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How to move PS4 games over to your new PlayStation 5

No need to start every mission again from scratch. Bring your trophies and achievements with you for the next generation of gaming. Find out how with our handy guide…

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Bigtime gamer? No doubt that since the PlayStation 4 first arrived in 2013, you’ve acquired a bunch of great games that are endlessly fun to play again and again. Why let them gather dust when you can bring everything over to your brand new PS5?

Not only does the PS5 offer backwards compatibility for most games in your library, but a couple of easy ways to move all your saved data across. Here, we’ll show you how.

Make sure your PS4 is ready

Before you can start moving everything over to next-gen, there’s a couple of things you have to do. First, switch on both your PS5 and PS4, and sign into the same PSN account on both. If there are any system updates available on your old console, be sure to install them.

Once you’re signed into the same account on your new and old consoles, you can sync up your trophies and achievements. To do that, head to Trophies on your PS4, press OPTIONS on your controller, then choose Sync with PlayStation Network. You should start to see them appearing on the trophy list on your PS5.

Connect your consoles

You’ll need to be connected to the same network on your PS4 and PS5 to transfer games and data. Either connect to your home Wi-Fi network on both consoles or run a LAN cable from each console directly to your router.

Top tip: even if you’ve only got a single LAN cable, it’ll still be extremely useful. Simply connect via Wi-Fi on your PS4 and PS5, and run the LAN cable between the consoles. That should seriously speed up the transfer process.

Transfer your data online

First, turn on your PS4 and PS5. Once they’re both on, head to Settings > System > System Software > Data Transfer > Continue on your PS5. Then, select your PS4 from the options.

When the PlayStation 5 displays Prepare for Data Transfer, hold the power button on your PS4 until you hear a beep sound. Choose the data you want to move over on your PS5, read the information first, and then choose Start Transfer. Your new console automatically restarts when it’s finished, and all your old games should be there.

Transfer your games with PS5 extended storage

Want to play your old games on your PS5 without using up any of your onboard storage space? If you’ve already been using an external hard drive or USB to play games on your PS4, then good news! You should be able to plug it in and play your PS5 games straight away. To be able to play games from your external storage device, it needs to be between 250 GB and 8 TB in size, and support SuperSpeed USB 5 Gbps or later.

If you haven’t used your external hard drive with your PS4, it’ll need to be formatted as extended storage on your PS5. To do this, connect it to your PS5’s USB port then Go to Settings > Storage > Select Extended Storage > Manage USB Drives > Pick the right USB drive, then choose Format as Extended Storage.

Once your extended storage has been formatted, you’re ready to go. Moving your PS4 games onto it is easy. Head to Settings > Storage > Console Storage > Games and apps > Move to Extended Storage.

Save even more space

The best video games are timeless, so you may find yourself downloading a much loved PS4 game to play in the future. But that doesn’t mean it needs to steal room away from the more space-demanding AAA PS5 titles you’re looking forward to.

Fortunately, you can set your PS5 to automatically download PS4 games to your extended storage. Go to Settings > Storage > Extended Storage >Turn on Install PS4 Games to Extended Storage. Keep building that library of replayable games without using up a single megabyte on your console.

Dive into next-generation gaming with a PlayStation 5 from Currys.

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