The best PS5 external hard drives can put to bed one of the most frustrating experiences with Sony's pixel-pusher - its measly storage. No matter if you're rocking the 825GB of the launch model or even the 2TB of the PS5 Pro, the ever-growing storage demands of modern games can make those on-board drives fill up fast. This is only going to get worse in 2028 in a post-physical PS5 game future.
External drives can help rectify space issues that plague the Sony console and provide a ton of extra space without you having to delve into the innards of your machine. We've been plugging all the latest and greatest PS5 hard drives and SSDs into our consoles for years now, running speed tests, checking sizes, and weighing all those benefits against the final price. While you won't be able to run games off them like the best SSDs for PS5, we're still looking out for fast, reliable read and write speeds, a good range of capacity options, and a strong, durable chassis that can stand the test of time.
Through that labor of testing love, we've come to the conclusion that the best PS5 external hard drive right now is the WD Black P40, with its sturdy shell and excellent speeds to match its capacity. The rising costs of storage will, unfortunately, make it hard to find it for its original MSRP, but there is a wealth of external hard drives for gaming out there at a variety of price points if you want to find a better bargain.
As someone who's not only been using the PS5 almost since launch but regularly needs extra storage for creating music, I've gotten myself more than familiar with external SSDs. Unlike internal drives, you can't run games off these, but having that extra storage on hand can make a world of difference, especially if you're constantly low on space. I hate the barrage of notifications that my PS5 is full up, so I'm here to guide you on what external SSD options out there can provide extra game, and even game capture, and storage - no matter your budget.
The Quick List
If it's plain and simple storage space you want without the various bells and whistles of portable SSDs, look no further than the Seagate Portable Drive.
If it's cheap and cheerful HDD storage you're looking for, the Toshiba Canvio Advance is a total staple of the market. Just don't expect fast speeds.
This portable SSD comes at a price, but it's the quickest and sturdiest external hard drive we've ever tested. If you can afford it, go for a P40.
If you want loads of room for games, 4TB will last you ages. This HDD My Passport from WD won't give you great speeds, but it's cheaper than a 4TB SSD.
The best PS5 external hard drive overall
✅ You want a HDD to back up older games: The Seagate Portable Drive is an affordable way to back up any games you don't want to have to reinstall, or just for storing any extra media too.
❌ You want to run PS4 games off the drive: This isn't going to cut down the loading speeds of PS4 games due to its less-than-ideal speeds, so if that's important it's best looking elsewhere.
The Seagate Portable Drive isn't going to knock your socks off. If you want to play games off an external drive, or you want to transfer games back and forth in record time, this probably isn't what you should go for. On the other hand, if you need a simple HDD for backing up files, storing older games you don't want to have to download, or just a basic hard drive for storing documents and media, it's hard to argue with what Seagate has here.
For starters, you're not going to find many external hard drives that come cheaper than this. You're talking 1TB under $50 / £50, and capacities of up to 5TB should you really need more space. While there's no USB-C out of the box, the Seagate Portable Drive is compatible with USB 3.0, so it's not all doom and gloom in terms of read and write speeds. Using USB 3.0, I've done hours of video editing off of this drive and never once encountered any stuttering or freezing, so it's reliable enough for a traditional spinning disc drive.
The reasons you should avoid this drive are if you need anything more than what HDD can provide. If you want the speediest offering in a portable drive, opt for something more expensive. Similarly, the plastic casing doesn't feel very sturdy, so if you want to avoid damage and some extremely tricky repairs, maybe opt for something else.
Editor's Note - The Seagate Astro Bot Limited Edition Gaming Hard Drive is available from Seagate for $159.99 (Best Buy) and features up to 5TB worth of storage. If you'd prefer a Seagate drive to pay homage to one of your favorite PS5 titles, it's available across a wide variety of US and UK retailers and can store both PS4 and PS5 titles.
