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Summary :

Step three: Inside of the PS4 folder, create a folder named 'UPDATE' in all caps. Step four: Download the update from Sony's website and save it in the UPDATE folder on your USB drive.

What is the best external hard drive for PS4? This post will introduce several external hard drives for PS4, and then display 3 ways to format the external hard drive to enlarge storage when the original storage of PlayStation 4 is not enough. Certainly, you can also upgrade your PS4 hard drive to a larger one with MiniTool Partition Wiazrd.

• How to Format an External Drive for Mac Compatibility. This is a simple procedure and is achieved the same way for all drive types and through all connections, be they USB, Firewire, or Thunderbolt. Formatting a drive will erase all data and partitions on the disk: Connect the hard drive or USB key to the Mac.
• Step 1: Launch Disk Utility to Format USB for Mac and Windows Insert the USB drive into an open port on your Mac computer. Launch Disk Utility, which is located in the Utilities sub-folder inside the Applications folder. Alternatively, press 'Space-Command' and type 'disk utility' in Spotlight Search.

Announced as the successor to the PlayStation 3 in February, 2013, PS4 (PlayStation 4) is an eighth-generation home video game console developed by Sony Interactive Entertainment.

This successor places more emphasis on social interaction and integration with other devices and services, including the ability to play games off-console on PlayStation Vita, and the ability to stream gameplay online or to friends.

However, as a game lover, you may find that the storage space of PlayStation 4 is not enough to store more games. To overcome the limited PS4 hard drive size, you may try removing some games from it, but it is not a helpful solution. The more helpful way is to enlarge the storage space by upgrading the PS4 internal hard drive or connecting an external hard drive with this game console.

In this article, I would like to recommend some best external hard drives for PS4 and tell you how format such hard drive to FAT32 with ease. As for upgrading PS4 internal hard drive, you can refer to the following recommended article.

This post shows you how to upgrade your hard drive without reinstalling the program and would not bring any damages to the original data.

Actually, it is incredibly easy to plug the external hard drive into PS4. After adding an external hard drive as the extended storage for PS4, you can download something from PSN or install a new game from a disc, and it will go directly onto the external hard drive.

Suggested Best External Hard Drives for PS4

Which external hard drive is compatible with PS4? There are some suggested best external hard drives for you, namely Toshiba CANVIO Basics, WD Black My Passport Portable External Hard Drive and Seagate Backup Plus Slim Portable Hard Drive External.

Toshiba CANVIO Basics is great value for money, and very durable for everyday use. Choosing it as PS4 external hard drive will double the storage for less money.

WD Black My Passport Portable External Hard Drive is USB 3.0 compatible. What’s more, it only requires a quick reformat the first time its buyers use it. This hard drive also comes in small size and sturdy construction.

Seagate Backup Plus Slim Portable Hard Drive External is relatively inexpensive, for the 5TB is $109.99. If you have some requirements for appearance of external hard drive, it is a good choice to select this HDD featuring appearance of beauty as the PS4 external storage.

Let’s see the following form to know more information about each best external hard drive for PS4.

The best external hard drive for PS4 blends price with performance, and the size of its storage space. For heavy PS4 users, it is highly recommended to select 2TB - 4TB dive, which will give them space to download and store 40-60 games, depending on size. Certainly, you can also pick up a “PS4 external hard drive 8TB” to download more games.

When you get a new external hard drive for PS4, what you need to do is formatting it before connecting it with PS4.

After finishing all the preparatory work, it’s time for you to format the external hard drive for PlayStation 4. And the following content shows detailed tutorials on how to format external hard drive for PS4.

Please note that PS4 external hard drive should be formatted to FAT32, because this file system enjoys a better compatibility than NTFS. (click FAT32 vs NTFS to learn about more information)

Furthermore, it is highly recommended to use the first way to format the external hard drive for PlayStation 4, because the other two ways come in some limits on the size of partition of FAT32 which will be formatted.

Way 1: Format PS4 External Hard Drive via MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard is a multifunctional tool which can help you manage partitions easily and safely, including formatting disk quickly.

Please follow the steps below to format best external hard drive for PS4 via MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Step 1: Plug the new external hard dive into a computer at first.

Step 2: Download MiniTool Partition Wizard Free by clicking the offered button and launch it to get its main interface.

Step 3: Right-click the partition on the external hard drive you want to format and click Format. Or select the partition on the external hard drive and then choose Format Partition from the left panel directly.

Step 4: Select FAT32 as the file system of the partition on the external hard drive and click OK to confirm these changes.

Step 5: Click Apply after going back the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard Free to execute all changes.

Way 2: Format PS4 External Hard Drive via Disk Management

Disk Management built in Windows is also a good utility to help you format disk. To format an external hard drive for PS4, please refer to the follwoing steps.

Step 1: Connect the external hard drive with Windows computer.

