Between 100GB flagship titles and a digital library on sale, the PlayStation 5's built-in storage doesn't last long. Sony lets you add a standard M.2 NVMe SSD — no proprietary cards, no adapters — which makes this one of the cheapest meaningful upgrades in gaming. But the requirements are specific, and buying the wrong drive is an easy mistake.
The requirements
Sony's spec: a PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 NVMe SSD, 250GB to 8TB, with a recommended sequential read speed of 5,500 MB/s or faster, and it must have a heatsink (either pre-installed or added). The drive bay is inside the console under the side panel, and space is tight — oversized heatsinks won't fit. In practice, the simplest path is buying a drive marketed as "PS5 compatible" or "PS5 ready" from a major brand; those have been validated for the fit and thermals.
Compare PS5-ready SSDs on Amazon ›
How much capacity?
- 1TB: the sweet spot for most players — roughly 8 to 12 more games depending on size.
- 2TB: worth it if you buy a lot of digital games on sale and hate re-downloading. Often the best price per gigabyte.
- 4TB+: only if you genuinely keep dozens of games installed; the premium is steep.
Note that 500GB drives exist but rarely make sense anymore — the price gap to 1TB is small.
Heatsink: don't skip it
The PS5's expansion bay gets hot, and sustained heat throttles performance or shortens the drive's life. If your drive doesn't include a heatsink, buy a low-profile one separately — they're inexpensive. Whatever you do, don't install a bare drive and assume airflow will handle it.
Installation in five minutes
Power off fully and unplug. Remove the side panel (it slides off with a firm pull — check a video first if you're nervous). Unscrew the expansion bay cover, insert the SSD at an angle, press down, secure it with the included screw and spacer for your drive's length, replace the cover and panel. On boot, the PS5 detects the drive and offers to format it. Your games can then be moved or installed directly to it from the storage settings.
Finally: SSD prices fluctuate constantly, with real dips around major sale events. It's a perfect thing to buy on sale rather than the day you run out of space — which is exactly why storage deals show up on our front page regularly.