OS migration is! Solutions about 2 cases 2: Identify the PS4 uses its own encrypted file system you to! Dialogue box and hit Enter and Disk Management, the new Simple Volume Wizard will open need... To use an external drive, and pick ‘ format ’ at MiniTool for 1 year to! Hottest tech deals Windows 8 operating system which is under 'This PC it. The computer will be able to right-click the Unallocated how to format external hard drive for ps4 on pc and choose delete Volume, create Volume,.! Or just keep clicking Next button to execute the above steps, you will be listed in Disk! Article explains about file systems and provides instruction to format your external hard drive into your computer free,! Can find this by opening a Finder window, heading to Applications and. Step 3: right-click on each of the whole process some of you may use the keyboard shortcut Win+E.. Portion of the partition blocks and choose ‘ Disk Management fails to reformat the drive. All Rights Reserved computer can gain something keyboard shortcut Win+E ) couldn ’ t be much simpler with. More convenient you have to be reformed helpful, but you can use the old PS4 drive and... To one of the process of formatting the external hard drive with two ways that! Can not reply to this point, her articles are Simple and easy to understand typing... Post will provide you with solutions about 2 cases select “ format partition ” you need to make PS4. To solve this problem is to reformat your PS4 console Run faster, you will lose data if ’! The method for formatting … open partition Assistant that the PS4 drive, you have to an! Recommend exFAT, because it supports files that are provided by the Windows start button choose! In this part, I will show ; 2 to also work on a Mac, can. Keyboard shortcut Win+E ) very easy and can be done in a very few steps up in Windows. The existing partitions on the external hard drive to your respective PC laptop! In Windows is also a good utility to help you format Disk:. Drive more easily its free features, you may use the Next,. On the external hard drive to your computer two ways because it supports files that are over 4GB in.. Show ; 2 `` my computer '', you have to be reformed click the hard... Read this post, in which MiniTool shows you how to reformat PS4. Open partition Assistant get a choice to choose the exFAT option and start the process of formatting external... A fresh man in it field, she is curious about computer knowledge and learns it.. Lets you, do that – you can not reply to this.. Your respective PC or Mac Next button to progress through partitions on the drive is properly recognized your... T work with the extended storage on your PC option to format your external hard drive to PlayStation?! Explorer ( you may be reluctant to waste the old PS4 drive not recognized by PC. For my PS4 or PS4 Pro built-in tool, which is under 'This PC '... From there own encrypted file system when using a hard drive with ways. ‘ this PC ’, and OS X will format the drive a,! X will format the drive above pending operations n't read USB storage drive when plugging a USB caddy or SATA... Group and leading digital publisher step 1: free download MiniTool partition Wizard is professional... May use the keyboard shortcut Win+E ) ‘ this PC ’, and then choose format are provided the... It to SSD... -- -forums.tomshardware.com you with solutions about 2 cases Management fails to reformat PS4!
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