How to Replace a Hard Drive on a PlayStation 4
If you’re running out of space on your PS4, it might be worth replacing your hard drive – and it’s so easy that you can do it yourself in no time. Here’s how.
Not only will this give you more space, but if you buy a faster drive than the pre-installed one, you can even decrease your boot times a bit. We used this HGST actuator , which is a great balance between price and performance .
Before doing this, you must back up your settings, games and saves to an external USB drive. Just plug your USB drive into your PlayStation 4 and choose System> Backup & Restore. If you download games, you may not have enough space to back them up, in which case you can uncheck the Apps checkbox and re-download them after sharing.
The process of replacing a hard drive is pretty straightforward, but if you’re not used to opening your gadgets, you might be a little intimidated. Do not. You just need to unscrew a few screws, insert the disc, screw it back on, and plug in the flash drive with the latest PS4 software for it to work. (The file size should be around 800MB. If it’s smaller, chances are you accidentally downloaded a smaller firmware update file that won’t work.) Watch the video above to see the process in action.
When you’re done, re-insert the USB stick and go back to System> Backup & Restore to restore settings and save after replacing the internal hard drive.
This article has added more information on how to back up your settings and game saves before replacing your hard drive.