PS5 SSD / HDD support and additional PS5 storage explained

PS5 console on a wooden table — (Image credit: Future)

PS5 storage support, SSD and HDD memory drives can be added to your PlayStation 5 to boost the amount of memory storage - meaning more games, files, movies and so on! The increasing size of games these days means that expanding memory is more a necessity than a luxury after a while, and the PS5 storage isn't particularly remarkable to begin with. So with that in mind, how do you increase your console memory, and what SSD/HDD will you need to do so? What's even the difference between them? We'll explain everything you need to know about this below.

PS5 compatible SSD for internal upgrades

Interface: PCI-Express Gen4x4 supported M.2 NVMe SSD (Key M)
Storage: 250 GB–4 TB
Supported sizes: 2230, 2242, 2260, 2280, 22110
Size (including heat-dissipation mechanism)
- Width: up to 25 mm
- Length: 30/40/60/80/110 mm
- Thickness: up to 11.25 mm (up to 8.0 mm from above the board, up to 2.45 mm from below the board)
Sequential read speed: 5500 MB/s or faster is recommended
Socket type: Socket 3 (Key M)

Clearly there's a lot of technical details to keep in mind, but don't worry: we've started compiling a list of potential candidates and external options over on our PS5 SSD guide.

PS5 external hard drive support

As we've talked about on our guide to the best PS5 external hard drives, from day one, you could plug any external hard drive into your PS5 and use it for additional storage. You can even take your old PS4 external hard drive and then just plug it straight into PS5. It'll recognize all your games and then queue up any patches or updates they might need - handy that.

I personally bought a brand new SSD - a 1TB Samsung option - to set up as a dedicated PS5 drive, and internally we've also tried a number of HDD drives, including those already stuffed with PS4 titles, so can confirm it's a seamless transition.

Until a recent system update in April 2021 you could only store PS4 games on an external PS5 hard drive, but that has now thankfully been fixed and you can now move PS5 games over too. You can only play PS4 games direct from an external storage solution though, you'll have to move PS5 games back onto the external SSD on PS5 as even today's best SSDs for gaming aren't quite up to the spec of the PS5's as far as giving you all those next-gen benefits go.

What you can do though is make sure you head to the settings menu > Storage > Extended Storage and set all PS4 games to automatically install to the external drive (if you've got one connected), to make sure you're using all that internal space for pure PS5 gaming. If you have any spare space though, we've found PS4 games load much faster when played directly on the PS5.

For more information check out the below:

Sam Loveridge is the Brand Director and former Global Editor-in-Chief of GamesRadar. She joined the team in August 2017. Sam came to GamesRadar after working at TrustedReviews, Digital Spy, and Fandom, following the completion of an MA in Journalism. In her time, she's also had appearances on The Guardian, BBC, and more. Her experience has seen her cover console and PC games, along with gaming hardware, for a decade, and for GamesRadar, she's in charge of the site's overall direction, managing the team, and making sure it's the best it can be. Her gaming passions lie with weird simulation games, big open-world RPGs, and beautifully crafted indies. She plays across all platforms, and specializes in titles like Pokemon, Assassin's Creed, The Sims, and more. Basically, she loves all games that aren't sports or fighting titles! In her spare time, Sam likes to live like Stardew Valley by cooking and baking, growing vegetables, and enjoying life in the countryside.