Xbox Unlocks Support for Massive External Hard Drives Soon!

If you have numerous games on your Xbox and are concerned about running out of storage, you’ll be glad to know that there’s some good news. Although Xbox Series X|S consoles have previously only supported external hard drives up to 16GB, a recent update for the Xbox Insider Program now allows compatibility with larger drives. This means you can expand your gaming library even further!

Formatting storage devices larger than 16GB on your Xbox Series X|S will split them into multiple drives, providing you with the ability to utilize the entire storage capacity.

For now, this update applies solely to the Alpha Preview Ring members on Xbox, but it won’t be too far off before it reaches standard console users. Here is an outline of the modifications and repairs incorporated in the latest Alpha ring update:

– Clearer and more concise language for easier understanding
– Removed unnecessary technical jargon for improved readability

  • Expand Your Xbox Storage with Support for Larger Drives
    • We are enabling support for external USB drives larger than 16TB, so you can be sure your favorite games are always ready to play! Newly formatted drives that are larger than 16TB will be formatted with multiple partitions to utilize all available space for games and apps. These will appear as multiple devices in the storage devices list.
  • Spot Great Deals from the Comfort of Home
    • Today’s update makes finding discounts easier than ever. A random subset of users will see a new badge we’re adding to games on sale that you don’t already have access to, showing the percentage off directly on your Home screen.
  • Accessibility
    • Fixes to improve Narrator readout in Settings, particularly in power options and when enabling remote play.
  • Entertainment Apps
    • Fixed an issue where some media apps could become laggy or sluggish after extended playback.
  • System
    • Various updates to properly reflect local languages across the console
  • Known issues
    • System
      • We are investigating reports of the console shutting down or restarting unexpectedly when testing the network connection.

Never running out of storage

Newly optimized games for Xbox Series X|S must either be installed directly onto the console’s built-in SSD or on compatible Seagate or WD_Black Expansion Drives. These drives have been certified to work seamlessly with the internal SSD, providing a smoother gaming experience, increased stability, and lightning-fast load times.

To ensure there’s enough room for fresh games, it’s advisable to install unoptimized titles onto an external drive. The issue arises as many contemporary games surpass 100GB, quickly consuming storage. However, while you can store Xbox Series X|S Optimized games on an external hard drive, you must transfer them back to the SSD to play them.

Consequently, even though it may be challenging to exhaust the 16GB storage on one of the top-tier Xbox hard drives due to its capacity, it can theoretically be done – particularly for individuals who frequently purchase a substantial number of backwards compatible games and choose to keep them all installed simultaneously.

As someone observing, I can say that with an upcoming expansion in hard drive capacity, those who have recently encountered storage issues will undoubtedly find themselves rejoicing in the near future.

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2025-01-22 18:09