Swap your PS3 hard drive: How to change your console's hard drive

Game data, music and photos can be stored on the PS3's hard drive. So if you regularly use your console and store a lot on it, you will know the problem of running out of storage space over time. By installing a hard drive with a larger storage capacity, you can get around this hurdle.

Which hard drives are suitable?

You can install any commercially available notebook hard drive in 2.5 inch format into your PS3 game console. Here you just have to make sure that the hard drive has a SATA connector and does not exceed the height of 9.5 millimeters. Otherwise, the hard drive would not fit into your gaming console.

Exchange hard drive

Once you have purchased a suitable hard drive, you can exchange it for the existing one. Before doing so, however, it is recommended that you back up the data on the PS3 hard drive so that it is not lost. To do this, connect a USB stick or an external hard drive to the console and navigate to "Settings" > "System Settings" > "Backup". Then you can perform the hard drive swap as follows:

1. Turn off your game console completely and remove all cables.
2. Next, lay your console on its side. There you can see the hard drive cover on the left side of the housing.
3. Remove the black plastic bezel with the help of a screwdriver.
4. Now you can already find the hard drive, which is attached with a blue screw in the housing.
5. Solve this screw, bend the clips above upwards and remove the hard drive. Note here the exact location.
6. Finally, insert the new hard drive in the same place, screw it tightly and cover the slot with the black plastic cover again.