Six-plus ways to use the USB ports on your PlayStation 5

The USB ports on Sony's PlayStation 5 game console can do far more than charge a controller. A guide by the technology site Engadget outlines several uses, which may help any owner of the console.

Which ports the console has

Every PS5 variant has two 10 Gbps USB-A ports on the back. The front ports differ: the original PS5 has one USB-A 2.0 port and one 10 Gbps USB-C port, while on the PS5 Slim and PS5 Pro the slower USB 2.0 port is USB-C instead. The slow port is best avoided for speed-sensitive tasks such as external storage.

Expanding storage

PS5 games cannot be played from an external drive, but they can be moved to an external SSD or HDD for archiving and returned to the console later. PS4 games can be played from external storage. The drive must be at least USB 5 Gbps and between 250GB and 8TB, cannot be connected through a USB hub, and only one can be used at a time. Formatting is done under Settings > Storage > USB Extended Storage and erases existing data. Screenshots and video clips need a separate drive formatted as exFAT or FAT32.

Controllers and peripherals

A DualSense controller can be charged by cable and paired to the console fastest this way. To avoid wasting energy in Rest mode, the settings offer a 3-hour limit on port power, and an Adaptive option on the Slim and Pro.

The PlayStation VR2 headset connects with a single USB-C cable to the fast front port. The original PS VR works only with the PS4 camera and an adapter. Headsets, racing wheels, fight sticks, keyboards and mice can also be connected where a game supports them.

Other uses

A full console data backup can be made to a USB drive, though trophies and M.2 storage are excluded, and restoring requires a system reset. Video playback from a USB drive is also supported, as is connecting a capture card.