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How to Add a Hard Drive to Xbox One for More Storage

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Use this tutorial to add a hard drive to Xbox One for more storage. Games are getting bigger and your console is bound to run out of space to store them eventually.

Adding a hard drive to Xbox One is the easiest way to get more storage. You haven’t needed to add one yet because every Xbox One comes with a hard drive built-in. Early versions of the console had just 500GB of storage, but the latest models range in storage size. Your Xbox One S can have 500GB, 1TB or 2TB of space inside. The Xbox One X, Microsoft’s latest and most expensive video game console, has just 1TB of storage. That’s despite its games requiring more storage space for their upgraded graphics.

By adding a hard drive to Xbox One, you’re able to save yourself a lot of hassle. If you can’t boost your storage, you’re forced to remove older games to make room for newer titles. That means you must download or install the older game again when you want to go back to it, which can eat up precious gaming time.

Here’s how to add a hard to Xbox One for more storage.

How to Add a Hard Drive to Xbox One for More Storage: Hard Drive Requirements

Whether you can add a hard to Xbox One that you already own or must buy a new hard drive depends on your drive’s specs. Not all drives will work.

Microsoft lets the Xbox One, Xbox One S and Xbox One X see storage devices of any size. That being said, your drive needs 256GB of total storage capacity before you can store games and apps on it.

Xbox One also has speed requirements. The drive that you’re adding must be USB 3.0 compatible. USB 2.0 drives can’t pass on your game files to the console as quickly as it needs to not impact performance.

Read: 31 Xbox One Tips for a Better Experience

Finally, your hard drive needs to not be a part of your workflow on your PC or anywhere else. Your console will reformat the drive, erasing whatever is on there so that it can use all the space it has available. Don’t add a hard drive to Xbox One that you’re already using to back up your PC or any other work.

How to Add a Hard Drive to Xbox One for More Storage: Hard Drive Recommendations

If your hard drive doesn’t meet those requirements or you’re already using it to back up your PC or store your files, you must go shopping for a new one.

Seagate has a set of Xbox hard drives that work perfectly with the console and meet all the requirements. They even come with a special green casing and an Xbox logo.

  • [easyazon_link identifier=”B01065S79E” locale=”US” tag=”gbm-ea-20″]Buy the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox One 2TB Green for $89.99 from Amazon[/easyazon_link]
  • [easyazon_link identifier=”B01BV13S7S” locale=”US” tag=”gbm-ea-20″]Buy the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox One 4TB Green for $129.99 from Amazon[/easyazon_link]

The Passport line of drives from Western Digital are just as good as Seagate’s drives, but don’t come with custom branding.

  • [easyazon_link identifier=”B01LQQHI8I” locale=”US” tag=”gbm-ea-20″]Buy the WD 1TB Black Passport for $55.99 from Amazon[/easyazon_link]
  • [easyazon_link identifier=”B01LQQHF2W” locale=”US” tag=”gbm-ea-20″]Buy the WD 2TB Black Passport for $69.99 from Amazon[/easyazon_link]
  • [easyazon_link identifier=”B01LQQH86A” locale=”US” tag=”gbm-ea-20″]Buy the WD 4TB Black Passport for $99.99 from Amazon[/easyazon_link]

All these drives are small and easily fit in a bag. That being said, the Xbox One takes more than portable drives. Any desktop hard drive that meets the requirements above should work just fine.

Adding Your Hard Drive to Xbox One for More Storage

Connect your hard drive to your Xbox One console by plugging it into a USB 3.0 port. It doesn’t matter which port you use, but it will be easier to take your games from place to place if you use one of the ports on the front of your console. Within a minute, your console will analyze the drive and determine if you can use it as storage for your games and apps.

When you see the pop-up below, you know that the console has detected the drive you want to add. Use your controller to select Format Storage Device. The Xbox One will reformat hard drives used for extra storage and your computer can’t interact with it again without deleting all your Xbox games and apps.

How to Add a Hard Drive to Xbox One for More Storage (2)

Read: How to Fix Your Hard Drive After Using it on Xbox One

Add a name to your drive.

How to Add a Hard Drive to Xbox One for More Storage (3)

You must decide whether you want to install things only on the new drive or keep installing games on the internal drive. Generally, it’s better to choose Install New Things Here. That option lets you just grab that drive and head to a friend’s with all of your titles in one place.

How to Add a Hard Drive to Xbox One for More Storage (4)

Use your controller to select Format Storage Device.

That’s it. You’ve successfully added a hard drive to Xbox One for more storage. Head into the Settings app and look under System for storage management options going forward. This screen gives you a breakdown of how much storage you’re using overall. You can come here to switch which drive automatically handles your game downloads too.

How to Add a Hard Drive to Xbox One for More Storage (7)

Once you’ve set up your drive, be sure to start moving your favorite games over. Highlight a game in the My Games and Apps area and press the menu button on your controller.

Select Manage game and move your favorite titles and related content over to the new drive.

5 Best Xbox One Hard Drives

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox - $89

Seagate Game Drive for Xbox - $89

 The Seagate Game Drive debuted around the same time that Microsoft added USB storage support to the Xbox One. The hard drive is decked out in a light green and black paint job. The Xbox logo is emblazoned on the front so that the entire family knows it’s for use with the Xbox.

Because it’s a portable hard drive there’s no separate power cable to connected to your console or a power outlet. There are 2 terabytes of storage inside.

[ Buy the Seagate Game Drive for Xbox 2TB from Amazon for $89.99 ]

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