It has been a long time coming but thanks to the recent PS4 system software 4.50 update released by Sony, PlayStation 4 gamers can now enjoy the ability to download and install games and applications on external hard drives.
There have been a number of questions raised about storing and playing games and applications from the external HDD storage device, and Digital foundry have created a quick video to answer a number of these queries.
It’s super easy to set up and use an external HDD with your PS4 or PS4 Pro, but before you get started, this guide may come in useful. The most important thing to remember before you buy a new storage device – or try to use one you already own – is to make sure it meets the minimum requirements for use with your PS4:
– Connection: USB 3.0 or later
– Storage: 250GB (min) – 8TB (max)Most storage devices will be a specific format out-of-the-box (usually FAT32/exFAT/NTFS/HFS). To prepare it for use with your PS4 you’ll need to format it to a special type to ensure it will work:
– Go to the Settings menu from your PS4 home screen.
– Scroll down to the Devices menu.
– Choose ‘USB Storage Devices’.
– Select your external HDD, then choose “Format as extended storage”.It works brilliantly, but what are the best ways to use PS4’s extended storage feature? Tom runs through the merits of buying a sizeable 4TB external drive versus a smaller SSD (inserted into a USB enclosure). The results are surprisingly promising all round.