The best backup PS5 external hard drive
✅ You're still rocking the PS4: If you haven't completely written off your PS4, this drive is great for storing extra games, or even transferring them over to your PS5.
❌ You want the fastest transfer speeds: As an HDD, the Canvio Advance isn't going to rival the speeds of the best external PS5 SSDs.
The Canvio Advance is a simple way to bring those backed-up PS4 games over to your new console. Touting simple HDD speeds, the Canvio Advance is a cheap and cheerful hard drive for PS5, and one of our favorites to recommend to gamers who don't need the best of the best. It is superior to the Basics range from Toshiba in every way but just performs exactly as needed - just as well as most other HDDs, and often for a lower price.
This one's roughly the same cost as the Basics, but comes with a few extra tricks. The read and write speeds are marginally faster, there's a two-year warranty, and if you fancy turning the Canvio Advance into a PC drive it has password protection and automatic backup, which is lacking from the Basics model.
Anyway, using it is still as easy as ever. Just plug it into your PS4 and format it as extended storage. As a result of this, the Advance doesn't require an external power source and just functions over USB.
The best PS5 external SSD
✅ You want super fast transfer speeds: The P40 was able to transfer 22GB worth of recorded PS5 game footage in no time at all, so if you're planning on transferring bit blocks of data, this is more then ideal.
❌ It's too pricey for your budget: The P40 is one of the more expensive external drives of this list, so it won't suit everyone's budget.
The WD_Black P40 SSD is the latest in WD's gaming-focused external hard drives, and it's one of the best performers you'll find. It takes the specs and design of the P50 and carries both over to a compact build that makes use of some beautiful RGB lighting.
Read and write speeds were great in testing. The 2000MB/s speed you see on the box is as good as you'll get in an external hard drive, but in reality, it translates to some great load times and transfer speeds on PS5 and PC. I had a load of game capture footage stored on my PS5 I had been meaning to move across to my computer for video editing, and even though it was about 30 clips spanning a total of 22GB, the P40 swallowed it up from the PS5 in about a minute. The same was true of games once I formatted it for some extra storage. I transferred three games that added up to 18GB, and it transferred in just shy of a minute.
Disappointingly, the P40 is one of the pricier options up and down this list. For your money, you get the drive, which comes with WD's Windows dashboard, a USB-C cable and USB-A adapter, a quick install guide, and a 5-year warranty that I'd be surprised if you need to use. WD's solid build with forged aluminium means it's a sturdy piece of kit.
The best 4TB PS5 external hard drive
✅You want a simple but reliable external PS5 HDD: The WD My Passport portable hard drive is a reasonable priced HDD that doesn't have the speeds of modern SSDs, but still comes in 4TB versions worthy enough to store your extra PS5 games.
❌ 4TB isn't enough for your needs: The WD My Passport 4TB Portable Hard Drive is great value for money, however, it doesn't go any larger than 4TB. So if you need 8TB, or even more storage to keep all your PS4/PS5 games stored way, this won't be for you.
Long having ruled over the external storage market in the PS4 and Xbox One generation, the My Passport drive from Western Digital is still one of the most reliable, convenient, and versatile HDDs you can buy. It's only bumped down to a 'lower position on this list due to our take that SSDs shade it over HDDs in the PS5 generation. However, for anyone looking for a standard, reasonably priced PS5 external hard drive that's an HDD this remains a top, top option.
It's a simple USB connection, it's small and sturdy - about the size of a smart phone - and the My Passport series' aesthetic is pleasing and brings further style to a quality HDD, meaning it'll slot seamlessly into your setup and be unobtrusive even if it's on show.
In terms of specific capacities, we'd probably go for the 4TB version. This is because we've seen the biggest savings on the 4TB, and you do get better value, generally, with the bigger drives. A 4TB HDD will provide easily enough space for 50+ games, and loads of saves, data, and media too.
