What is the best USB stick for PS5?

The best USB stick for PS5 is the WDBlack P40, which offers a great balance of performance, capacity, and compatibility, making it an ideal choice for expanding your PS5’s storage capacity. With its USB 3.2 Gen 2×2 interface and NVMe technology, the WDBlack P40 provides fast data transfer speeds and seamless gaming performance, making it a top recommendation for PS5 owners looking to upgrade their storage.

FAQs about USB Sticks for PS5

General Questions

1. Can I use any USB storage for PS5?: Any SSD or HDD you plug in must be between 256GB and 8TB in size and support 5Gbps transfer speeds or better, commonly referred to as USB 3.0, USB 3.1, and USB 3.2, or sometimes SuperSpeed USB.
2. Will any USB stick work on PS5?: The following SuperSpeed USB connections are supported on PS5 consoles: 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), and SuperSpeed USB 20 Gbps (USB 3.2 Gen2x2)*.
3. What format does my USB need to be for PS5?: You can either use exFAT or FAT32 file formats for your PS5, but exFAT is recommended because it has no restrictions on the supported file size.

Performance and Compatibility

4. Is USB 3.0 good for PS5?: The PS5 supports SuperSpeed USB 5 Gbps (USB 3.0/USB 3.1 Gen1/USB 3.2 Gen1), making USB 3.0 a viable option for expanding your storage capacity.
5. Why can’t you play PS5 games from external hard drive?: You can put PS5 games on a compatible, properly formatted external hard drive, but you can’t play them from an external hard drive because PS5 games are designed to use the extremely fast internal SSD of the PS5.
6. Do games run slower on an external hard drive PS5?: A fast USB 3.1 External SSD will reach speeds of 0.5gbps, which is very slow compared to the 5.5gbps of the internal NVME SSD Sony put in the PS5.

Capacity and Storage

7. How many games can 2TB hold PS5?: With up to 2TB capacity, your PlayStation 5 console has the additional space to store up to 50 games, so you still have room for the next big title.
8. How many games can a 1tb PS5 hold?: You can realistically store 10-15 games on the drive at a time, and after that, you’ll need to delete games and redownload them if you ever want to play them again.
9. How many PS5 games can 4TB hold?: A 4TB HDD will provide easily enough space for 50+ games, and loads of saves, data, and media too.

Troubleshooting and Maintenance

10. Why won’t my USB work on PS5?: Clear out any dust and debris, and if your USB port still won’t work properly, try cleaning the ports with canned air or a small vacuum to remove any accumulated dust.
11. Why won’t PS5 play USB?: If your PS5 shows the message “USB drive’s file system is unsupported“, it means the USB or external hard drive is not formatted correctly, and the PS5 only supports exFAT or FAT32 formats.

Upgrading and Expanding Storage

12. How do I get more space on my PS5?: You can add external storage via a USB port on the console, but you’re going to run into performance hiccups due to the speed of the connection and drives.
13. How do I increase storage on my PS5?: M.2 SSDs (sold separately) are a high-speed solid-state drive medium that you can use to increase the storage capacity of your PS5 console or PS5 Digital Edition console.
14. Is there an external hard drive for PS5?: Yes, whether you want a connectable or built-in game drive, there are options for a PS5 internal SSD (solid-state drive) or a PS5 external hard drive that can connect directly to your PS5 console.

Compatibility and Brand-Specific Questions

15. Does Seagate work with PS5?: Yes, Seagate is an officially licensed brand for PlayStation consoles, and their Game Drive is built with matching firmware to seamlessly work with all models of PS5 and PS4.