No PS5? How to Upgrade Your PS4 Hard Drive to an SSD for Faster Load Times

Sony’s PlayStation 5 has a fancy, built-in SSD, but until you can afford a $500 console, you’re stuck with agonizingly slow loading times on the PS4. However, all is not lost. You can upgrade your current console’s drive to an SSD and breathe new life into an aging gaming machine.

The 5400 RPM hard drive that comes with the PS4 and PS4 Pro is bone-chillingly slow at this point, so an SSD will be a nice upgrade. It won’t make loading times instantaneous, but it can decrease them by 10 to 20 seconds or more. Every game is different, though, and some may not see as noticeable benefits—but hey, when you’re sitting there waiting, every second counts. 

You don’t have to worry too much about choosing the fastest possible SSD, but you will need to make sure you buy a 2.5-inch model—not the M.2 SSDs that have become popular in PCs recently. I’m using this Western Digital Blue model, which offers great performance for the price.

Swapping the drive itself is simple—all you need is a screwdriver. You will, however, have to back up all your data first, reinstall the PS4 operating system on the new drive, and then restore your data, which can be confusing at first. For that, you will need one (maybe two) USB drives. If done right, though, the whole process should only take 15 minutes or so. Let’s walk through the steps.

Step 1: Back Up Your Game Saves

Since you’ll be starting fresh with a clean drive, you’ll need to back up all your data before picking up the screwdriver. You need a USB drive to back up your game saves and other data. Insert your USB drive, head to Settings > System > Back Up and Restore, then select the Back Up PS4 option. You want to back up saved data, since that includes your game saves, but you can also back up applications like Netflix if you want to avoid re-downloading them all.

If you're a PlayStation Plus subscriber, you can ditch the USB drive and back up the data to the cloud. Head to Settings > Application Saved Data Management > Saved Data in System Storage and select Upload to Online Storage. Any trophies you have acquired will not be included in this save data. If you care enough to preserve these, head to the Trophies section of the PS4 menu, press the Options button on your controller, and select Sync Trophies with PSN.

Once the backup process is finished, shut down your PS4 completely by going to Power > Power Options > Turn Off PS4. You don’t want to be in Rest Mode. Wait for the light to stop blinking to ensure it’s completely off, then unplug the power cable before continuing.

Step 2: Replace the Drive

Sony made replacing the hard drive super easy (far easier than the process of adding a second SSD to the PS5), however, the exact process differs depending on which version of the PS4 you own. Here are the instructions for each model:

• Original PlayStation 4: Slide the glossy panel on the top of the unit to the left until it comes off completely. Unscrew the screw closest to you on the left, then pull the hard drive cage toward you. Unscrew the four screws holding the drive in place and replace it with your SSD.

• PlayStation 4 Slim: Turn the unit around. To the right of the ports, there’s a black piece of plastic with text on it—apply some pressure and slide it to the right to remove it. Remove the large screw underneath, then slide the drive cage out the side of the PS4 using the black ribbon. Unscrew the four screws holding the drive in place and replace it with your SSD.

• PlayStation 4 Pro: Turn the unit around and look for the hard drive cover to the right of the ports. Find the notch on the side and use your finger to swing it open—it’s kind of like a little door. (I had to apply a decent amount of force to get it open.) Remove the screw that lives under it and slide out the hard drive cage. Unscrew the four screws holding the drive in place and replace it with your SSD.

Once you have put your SSD into the console, close it all up and plug it back in. Before you turn it on, though, you’ll need to head to your computer.

Step 3: Reinstall the PS4 Software

On your computer, insert a USB drive (not the one you’re using for your PS4 backup). Right-click the drive in File Explorer/Finder and choose Format, with FAT32 as your file system. Create a folder on the drive named PS4, and inside that folder create another folder called UPDATE.

Next, head to How to reinstall the PS4 console system software section on Sony's support page and click PS4 console reinstallation file to download the PlayStation 4's system software. You can also open the Reinstall PS4 system software drop-down to view Sony's instructions. Save the file in the UPDATE folder you created earlier. Don’t rename the file—it needs to be named PS4UPDATE.PUP to work.

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Eject the flash drive and head back to your PS4. You’ll need to plug in your controller with a USB cable, then press and hold the power button until you hear the second beep (about seven seconds). This will bring you into Safe Mode. Select the Initialize PS4 (Reinstall System Software) option, and press X. 

Insert your USB drive with the update file and press OK on-screen. Once it finds the update, choose Next to install the PS4 software on your new, speedy drive. When the process is finished, your PS4 will reboot and drop you at the initial setup screen.

Step 4: Restore Your Data and Reinstall Your Games

You will need to log into your PlayStation account again, as if you were setting up a new PS4 for the first time. Before continuing, though, you need to restore the data you previously backed up.

If you had to manually back up your data on a USB drive, insert it into the console, then head to Settings > System > Back Up and Restore > Restore PS4. If you backed up via PS Plus, open Settings > Application Saved Data Management > Saved Data in Online Storage > Download to System Storage.

You then need to re-download and/or re-install your games, but once that’s done, you should be able to hop back in like you never left—and with shorter loading times getting you in to play as fast as possible.