How to free up space on PS5 and Xbox without deleting your favorites

Big games keep getting bigger. Rockstar says the GTA 6 pre-load alone needs up to 212 GB of free space. If your console is full, you don’t have to wipe your favorite games to make room. You have more options than “delete”, and most of them are free.

Work through these steps in order. Stop as soon as you have enough space.

Step 1: See what’s using the space

PS5: go to Settings › Storage. Then open Console Storage › Games and Apps to see each game’s size.

Xbox Series X|S: press the Xbox button and go to Profile & system › Settings › System › Storage devices. Pick a drive and choose View contents to see how much each game uses.

Sort by size. Usually two or three huge games use most of the space.

Step 2: Protect your saves first

Before deleting anything, make sure your progress is safe.

Xbox: Xbox says saved games and game settings sync to the cloud automatically when you’re signed in and online. When you reinstall a game, your progress comes back with it. Connect to the internet before deleting, so everything has synced.

PS5: PlayStation’s support page says PS5 save data can only be backed up to cloud storage, which requires PlayStation Plus. Members get up to 100 GB for PS5 saves. To turn on syncing, go to Settings › Saved Data and Game/App Settings › Saved Data (PS5) › Sync Saved Data, and turn on auto-sync. Without PlayStation Plus, PS5 saves stay on the console, so don’t delete save data you want to keep. PS4 game saves can also be copied to a USB drive.

Step 3: Trim games instead of deleting them

Some games let you remove the parts you don’t use and keep the rest.

PS5: if a game shows Customize next to it in the storage list, you can manage parts of it separately. PlayStation’s example is removing add-ons you don’t use, or content you’ve finished, while still playing the rest.

Xbox: highlight the game, press Menu, then choose Manage game and add-ons. Untick the add-ons you don’t need and select Save changes.

Step 4: Let the console suggest what to remove

Xbox has a built-in helper. Press the Xbox button, then go to My games & apps › See all › Manage › Free up space. Xbox’s recommendations include things like add-ons installed without their main game, games installed twice on different drives, and games you can no longer play — for example, a game that has left Game Pass.

On the same storage settings screen, Xbox also offers Clear local saved games, which deletes saves from the console while keeping the cloud copies. Only use it if you’re sure your saves have synced.

Step 5: Park games on a USB drive

This is how you make room without losing anything. A USB hard drive becomes a store room for games you aren’t playing this month. Moving a game back is often quicker than downloading it again, especially on a slow or capped connection.

PS5 requirements (per PlayStation): 250 GB to 8 TB, SuperSpeed USB 5 Gbps or faster. Plug it straight into the console — USB hubs aren’t supported — and use only one extended storage drive at a time.

1. Go to Settings › Storage › USB Extended Storage, and select Format as USB Extended Storage. This erases the drive.
2. In your Game Library, highlight a game, press Options, and choose Move Games and Apps.
3. To play a PS5 game again, copy it back to console storage: Game Library › Installed, highlight it, press Options, then Copy.

PS4 games can play straight from the USB drive. PS5 games can’t.

Xbox requirements (per Xbox): 128 GB or larger, USB 3.0/3.1. The console asks to format the drive the first time you plug it in.

1. Go to My games & apps › See all › Games.
2. Highlight a game, press Menu, then Manage game and add-ons.
3. Select the game box, choose Move or copy, pick the USB drive, and select Move selected.

Optimized for Xbox Series X|S games must be moved back to the internal SSD or a Storage Expansion Card to play. Xbox One, Xbox 360 and original Xbox games can play from USB.

Step 6: Delete — knowing you can get it back

If you still need space, deleting is safe for games you own:

• PS5: go to Settings › Storage › Console Storage › Games and Apps, choose items, and select Delete. PlayStation says you can re-download your purchases from your game library whenever you like. You can also manage storage remotely with the PlayStation App.
• Xbox: uninstall from Storage devices › View contents, or from Free up space. Xbox says removing a game doesn’t remove your license, and your progress stays in the cloud.

Disc games need the disc to reinstall, and games that came with a subscription need the subscription to be active.

How much space do you need?

Use our free GTA 6 Storage Planner. Type your free space and add the games you have installed, and it picks the smallest set of games to remove — so your favorites stay.

If you’re always short, a bigger fix is adding fast storage: see choosing a PS5 SSD or Xbox expansion cards vs USB drives.