The PlayStation 5 has some great-looking launch games, but there are also plenty of PS4 games that will run better than ever on the new hardware. If you’re halfway through a game on a PS4 or PS4 Pro, you’ll need to transfer your save to the new console before you can play it on a PS5.
Sony offers a few ways to move your data from one console to another. In fact, it’ll prompt you to do so during the PS5 setup process. But if you skipped that at the time, you can re-start the process from the console’s settings. Here are your options.
Transfer Games and Save Files Over Wi-Fi/Ethernet
If you have a couple Ethernet cables handy, connecting both consoles to your router is the easiest and most versatile way to transfer both game and save data. This way you can copy the game files themselves along with all your saves, preventing you from having to re-download them over the internet.
You can also connect both consoles to the same Wi-Fi network, instead of using an Ethernet cable. However, this is going to be much slower than using wires. If there’s no TV near your router, a computer monitor will do in a pinch—otherwise you’ll either need some long Ethernet cables or long HDMI cables.
To transfer your data, boot up your PS4 console and make sure it’s using the latest version of the PlayStation software. From the main menu, head to Settings > System Software Update and choose Upgrade Now.
Then, connect each console to your router with an Ethernet cable. On your PS5, make sure you’re logged in using the same PlayStation Network account as your PS4, then head to Settings > System > System Software and select Data Transfer. Follow the on-screen instructions to move everything over—you’ll select which game saves you want to move, which sets of game files you want to move, and any other apps you may want to migrate.
When you’re ready to start the transfer, you’ll be prompted to press the power button on your PS4, and both systems will restart.
There’s a big caveat here: on the final screen of the wizard, you’ll see an estimated transfer time. This wait time only applies to your game saves, not for the full transfer. If you’re migrating full game files, those will migrate in the background once your PS5 is up and running, and it’ll take some time. Your PS4 will continue to show the “Transferring” window while this happens. Be prepared to wait, especially if you’re on Wi-Fi—we’re talking hours or even a day, if you’re moving a lot of games.
Finally, note that if you have an external drive connected to your PS4, that data won’t migrate to your PS5 using this method. You can, however, plug that drive directly into your PS5 to pick up where you left off in those games, no waiting necessary. You won’t get the faster loading times available from the PS5’s super-snappy SSD, but that’s probably okay because you might not want to waste precious drive space on old games, since PS5 games have to be installed on the internal SSD.
Transfer Game Saves With a USB Drive
If the network transfer is giving you trouble, or if you have save data you want to transfer from a PS4 at someone else’s house, you can also back up your PS4 game saves to a USB flash drive. Start up your PS4, plug in the flash drive, and go to Settings > Application Saved Data Management > Saved Data in System Storage and select Copy to USB Storage Device. Select the game saves you want to copy over, and repeat this process for any other games on your system.
When you’re done, you can plug that flash drive into your PS5 and head to Settings > Saved Data and Game/App Settings > Saved Data (PS4) > USB Drive. Choose Copy to Console Storage and select the game saves you want to migrate. Press the Copy button, and things should move onto your console storage fairly quickly, allowing you to pick up right where you left off (provided you’ve installed the game, of course).
Download Game Saves From PlayStation Plus
Sony’s PlayStation Plus subscription is primarily geared toward giving you new games to play every month (and if you have a PS5, you get access to the PlayStation Plus Collection, making it a pretty good deal). But PS Plus also offers some cloud backup options that regular PS4 owners don’t get—so if you’re a PS Plus subscriber, you can download those game saves from your existing cloud storage.
On your PS5, head to Settings > Saved Data and Game/App Settings > Saved Data (PS4) > Cloud Storage and choose Download to Console Storage. You should be able to select which game saves you want to download. If you don’t see the games you’re looking for, you’ll need to upload that data from your old console. You can do this under Settings > Application Saved Data Management > Saved Data in System Storage > Upload to Online Storage on the PS4. Then come back to the Cloud Storage page on your PS5 and try downloading the data again.
