GoKawiilGuide details six uses for the PS5's USB ports beyond game storage
External USB drives connected to a PlayStation 5 can archive PS4 and PS5 game installs, store screenshots and video clips, and transfer media to a computer, though not all functions work simultaneously on one drive. Game archiving requires a USB 5 Gbps (USB 3.0) drive between 250GB and 8TB, formatted specifically as USB Extended Storage, which erases existing data and can't be used with a hub. Screenshots and clips instead require a standard exFAT or FAT32 formatted drive, meaning separate drives are needed for games versus media.