Step 2: Press Windows and R on the keyboard simultaneously to get the following picture. And then input diskmgmt.msc and then click OK.

Step 3: Get the interface of Disk Management and select the partition on the external hard drive you want to format.

Step 4: Right-click the partition on the disk and then click Format.

Step 5: Select File System FAT32 in the new pop-up window for the external hard drive and click OK.

Way 3: Format PS4 External Hard Drive via CMD

Ypou can alos use Command Prompt built in Windows to format a hard disk, but this way is not so convinient as the two former ways as you need to type some commands.

Step 1: Connect the external hard drive for PlayStation 4 with Windows computer in advance.

Step 2: Press Windows and R on keyboard simultaneously to access the Run window.

Step 3: Input cmd and click OK to get a black pop-up window.

Step 4: Input diskpart in the black pop-up window in the black window and click Enteron keyboard. And click Yes.

Step 5: Then you shhould input the following commands and click Enter on keyboard after each inputing.

• select disk# (# refers to the number of the disk you want to format)
• list partition
• select partition # ( # refers to the partition number)
• format fs=fat32

Step 6: After inputinga all mentioned commands, you should wait for some seconds until the external hard drive has been formatted to FAT32.

It is extremely possible that the second and third way fail to format external hard drive for PS4, because you can't format a partition with FAT32 file system in Windows unless you employ third-party software, like MiniTool Partition Wizard. Therefore, the first way is the best choice when you plan to format one external hard drive for PS4.

This article aims to fix the issue when the Command Prompt keeps popping up on Windows 10. If you encounter this issue, find the solutions in this article.

Have you get a formatted FAT32 PlayStation 4 external hard drive successfully by following the above ways? If the two answers are both Yes, you can connect the hard drive with their PS4 right now.

Please note that you should make sure that the console is powered off before you remove the PS4 external hard drive. Otherwise, data loss or corruption may occur. To safely remove the external storage, you should follow the path: Settings > Devices > USB Storage Devices > Stop Using This Extended Storage.

We Want Your Voice

Hope that PS4 owners can enjoy a better game experience after knowing how to format the best external hard drive for PS4. If there is any problem or question, you can contact us via [email protected] or leave a message below this article.

Best External Hard Drive for PS4 FAQ

To back up PS4 to external hard drive, you should make sure that the FAT or exFAT-formatted external storage has at least double the storage space the PS4 hard drive has. If you do not have enough space, you can choose not to back up the application data (download or reinstall them when you restore the data on the system with the backup you’re creating).

Here is the simple tutorial on backing up PS4 to external hard drive.

1. Sync your Trophies first by clicking Trophies > OPTIONS > Sync Trophies With PSN (the reason is that these files are not included in the backup data).
2. Connect the external storage device.
3. Follow the path: Settings > System > Back Up and Restore > Back Up > confirm which data you would like to back up > customize the name of the backup > Back up > X > safely remove the external storage.

The answer is Yes. When you use the external SSD as an externed storage where you store games and applications and run them from there, you will enjoy a much higher level of speed that classical external hard drivers cannot offer.

To learn about more differences between SSD vs HDD vs SSHD, please click here.

Yes, you can transfer a game from one PS4 to another. But there is something important you should pay attention to.

• Transferring data from a PS4 system to another will erase any data from the PS4 system you are transferring the data.
• You should make sure the latest system software installed on both PS4 systems. To update PS4 system software, refer to the tutorial.
• Besides the games you can transfer, you can also transfer all existing users and settings and saved data (screenshots and video clips).
• Do not power off any PS4 during data transferring.

To get the detailed tutorial on transferring data from one PS4 to another, please read the post.

The USB storage device cannot be used for PS4, or PS4 can't read USB storage drive when plugging a USB flash drive to it? This post will provide you with useful solutions for these two problems.

Problem 1. This USB Storage Device Cannot Be Used on PS4

'The USB storage device cannot be used. The file system is not supported.'

'This is the exact error I received when I plugged in a Toshiba USB external hard drive to the PS4 in hopes of being able to add more storage to it, which is out of storage now. What happened to the USB stick? It works fine on my computer. Please help me fix the trouble. Thanks.'

Do not worry too much because it's not a big problem. The full error message indicates an unsupported file system on the USB flash drive. To use the storage device properly on the PS4 game console, try to format the device following the instructions provided below.

Reasons for PS4 cannot use this USB storage device

What's the standard file system of the USB stick for PS4? Only two file systems are supported, which are exFAT and FAT32. Now you should realize the failure that PS4 says it cannot use the USB stick you're trying to connect.

The truth is that all USB flash drives come with NTFS, which is not supported by PS4. Therefore, you must apply some proper tools to format the external hard drive, USB flash drive, or SD card, for the purpose of expanding storage space, data backup, and other significant usages.

Fix PS4 Cannot Use This USB Storage Device by Formatting USB

Here, we show you two ways to convert USB drive from NTFS to FAT32 or exFAT by using a free partition manager and Disk Management.

