Players springing for one of the next-generation consoles, like the PlayStation 5, won't need to worry about starting entirely from scratch. The new console supports PlayStation 4 games, and players have the option of transferring their titles and saves between consoles. Like the Xbox Series X and Series S, players will want to decide exactly which games to transfer and how to store them, as the PlayStation 5 has a pretty limited amount of storage. While players can expand their system's internal storage, they'll want to wait until after the console's initial launch, as only certain certified SSDs will fit the speed and size capacity of the console.
Players have a few options for transferring their data from the PlayStation 4 to their new PlayStation 5. They can do a network data transfer, either using an old-fashioned ethernet cable or wireless Internet. They can also upload everything to the cloud and download it onto their system, or plug in a USB storage device. Here's how to easily transfer games and save files from the PlayStation 4 to the PlayStation 5.
How to Transfer PS4 Titles to PS5
The most common way to transfer data from the PlayStation 4 to the PlayStation 5 is through a wired or wireless network data transfer. Wired transfer is usually faster, but if players don't have an ethernet cable handy, wireless should work just as well. To transfer data, use the following steps:
- Turn on the PlayStation 4 and make sure it has the latest software updates and is logged into the same account that will be used on the PlayStation 5.
- Connect the PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 to the same network.
- If using an ethernet cable, connect the PlayStation 4 to the PlayStation 5 with the cord.
- On the Games/Media tab of the PlayStation 5 setup modules, under Transfer Data from Your PS4, press Continue. Press Continue again.
Players can finish setting up their PlayStation 5 and start gaming while their PS4 data transfers in the background.
If players have their PlayStation 4 games on an external storage device, or can add their games to an external storage device, they can unplug the storage device from the PlayStation 4 and plug it into the PlayStation 5. They can either copy games from the external storage drive to the PlayStation 5's internal storage, or they can play directly from the external storage drive.
It can be beneficial to play from the external storage device rather than transferring games onto the PlayStation 5's internal storage. This will save room for PlayStation 5 specific games on the console and will conserve the limited amount of space for players who do not plan to expand their storage right away or at all.
Players can also download any games they have purchased from the PlayStation Store to their PlayStation 5 once they have logged into their PlayStation account on the new console.
To transfer saves, players can use the same data transfer method they used to transfer the games between consoles. For players who have a PlayStation Plus subscription, they can upload all their saves to the cloud on the PlayStation Network and download them on their new console. Another option might be to copy all save data from the PlayStation 4 to a USB thumb drive and copy the files to the PlayStation 5 directly from that thumb drive.
The PlayStation 5 releases on November 12, 2020.