So you were lucky enough to unwrap a PS5 over the holidays (or maybe you bought it for yourself, we don’t judge). Once you find a good place to keep your massive console, there’s a lot to do. First and foremost, there’s probably a heap of updates to take care of all the changes from the last year. After that, you’ll probably have to update your controller, too, and every single game you install.
After all of those updates are out of the way and your new PS5 is ready for you, here are seven things you should do.
Note: The first two items on this list have an “If” attached to them. If you don’t own an external storage drive or a PS4/PS4 Pro and the PS5 is entirely new to you, you can skip to number 3 on this list.
Set a default download location for an external drive. If you own an external Hard Disk Drive (HDD) or Solid State Drive (SSD), you’ll want to make sure this is set up with your PS5 before downloading any games. While PS5 games must be downloaded to the custom SSD inside your PS5, PS4 games can be downloaded anywhere and still run. Of course, if you want to take advantage of enhanced visuals or performance of specific PS4 games, you’ll probably want to download them to the PS5’s internal SSD. If you’re playing a regular old PS4 game that hasn’t been enhanced in any way, put it on your external drive to save precious space on your PS5’s SSD. Your PS5’s SSD only starts with about 667 GB of usable download space, so make sure you use it wisely.
You can set default download locations in your PS5 settings to make sure you’re downloading all your PS4 games to the right place. To make your external storage drive the default download location for PS4 games, here’s what you need to do. Go to Settings > Storage > Extended Storage
Then, turn on Install PS4 Games to Extended Storage
Sony has now activated the internal SSD expansion slot for game downloads, so you can finally have more space for all those big PS5 games. If you want, grab yourself an SSD like this one, pop it in under the side panel, let the console do its thing from there, and your expanded storage will be ready in no time!
Transfer save data from your PS4 or PS4 Pro
saved data and game app settings play station 5
If you owned a PS4 or a PS4 Pro before getting the PS5, you’d want to make sure you transfer all of your saved data. Then, you can pick up in-game on your new console right where you left off on your old console.
It’s not tricky at all to do this; it’ll just take time to download everything. Here are the steps you need to take:
Go to Settings > Saved Data and Game/App Settings > Saved Data (PS4)
You can then choose either Cloud Storage or USB Drive, depending on how you want to transfer your saved data.
Wait for everything to transfer!
Get your PS5 games downloading
The PS5 has been on the market for over a year now, as have all of its launch games. By now, those launch games will probably have a hefty update package when you first install the game. With bugs, patches, content updates, and more, you might be waiting a while before you get to play your new games.
As soon as all of your console and controller updates are finished, get your PS5 games downloading. Even if you don’t intend to play right away, it’ll be nice to have them downloaded and ready for you when you are ready. Though let’s be honest, you’ll probably want to play as soon as possible.
While you’re waiting on your PS5 games to download, the other things on this list will keep you entertained.
Get familiar with your PS5’s new UI and settings
The new PS5 UI is much more comfortable to explore and more organized than the PS4 UI. Make sure you budget time to check out the UI and customizable features in your PS5 settings.
Game preset options
There are certain game preset options that you can choose, and the console will start each new game with these preferred settings. Here are all the presets you can customize:
Difficulty
Performance Mode or Resolution Mode
First-Person View
Third-Person View
Subtitles and Audio
The two most prominent customization options here will be Difficulty and Performance Mode or Resolution Mode.
When you click on Difficulty, it gives you a few different options to choose from: Game Default, Easiest, Easy, Normal, Hard, or Hardest. Of course, not all games have five different difficulty settings, but any new game you launch will try to match the difficulty that you’ve selected as good as it can.
Performance Mode or Resolution Mode is pretty much what it sounds like. You can prioritize whether you want your games to look the best or perform the best with this setting. Essentially what this means is that if a game has a mode where it looks fantastic but runs in 30 frames per second and a mode where the resolution is poorer, but it runs in 60 frames per second, you can choose which one you prefer, and it’ll apply to all games that give you this option.
To get to these preset game options, here are the necessary steps:
Go to Settings > Saved Data and Game/App Settings > Game Presets
Select which presets you’d like to explore and change your settings from this menu.
Adjust create button shortcuts
You can easily customize what the Create button does for you on the Dual Sense controller. If you like to take screenshots over videos, or vice versa, make sure you check out this setting and change it to your liking.
And there you have it! Hopefully, this has helped you figure out what you should do after getting your new PS5. Have fun exploring your new console, and congratulations on being one of the lucky few to get your hands on one.
Good information 👍🏻
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