When formatting, should you choose FAT32 or exFAT? It depends on your needs. exFAT has no limits on individual file size or hard drive size. While the maximum file size of FAT32 is 4GB, and the max volume size is 32GB. So choose the file system according to your actual demands.

Format NTFS USB Drive to FAT32 with a Free Partition Manager

EaseUS free partition manager is a capable partition organizing software that fulfills all the demands for basic disk & partition management in Windows 10, 8, and 7.

This partition master provides one-stop partition and disk management solutions for your Windows computer, for instances:

• Resize/move partitions (the Pro version allows to move space from D drive to C drive), create, format, delete, and merge partitions
• Copy and clone an entire disk to another even the target partition is smaller than the source
• Convert a logical partition to primary or primary partition to logical, FAT to NTFS partition, MBR disk to GPT, or GPT disk to MBR
• Completely wipe out all the data on the hard disk to prevent information from being leaked or recovered

Now, attach the USB storage device to your computer and format it from NTFS to FAT32 for the recognization of PS4.

Step 1: Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition you intend to format and choose 'Format'.

Step 2: In the new window, enter the Partition label, choose the FAT32 file system, and set the cluster size according to your needs, then click 'OK'.

Step 3: Then you will see a warning window, click 'OK' in it to continue.

Step 4: Click the 'Execute Operation' button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click 'Apply' to start formatting the partition to FAT32.

EaseUS Partition Master doesn't provide the possibility to convert NTFS to exFAT. If you like to format the USB drive to exFAT, use Disk Management or File Explorer to do it.

Format NTFS USB Drive to FAT32/exFAT with Disk Management

Windows Disk Management allows users to convert NTFS to both FAT32 and exFAT by formatting. There are multiple ways to open Windows Disk Management. Here, you can access it via Run, which is applicable to all Windows platforms.

Step 1. Press 'Windows key + R' simultaneously to open 'Run', type diskmgmt.msc in the box and click 'OK'.

Step 2. Right-click on the USB drive and click 'Format'.

Step 3. Click on the File system: list box and select 'FAT32'. Click 'OK'.

The suggested two ways would solve the problem of PS4 error 'the USB storage device cannot be used. The file system is not supported' without much effort. Do not hesitate to have a try.

Problem 2. The USB Storage Device Is Not Connected on PS4

Format Usb Drive For Ps4

Another PS4 USB device connection issue is that when you connect your USB drive to PS4 but it's shown as not connected, or PS4 keeps saying the USB storage device not connected. There are two reasons for this,

• Compatibility issue between the USB storage device and PS4
• USB devices may not be properly connected to PS4 due to USB cable or USB port issue

How To Change Usb Format On Mac

To solve the problem USB connection, you can either connect the storage device to another USB port with another USB cable (USB 3.0 cable is better). If the matter is caused by device incompatibility, you can consider using a branded and new USB storage device to connect to your PS4 for data transfer or backup.

To Sum Up

This post covers the most useful solutions to PS4 can't read USB or PS4 can't recognize USB drive issue. To troubleshoot 'This USB storage device cannot be used. The file system is not supported.', formatting the USB drive to FAT32 or exFAT file system can help you out.

If you are encountering 'The USB storage device is not connected.' matter, replacing a USB device, or USB cable is an efficient method.

This USB Storage Device Cannot Be Used PS4 FAQs

Here are a few more questions related to PS4 can not use this USB storage device problem. If you also have any of these questions, you can find the answers here.

Why does my ps4 not recognize my USB?

PS4 can only recognize the file systems exFAT and FAT32. If your PS4 USB storage device cannot be used, the file system limitation is the reason. In other words, your USB drive is formatted as NTFS, which is not compatible with PS4. So, to make your PS4 use the USB drive, you need to convert the file system to FAT or exFAT.

How do you fix USB storage on PS4?

To fix the USB storage device on PS4, first, make sure the storage device is FAT or exFAT formatted. Then, connect the USB drive to PS4, go to 'Sound/Devices' > 'Stop Using Extended Storage' on the quick menu and then reconnect it.

Why won't my PS4 find the update file?

When PS4 cannot find a system software update file on the USB storage device, you may get the SU-41350-3 PS4 error code. Before upgrading your PS4, make sure that:

How To Format Usb For Ps4 On Mac Windows 10

• The USB storage device you are using to update the PS4 is formatted to FAT32 or exFAT.
• Ensure the file path is exactly: USB storage > PS4 > UPDATE (the folder names must be in capitals).
• The file name should be PS4UPDATE.PUP.

You can find the update file on the PS4 System Software page to upgrade.

What is a USB storage device for Playstation 4?

How To Format Usb For Ps4 On Mac

When you connect a USB storage device to your PS4, it will appear in a list. You can use it as extended storage. Go to 'Settings' > 'Devices' > 'USB Storage Devices'.