PS5 Storage Expansion — Internal SSD, External Drives and the Rules
Internal NVMe for PS5 games, external USB for PS4 games and cold storage. Here's the spec requirement and the heatsink question.
The short answer
PS5 games can only be played from the internal drive or a compatible internal M.2 NVMe expansion, never from an external USB drive, which can only store them. The expansion drive must be PCIe Gen 4 NVMe with a sequential read speed of at least 5,500 MB/s and must have a heatsink fitted, as the console throttles or rejects drives that overheat.
Verified and last updated August 12, 2026.
- Time needed
- 30 min
- Difficulty
- Intermediate
- Read time
- 3 min
PS5 storage has one rule that catches everyone: PS5 games cannot be played from an external drive. Not slowly, not with a warning — not at all.
Everything else follows from that.
The two storage types
Internal M.2 NVMe expansion — plays PS5 games, behaves exactly like the built-in storage. External USB drive — stores PS5 games and plays PS4 games. Both are useful and they do different jobs.
Step 1: Two kinds of storage, two different rules
The external drive is still worth having even though it cannot run PS5 games. Moving a game back from USB takes a couple of minutes; redownloading a large modern game takes considerably longer.
Step 2: The specification that matters
- PCIe Gen 4 NVMe M.2. Not SATA M.2, which is a different thing in the same physical shape.
- Sequential read of at least 5,500 MB/s. Slower drives may be accepted but will underperform the internal storage.
- A heatsink, fitted. The bay has limited airflow. Without cooling the drive throttles or is rejected.
- Total height within the bay clearance. Some aftermarket heatsinks are too tall. Buying a drive that ships with a compatible heatsink avoids the problem entirely.
- Gen 5 drives work but bring nothing. The console's interface is Gen 4; you are paying for bandwidth it cannot use.
Step 3: Installing the drive
Power down fully and unplug 2 min
Not rest mode. Fully off, and unplugged, and leave it a couple of minutes.
Remove the side panel and the bay cover 5 min
The panel slides off; the bay cover is a single screw. A cross-head screwdriver is the only tool needed.
Set the spacer to your drive length 3 min
Most drives are 2280. The spacer screw moves between marked positions — get this right before seating the drive.
Seat the drive at an angle, then press flat and screw down 5 min
It goes in at roughly a thirty-degree angle and lies flat. Do not force it; if it does not seat easily the spacer is in the wrong position.
Reassemble, power on, and format when prompted 5 min
The console detects it and offers to format. That is required and takes seconds.
Before you buy anything
Audit what is installed. Most consoles carry several hundred gigabytes of games finished a year ago and never removed.
The sensible pattern: delete nothing, move finished games to a cheap external USB drive. They stay retrievable in minutes and the internal drive is free for whatever you are actually playing.
What works
What doesn't
Key takeaways
Frequently asked questions
Can I play PS5 games from an external hard drive?
No. PS5 games can only run from the internal drive or an installed M.2 expansion. An external USB drive can store them, which is still useful because moving a game back is much faster than redownloading it, but you cannot launch a PS5 title from USB. PS4 games are different and do run from external drives perfectly well.
Does the expansion drive really need a heatsink?
Yes. The bay has limited airflow and Sony's requirements specify cooling. A drive without one will throttle and may be rejected outright by the console. Many drives are sold in a version with a heatsink already fitted, which is the simplest route — check the total height fits within the bay's clearance, since some aftermarket heatsinks are too tall.
What speed does the SSD need to be?
PCIe Gen 4 NVMe with sequential read of at least 5,500 MB/s. A slower drive may still be accepted by the console but will underperform the internal storage, which undermines the point. Gen 5 drives generally work but bring no benefit here, since the console's interface is Gen 4 and you are paying for bandwidth it cannot use.
Will I lose my games when I install it?
No. Adding an expansion drive does not affect existing installations, and the console will offer to move games onto the new drive afterwards. It is worth moving your largest current games rather than everything, since the point is freeing space on the internal drive for whatever you play next.
What should I do before buying more storage?
Audit what is installed. Most people have several hundred gigabytes of games they finished a year ago and never uninstalled, and deleting those is free. Moving finished games to a cheap external USB drive rather than deleting them keeps them retrievable in minutes rather than requiring a full redownload.
About the author
PC Hardware & Performance Editor
Marcus has been building, breaking and repairing gaming PCs since 2011, first as a weekend favour for friends and then for eight years as a bench technician at an independent repair shop in Portland, where roughly a third of the job was diagnosing machines that "ran fine yesterday".
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