How we test PS5 external hard drives
When reviewing the best PS5 external hard drives, we assess each SSD and HDD based on various factors, including capacity, speed, and price. While not all storage options will have the same specs, appropriately weighing up what each option offers for its MSRP is crucial, ultimately helping us make recommendations for specific use cases and scenarios.
We start by checking what each brand tells us their PS5 external hard drives can offer in the way of sequential read and write speeds. We measure data transfer times across both PC and PS5 to ensure the process of moving games between the system and the hard drive is smooth and fast. These transfers consist of larger games, spanning the PS4 and PS5's release catalog. Our go-tos include Fortnite, Marvel Rivals, Death Stranding Director's Cut, and any recent AAA PS5 releases we can get our hands on, as they have the tendency to be pretty storage demanding.
We measure these transfer times against the marketed speeds of the drive to ascertain the true value of each device. We then go in-game, measuring loading times on a cold boot of the same titles on a PlayStation 5 to explore a device's real-world performance. For more information on how we test SSDs and hard drives, swing by our GamesRadar+ hardware policy for more info.
Also tested
The best PS5 external hard drives: FAQ
Should you buy an external hard drive for the PS5?
Picking up any compatible external hard drive for your PS5 is ideal if you're struggling to cope with the limitations for your console's onboard storage and the ever-growing install sizes of the latest AAA PS5 games.
You can't run games off this storage, which is why we recommending picking up one of the best PS5 SSDs instead if you want to store and run as many games as possible. However, an external drive can still help store all your PS Plus titles, and better yet, plenty of them are compact and portable and can be easily stored and removed, unlike their internal M.2 SSD counterparts.
Is 1TB enough for PS5?
We think that 1TB for an internal SSD is going to be the sweet spot for most players. This would give your PS5 just over 1.5TB of proper usable space, and also ensures you're not paying silly money for the 2TB and up variants of the SSDs - this is where prices can skyrocket (some 2TB models are about the same price as a whole PS5!).
Externally, you do get way more bang for your buck, and we'd say a 1TB model is probably a minimum, a starting point. Particularly in sales season, you'll find high-quality 2TB and up models - of SSDs - coming down to the same prices as their smaller counterparts. HDDs will get you even further and 4TB and 5TB models will get you all the storage you'll ever need, for a low price - if you're happy with slower speeds.
Is external SSD or HDD better for PS5
We would always suggest you go for SSD over HDD, as performance is exponentially better in solid state drives. Looking to the future, you'll get more money out of an SSD, especially with prices on them being at their most affordable rate in years. While you may find higher capacities of HDD, we'd advocate for SSD if you want the best futureproofing.
Can I use any external hard drive for PS5?
PS5 external hard drives utilize the USB 3.0 port on the back of the system in order to provide the fastest transfer times available. This means the vast majority of USB-powered drives can work with the system. However, they will need to be formatted correctly, and a lot of the time that means wiping them clean of any existing data on the drive first.
When you initially plug in an external drive, the PlayStation 5 will prompt you to format it if you need to, so it's a quick and easy process. Just ensure you've transferred any existing data off of it first.
Do games run slower on a PS5 external hard drive?
Unfortunately, PS5 games can't be played from an external drive, even if it's an external SSD. While you can store games on an external drive, you'll just need to transfer them back to internal storage before you play them.
The good news is, you can play PS4 games from an external drive, and since the internal storage of the PS4 was an HDD, you shouldn't experience any slow-downs if you run games from an external drive. If you use an external SSD, you may even experience quicker load times than are typical for PS4 games.
Can you use an external hard drive for the PS5 and PS4?
Yes, you can use an external hard drive for both the PS4 and the PS5. However, PS5 games cannot run off an external hard drive, and so will only be able to be stored on your drive. Your PS4 games, however, will be playable from the external hard drive.
If you want to check out storage solutions for other older platforms, we also have lists for the best Xbox One hard drives, the best PS4 SSDs, and the best PS4 external hard drives.
