How to Add an External Drive to an Xbox Series X or S
If you have a drive you use with your Xbox One, you can just plug it in and use it. If you have a new drive, or a drive that has been used for other things in the past, you’ll need to format it first so that it can work with your Xbox. Here’s how to add an external drive to an Xbox Series X or S:
How to Move Games to an External Drive on Xbox Series X or S
When you connected and set up your drive, you probably chose to keep your current install location, because Series X or S games won’t play when installed on a USB drive. If that’s the case, you’ll need to move games to the drive from time to time to free up space for new games. Here’s how to accomplish that.
What Drives Work With Xbox Series X or S?
The Xbox Series X and S both come with lightning-fast NVME SSDs that reduce load times dramatically, but neither one has all that much storage. The Series X ships with a 1TB drive, and the Series S with a 512GB drive, and a decent amount of that space is taken up or reserved by the operating system. You can only play Xbox Series X or S games if they are installed on the internal NVME SSD drive, or installed on the optional expansion drive. The expansion drive fits into a slot on the back of the Xbox Series X and S, and it provides transfer speed just as fast as the internal drive.
Xbox One External Drive Compatibility
If you own an Xbox One and currently have an external drive with Xbox One games on it, you can plug it directly into your Xbox Series X or S and it will work. As long as it’s a USB 3.1 drive that worked with your Xbox One, you’ll be able to play your old Xbox One, Xbox 360, and original Xbox games directly from the drive. You can also move Xbox Series X or S games to a drive like this to free up space, but you won’t be able to play them from that drive until you move them back.
Drive Comparison Chart
Here’s a rundown of what you can do with what type of drive:
