Formatting external hard drive for ps4​

Formatting an external hard drive for PS4 is a straightforward process that can significantly expand your console’s storage capacity. 

Formatting on PS4

Check Compatibility: Ensure your external hard drive meets the PS4’s requirements. The drive should have a capacity between 250GB and 8TB and use the USB 3.0 interface for optimal performance.

Connect the Drive: Plug the external hard drive into one of the PS4’s USB ports using a USB cable. The PS4 will automatically detect the device, and a message will appear in the corner of the screen indicating that the device has been foundseagate.com.

Access the Settings: On the PS4’s main screen, navigate to the “Settings” menu.

Select USB Storage Devices: Scroll down to “Devices” and then select “USB Storage Devices”. The PS4 will display the detected external hard driveseagate.com.

Format the Drive: Select the external hard drive and click the “Options” button. In the menu that appears, choose “Format as Extended Storage”.

Confirm and Wait: The PS4 will display a warning message indicating that formatting will erase all data on the drive. Confirm that you want to proceed and click “OK”. The formatting process will begin, and the progress will be displayed on the screen. Wait for the process to complete, which may take several minutes depending on the size of the drive.

Formatting on Windows

Connect the Drive: Plug the external hard drive into a Windows PC using a USB cable.

Open Disk Management: Press Windows+X on your keyboard and select “Disk Management” from the menu.

Locate the Drive: In the Disk Management window, look for your external hard drive. It will usually be listed at the bottom of the window and may be labeled as “Unallocated” or with the drive letter assigned by the system.

Initialize the Drive: Right-click on the drive and select “Initialize Disk”. In the Initialize Disk dialog box, choose the partition style (MBR or GPT). For most PS4 external hard drives, MBR is sufficient. Click “OK” to initialize the drive.

Create a New Volume: Right-click on the unallocated space on the drive and select “New Simple Volume”. Follow the New Simple Volume Wizard to create a new partition. You can choose the drive letter, volume label, and file system. For PS4. select “exFAT” as the file system.

Format the Drive: After creating the new volume, the wizard will prompt you to format the drive. You can choose the quick format option to speed up the process. Click “Finish” to start formatting the drive.

Formatting on Mac

Connect the Drive: Plug the external hard drive into a Mac using a USB cable.

Open Disk Utility: You can find Disk Utility in the “Utilities” folder within the “Applications” folder.

Select the Drive: In Disk Utility, you will see a list of all the connected drives. Select your external hard drive from the list.

Erase the Drive: Click the “Erase” button at the top of the Disk Utility window.

Choose the Format: In the “Format” dropdown menu, select “MS-DOS (FAT)” or “exFAT”. For better compatibility with PS4 and to support larger file sizes, exFAT is recommended.

Name the Drive: Enter a name for the drive in the “Name” field.

Click Erase: Review the settings and click the “Erase” button to start formatting the drive. A warning message will appear indicating that all data on the drive will be erased. Confirm the operation and wait for the formatting process to complete.

File System Considerations

The PS4 supports FAT32 and exFAT file systems, but NTFS or HFS+ is not supportedseagate.com. FAT32 has limitations such as a maximum file size of only 4GB and a relatively slow cluster size cache, while exFAT is more suitable for modern usage with support for much larger file sizes and a faster cluster size cache. It is recommended to use exFAT for PS4 external hard drives to avoid potential issues with large game filesseagate.com.

Troubleshooting

Drive Not Detected: If the PS4 does not detect the external hard drive, try the following:

Make sure the drive is properly connected to the PS4 and the power supply is on if it requires external power.

Try a different USB cable or port on the PS4.

Check if the drive is formatted correctly and is in a compatible file system.

Formatting Failed: If the formatting process fails, consider the following:

Check if there are any errors or warnings displayed on the screen and follow the instructions to resolve them.

Make sure the drive is not write protected or locked. Some drives have a physical switch or lock mechanism that needs to be disabled.

Try formatting the drive on a different computer or using a different formatting tool.