There is a false belief that PlayStation 5 has 1 TB of storage, when in reality its unit is 825 GB. However, this is not the end of the story, as this capacity must be reduced by the system’s own storage, so the actual storage available is 667 GB. The gap between the first and last figures is enormous.
If you are frustrated because your hard drive is running out of space after installing some games, we will tell you 5 very simple ways to free up storage on your PS5.
1. Disable automatic captures and clips
This is by far the first point you should not miss: disabling automatic captures on PlayStation 5. Let us explain. When the console was released, Sony introduced a feature that would record a clip or take a screenshot as soon as you earned a trophy. So far so good, you might think, but this feature will end up consuming a lot of storage space, especially if you play a lot. Fortunately for you, this feature can be disabled.
To do this, go to “Settings” and click on “Captures and Broadcasts”. There are three fields there: “Captures”, “Broadcasts”, and “Trophies”. You only need the last one, “Trophies“. Click on it and disable “Save Trophy Screenshots” and “Save Trophy Videos“. That’s it. You will gain a lot of space.
2. Delete unnecessary captures and videos
The second point follows from the first. If you had the previous feature enabled for a long time, you are likely to have dozens of trophy videos and screenshots. Therefore, it’s time to delete them.
Go to the “Image Gallery” and all the captures and clips you have made will appear. In fact, you may even have some unintentional images, as it is very easy to press the button accidentally. We recommend that you delete them all using the multiple selection option, especially to save space.
3. Reduce the size of captures and videos
You may not want to delete your captures and videos, i.e., you want to keep them on your console. In this case, what you need to know is that you can easily reduce the size of your snapshots.
If you go back to “Settings” -> “Captures and Broadcasts”, look at “Captures”. Once there, we recommend that you change the format of your captures to “JPG” (it’s currently set to PNG) and that for your videos, you use the following settings: WebM format, resolution of 1920 x 1080, and both microphone and group disabled.
4. Delete old games
This is a classic, but we’re not going to overlook it. We install video games on the hard drive and don’t pay attention to what’s there. What ends up happening? Well, the typical thing: the SSD ends up full of titles that we no longer use.
The best thing you can do in these cases is to delete as much as possible. It’s as easy as clicking on “Settings” and then going to “Storage”. Once inside, the option couldn’t be clearer: “Games and Applications“. Remember to delete games that weigh a lot. They are the ones that will free up the most space in storage (and you will appreciate it).
5. Install additional storage
Fifth and final measure, although this involves spending money: install additional storage. With PlayStation 5, there are two ways to expand storage capacity, both internal and external. For the first, an M.2 SSD unit with very specific requirements is required. We recommend that you watch the video below to make sure you meet all of them.
And the second option is an external hard drive, which you can connect to the USB port to store your games. The minimum size is 250 GB (maximum 8 TB), and it needs to be SuperSpeed USB 5 Gbps. It’s as easy as connecting it to the console, formatting it (from “Settings” -> “Storage”), and that’s it.
