How to upgrade a PS4 hard drive: Need more storage? Here’s how to replace your HDD

Curtis Moldrich Read more December 9, 2015

In 2016, 250GB or even 500GB of hard drive storage isn’t what it used to be. Games such as Call of Duty: Infinite Warfare ask for around 130GB of space on their own, and when you combine that with all the other DLCs and add-ons, it’s pretty easy to run out of space. In fact, if you’ve had a PS4 for around three or four years now, you’re probably coming to the limits of your HDD space. So why not replace your PlayStation 4’s hard disk drive?

How to upgrade a PS4 hard drive: Need more storage? Here’s how to replace your HDD

While getting a brand-new PS4 Pro is a great idea, if you don’t need or want the benefits of Sony’s new machine, but still want some extra storage, replacing your PS4’s hard drive is a relatively easy and cheap option to extend your console’s life. Interested? Read on to see how to replace your PS4’s hard disk drive.

How to upgrade your PS4 hard drive

The process at a glance

Back up all of your game saves and captures
Physically install the new hard drive
Upload the console’s firmware to the new hard drive
Reinstall your game saves and captures

Finding the right hard drive

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First, you’ll need to find a suitable hard drive. The PS4 will accept a standard serial ATA 2.5in internal drive of no more than 9.5mm. A quick search of Amazon or any other electronic retailer will provide plenty of results. You can go for a superfast SSD disk, a hybrid unit disk or even a larger conventional one. Just make sure it fits all of the PS4’s criteria, or there’s a chance it may not work.

We were supplied a huge Crucial 1TB SSD for this tutorial, and that means the PS4 now runs much faster than before, particularly when loading installed games. However, SSDs are a bit more expensive than their traditional counterparts, so if you’re more interested in overall space, I’d recommend looking at a cheaper, but larger 2TB hard drive.

Backing up

After you’ve bought the right drive, the next step is to back up your PS4’s existing data. If you’ve got PSN Plus, you’ll just need to make sure your game saves are uploaded to the cloud. To do this just, go to Settings | Application Saved Data Management | Saved Data In System Storage.
Once there, go to “Upload to Online Storage” and select all the data you want in the cloud. After that, just click Upload.
DLCs? Don’t worry about them. As long as your PSN account is active, you can redownload all your downloadable content from the PlayStation Store.
If you haven’t yet got PS Plus, or just don’t trust the cloud, you can upload your game saves to a USB device. To do that, with USB stick inserted, navigate to Settings | Saved Data In System Storage.
Finally, select “Copy to USB Storage Device”. Once you’ve selected the files, click Copy.

Removing the hard drive

Once the backup process is complete, it’s time to get down to the physical part of the job. First, make sure your PS4 is completely off – that means no cords attached, no lights on and unplugged from the mains.
When you’re confident the PS4 is totally off, you’ll need to slide the HDD bay cover from the top of the console. The picture below shows exactly where it is, but it’s easy to think of it as the glossy part of your PS4. Doing this doesn’t break any of the seals of the PS4, so won’t void your warranty.
After sliding open the console, you’ll find the PS4’s hard drive, but to get it out you’ll need to remove some screws. First, remove the retaining bracket at the front of the HDD and its mounting bracket.
When you’ve pulled out the HDD, you’ll need to undo four additional screws to separate it from its mounting bracket.

Replacing the hard drive

Put the new HDD back into the mounting bracket, and make sure all four screws are reattached, but not too tightly. Position it back into the system, remembering to screw it in place, and then replace the PS4’s HDD bay cover.

Reinstalling the system’s software

Now that the physical side of the job is done, all that’s left is to do is reinstall the PS4’s OS. Make sure you have a USB stick with at least 1GB of free space, and then download the PS4’s OS from here.
On your computer, create a folder called PS4, and then create a folder inside that called UPDATE.PUP.
Make sure your PS4 is completely powered down, with no lights on and then connect the USB device containing the PS4 OS.
Hold your PS4’s power button down for seven seconds, and the PlayStation will boot up in safe mode. Select “Initialize PS4 (Reinstall System Software)” to get the process under way.

Reclaiming your game saves from USB

To claim your game saves back, just insert the relevant USB stick and head to System, then “Back-up and Restore”.
To copy all other data to your PS4, leave the USB stick plugged in and go to Settings | Application Saved Data Management | Saved Data On USB Storage Device.
Select “Copy to System storage”, and then select what you want to download to your PS4. You’re done.

Reclaiming your game saves from the cloud

If you’re using the cloud, the process is even easier. To get all your stuff back from PSN’s online vaults, just head to Saved Data Management | Saved Data In Online Storage | Download To System Storage.
As for your precious DLCs? That’s easy, too. Just sign in to your PSN account and head over to the Library to redownload all of your purchased content.

Be warned, though: the process is done, but you’ll still also need to redownload the installations for your physical games – and the process could take a little while.