M.2 SSD is a type of high-speed solid-state drive that PS5 owners can use to expand the storage space of their consoles or PS5 Digital Edition consoles (separate purchase required).

Why would you want to install an M.2 SSD on your PS5 console?

After it is installed on the PS5 system, M.2 SSD storage can be used to download, copy, and launch PS5 and PS4 games, as well as media apps. This allows you to expand the amount of storage space on your PS5 console. You can freely swap games between the PS5 console’s storage, a USB extended storage device linked to it, and the M.2 SSD storage.

How to add an M.2 SSD to a PlayStation 5 console

You’ll need the following items before you start:

A well-lit room with a work surface. A screwdriver with a # 1 Phillips or crosshead head. A miniature flashlight (optional).

Touch a metal-grounded object to remove any static charge from your body before continuing with the installation or removal process. Failure to do so may result in M.2 SSD or PS5 console damage.

Please note that while the cover is off, you should not turn on or play on your console.

Steps for installing an M.2 SSD

If you’re utilizing your M.2 SSD with your PS5 console for the first time, you’ll need to format it after installation. Any data saved on your M.2 SSD is erased when you format it. Data wiped in this manner cannot be restored, so be cautious and avoid erasing essential information.

If you’re saving data or formatting your M.2 SSD, don’t turn off the power. Data loss, corruption, or damage to your M.2 SSD or PS5 console may result if you do so.

Use a heat sink or heat transfer sheet with an M.2 SSD that does not have a heat-dissipation mechanism. These components may be included with your M.2 SSD, or you may need to purchase them separately.

1. Turn your PS5 console off. Then disconnect all of your PS5’s wires and gadgets.

Allow your PS5 system to cool down for a few minutes.

2. Remove the base and place your PS5 console on a flat area with a protective covering.
3. Make sure the PS logo is pointing down and the power button is facing away from you on your PS5 console.

4. Use your right hand to grab the bottom-right corner of the cover and your left hand to grip the top-left corner of the cover.
5. With your right hand, gently lift the cover up.
6. Slide the cover off with your left thumb while stabilising your PS5 console with your left hand’s fingers. The cover is removed. A long rectangular cover covers the expansion slot and is held at the top with one screw.
7. Remove the expansion slot cover (A) by unscrewing the screw and then removing the cover.
8. Remove the screw with care (B). Place the spacer (C) in the groove that corresponds to the M.2 SSD’s size.
9. Hold the edge of your M.2 SSD, align it with the notch on the expansion connector, and then firmly insert it all the way in, starting diagonally upward. Make sure that the M.2 SSD circuit board is flush with the spacer and not obstructed by your cooling system. If you continue to the next step when your M.2 SSD is wrongly inserted or not fully seated in the expansion connector, the terminal and your PS5 console may be damaged.
10. Tilt your M.2 SSD down and use the screw to secure it to the spacer. Make sure the screw is not obstructed by your cooling structure.

11. Attach the expansion slot cover to the expansion slot and tighten the screw. If the slot cover does not seal completely, your cooling structure is probably too big.

12. Replace the cover by sliding it back into place, slightly away from the top edge (approximately 2 cm, or 3/4 inch). When the cover is closed, you’ll hear a click.

13. Turn on the power after connecting the AC power cord, wires, and base.

The formatting guide shows when your PS5 console is turned on. Format your M.2 SSD by following the on-screen directions.

Is the PlayStation 5’s SSD wearing out?

All-solid-state drives (SSDs) are subjected to wear and tear that eventually renders them unworkable. The internal SSD of the PlayStation 5 is soldered to the motherboard. Is this to say that your PS5 will die as soon as the SSD fails? It’s far too soon to be concerned.

Why Should You Be Concerned About the PS5 SSD?

Because the PS5 SSD is integrated into the mainboard, any failure of the drive necessitates replacing the entire board, including the CPU and GPU. In a strict sense, you’ll be able to remove parts manually and solder new ones into a system. However, it is rarely cost-effective, and it is certainly not something that the average customer would do, even if they had all of the necessary components and tools.

Why Do Solid State Drives Fail?

• Information is stored in reminiscence cells on SSDs. Depending on the amount of cost inside a cell, it is either a one or a zero.

• Different types of SSD memory may withstand varying degrees of damage before giving up the ghost, although the most durable variants are the most expensive.

• SSDs compensate for this by being far faster than mechanical hard drives. Traditional hard drives are also expected to last far longer than SSDs before failing because they don’t have any transmitting components.

Wear Is Actively Combated by SSDs

SSD manufacturers are well aware of how wear affects the product’s longevity.

Customers and even the operating system don’t have access to additional memory cells on SSDs. The drive keeps these recollection cells in reserve so that when one dies, it can be silently replaced with a more recent cell kept in reserve.

Although they only make up a portion of the story, these are the two most important ways of reducing the effects of the write-on. The various firmware that you’ll encounter from various drive manufacturers all has their own algorithms.

SSDs Last Much Longer Than You Might Expect.

The Terabytes Written (TBW) score for SSDs indicates how much data can be written to them before the memory cells begin to wear out. This number rises as the drive size grows, and higher-quality memory plays a role as well.

SSDs are used in a variety of ways by consoles.

In this way, a console is completely different. Static sports downloads take up most of the SSD. To put it another way, you get a game and leave it there till you’re finished with it. So, if you’re ending several video games every month, you might only be rewriting the entire disc a couple of times a year.

There’s a Problem With Catastrophic Failure

While we don’t believe that an SSD installed on the PS5 has a practical degree of failure, every digital component is always at risk of catastrophic failure. This could happen on the first day of possession or five years afterwards. It’s part of the nature of mass production, where a small percentage of units will fail regardless. There is no straightforward fix if this happens to your PS5. If the entire mainboard needs to be replaced for warranty reasons, it’s probably just easier to replace the entire console.

Is It Possible to Preserve Your PlayStation 5 SSD?

If you’re concerned about your PS5’s internal SSD failing throughout the course of its useful life, your only option is to use the system’s SSD expansion slot to install another SSD. This is an additional investment, but if the expansion slot SSD fails for any reason, you can easily replace it rather than buying a new console. Simply avoid using the internal SSD in favor of the expansion drive.

Also, keep in mind that you can use a USB to play PS4 games from an external HDD or SSD. So there are two places where you can set up video games that aren’t in the inner drive fully.

How to install games and apps on a PS5 console’s M.2 SSD storage

You can download games to your M.2 SSD from the PlayStation Store. To set this up, go to the home screen and select Settings > Storage > Installation Location.

To transfer games and programs already installed on your console’s storage, follow these steps:

• Select “Game Library” from your game’s home page. Select Move Games and Apps from the Options menu after selecting the data you want to move.
• If you’re using both an M.2 SSD and a USB extended storage device, go to the Items You Can Move to M.2SSD Storage page. Select Move and tick the boxes for any other games or apps you want to move.
• Go to the home screen and click Settings > Storage > M.2 SSD Storage to check your storage capacity and move or remove data from your M.2 SSD.