PS5 External Hard Drive Not Supported | Fixed
Because the PS5’s internal SSD has a limited capacity that doesn’t satisfy most users, PS5 users may wish to connect an external device to the system in order to expand their console’s storage capability. However, if your PlayStation 5 does not support the external hard drive you have in hand, it can be something really frustrating, especially if you’ve already made sure that your external hard drive meets the PS5 external hard drive support requirements.
Generally, when a PS5 external hard drive fails to be recognized, it can be because the PS5 system simply doesn’t support that type of drive. Your external hard drive must meet special requirements in order for the PS5 system to support it.
One of the signs that appear when connecting an unsupported external HDD to PS5 is that you may receive an alert message stating that the USB storage device is not attached, but there are also times when no warning is given. You may also receive a message saying that the external hard drive connected to the PS5 is not supported.
So, what to do in this situation? Well, before thinking of a workaround for this issue, make sure that your PS5 external hard drive does meet the special requirements specified by Sony.
USB extended storage requirements on PS5 consoles
Of course, you can’t just plug any old hard drive into your PS5; only particular hard drives can be used as additional storage.
You’ll need a drive that supports one of the following SuperSpeed USB connection types:
- SuperSpeed USB 5 Gbps (USB 3.0/USB 3.1 Gen1/USB 3.2 Gen1)
- SuperSpeed USB 10 Gbps (USB 3.1 Gen2/USB 3.2 Gen2/USB 3.2 Gen1x2)
- SuperSpeed USB 20 Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen2x2)
It’s also important to consider size. The greatest supported size is 8 TBs, and the expanded storage disk must have at least 250 GB of capacity.
Even if your hard drive fits those requirements, Sony has said that some drives will just not operate with PS5.
If you plan on purchasing a PS5-compatible drive, do your research and shop especially for PS5-compatible drives.
In general, the PS5 system won’t support an external hard drive until it meets the following conditions:
- Your PS5 external hard drive must support SuperSpeed USB 5 Gbps or later.
- The storage capacity must range from 250 GB minimum to 8 TB maximum.
- You can’t connect the drive through a USB hub.
- Two or more USB extended storage drives can’t be connected at the same time. You can connect multiple USB drives to your console, but you can use only one at a time.
- Not all devices are guaranteed to work with the PS5 console. Therefore, make sure your external hard drive is one of those drives supported by PS5. You can find out about that by reading user reviews or Sony announcements.
You may want to read more about the PS5 external HDD support on the official PS5 support page.
Don’t try to play PS5 games from your External HDD
If you think your PS5 system isn’t supporting your external HDD because you simply can’t play PS5 games from it, then you are wrong. The PS5 system doesn’t allow yet to play PS5 games from an external hard drive (read more). Therefore, it’s not that your PS5 isn’t supporting your external HDD, it’s just you’re trying to do something that is not yet allowed.
What If PS5 External HDD Isn’t Yet Supported
You don’t have to worry If your USB eternal hard drive is not supported by the PS5 system; you can still use it to make an external backup of your files. In fact, Any USB storage device large enough to hold the data you want to back up can be used for this purpose. Although you can’t play games from a backup drive, you can save data locally, which will come in handy if your PS5 ever experiences a hardware failure or memory corruption, and potentially free up space on the internal SSD.
If you’re looking for a PS5 compatible external hard drive that we recommend, don’t miss the WD_BLACK P50 Game Drive SSD. It might be the best external storage device currently available for Ps5.
Conclusion
The PS5 system software is still under development and improvement, for that reason, not all external hard drives are yet supported by the PS5 system. For that reason, if your PS5 external hard drive is not supported, you can still use it as backup storage until Sony releases an update that will support your drive.
