Don't let your old hard drive gather dust: Build a DIY media drive for your console
Even though modern game consoles demand fast solid state storage for playing games, they can still use external hard drives and SSDs for archive storage and other features. If you have an old drive you're not using, it might be a great upgrade for your console.
All modern game consoles have USB ports, and most of the time, that port can be used for attaching more storage. The Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 can only use USB for input devices and network adapters, but all modern Xbox and PlayStation consoles support external USB storage. You can use them for screenshots and videos, backup archives of any game, and installing certain older titles.
Get your drive ready
Your drive needs to be an external device that you can connect to a console with a USB port. If it's an internal 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch drive, or an M.2 drive, you will need an enclosure that converts it into an external USB device.
PlayStation 5 consoles require drives with at least 250 GB (8 TB maximum) and SuperSpeed USB 5 Gbps. Xbox consoles need the drive to be at least 128 GB in capacity with USB 3.0 support.
If you're repurposing an internal drive, you need to determine if it's a 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch model. The 2.5-inch drives are smaller and typically used in laptops, while the 3.5-inch models are used in most desktop computers. Then you can buy an enclosure for that form factor.
The Orico USB 3.0 Enclosure and GODO USB 3.0 Enclosure are two options for 3.5-inch drives, with the latter being a better option for drives that will be plugged in constantly. If you have a 2.5-inch drive, something like the Sabrent USB 3.0 enclosure will work . For M.2/NVMe drives, the UGREEN 10 Gbps enclosure is a great option that I have used with my PlayStation 5.
You'll need to plug the drive into one of the USB ports on the back of the console. On the PS5, both of the rear USB Type-A ports are 10 Gbps, so it doesn't matter which one you pick. Xbox Series X and S use USB 3.1 Gen 1 for all ports.
Storing games, screenshots, and recordings
The first option for external drives is setting it up as console storage. This will prevent the drive from being accessed by a PC or other device, until you reformat it, but it will allow games and other console data to be stored.
First, you need to set up the drive as a storage location. On PlayStation 5 consoles, select the Settings button at the top-right of the home dashboard, then navigate to Storage > USB Extended Storage > Format as USB Extended Storage. Xbox consoles should prompt you automatically to format the drive. If not, press the Xbox button and select Profile & system > Settings > System > Storage.
If you have a PlayStation console, you can play and store PS4 games on external storage devices. You can store PS5 games, but if you want to play them, they have to be moved back to internal storage first. Unfortunately, you can't change the save location for screenshots and screen recordings on PlayStation consoles.
Xbox One and Series X/S consoles can install Xbox One, 360, and original Xbox games on external storage. You can store an Xbox Series X/S game on an external drive, but it has to be copied back to the internal storage before playing it. You can also change your screenshot and recordings location to external storage from Settings > Preferences > Capture & share > Capture location.
This means that external drives on modern consoles are mostly for storing many older games. If you have a slow internet speed, then the ability to archive current-gen games to avoid redownloading them later might also helpful. However, you would still need to install updates after moving the game back to internal storage, which would still be massive downloads for some games.
Storing media files
The other option for external drives is storage for music, videos, movies, pictures, and other media. For example, you could rip a DVD or Blu-ray disc from your computer, move it to the external drive, and connect it to the console for playback.
External media drives are especially useful for PlayStation consoles, where the only other option for playing your own media files is adding them to a Plex server and using the Plex app. Xbox consoles have more options for local and network media playback, like the VLC Media Player and Kodi apps from the Microsoft Store.
You will need to format your external drive with the exFAT file system, using File Explorer on Windows or Disk Utility on Mac . That will allow read and write access across Xbox, PlayStation, Windows, macOS, and Linux. FAT32 also works, but files cannot exceed 4GB in size, and NTFS only fully works with Xbox and Windows PCs.
You can browse media from a USB drive on a PlayStation 5 by selecting the USB tab in the Media Gallery. On Xbox consoles, you can Microsoft's Media Player app, or the VLC or Kodi apps from the Microsoft Store.
An external drive for consoles isn't quite as useful as an extra full-speed SSD, but depending on your setup, it could be a great way to watch local media and avoid frequently deleting/redownloading games. It's certainly better than forgetting the drive in a drawer or throwing it out.
