Games can eat through internal console storage rather quickly, so you may be searching for a workaround “How to get more storage on the Xbox One or Xbox Series?”
The options are very similar for either the Xbox One or the Xbox Series family consoles. See, there’re two ways to expand your storage. Either you manage what’s already there or buy an extra storage drive.
There’re some rules, especially for the Xbox Series consoles. But if you want to avoid re-downloading a game every time, your best option is to buy an extra drive.
How to Get More Storage on Xbox Consoles
The Xbox One console family ships with a 500GB HDD storage drive or 1TB of storage.
The first thing you can do is swap the storage for a bigger one, but it’s not as convenient as adding an external drive.
The best way to expand your Xbox One or Xbox Series memory is by adding an external hard drive. The process is similar on either console, although the Xbox Series has an official external storage card for better functionality.
Adding External Storage to the Xbox One
You can buy an external drive and plug it into any Xbox One’s USB ports. We recommend you to buy one, rather than using an old one you have around.
There’re certain requisites these drives must fulfill:
- The minimum storage must be 256GB. The maximum storage is 16TB.
- The USB type must be 3.0
- You can use up to 3 external drives
- The drive can be either HDD or SSD. On SSD drives, games can load a bit faster.
- The drives must have the proper format. You can configure the format with the console, though, so it’s not to worry.
Any portable or external HDD or SSD can work on the Xbox One. Some manufacturers create items specifically for the console, but these are usually more expensive.
Regardless, here’re some examples:
You would recognize these are 3.0 USB drives by reading the specifications. In particular, you’d see “USB 3.0” on the “Hard Disk Interface” bracket.
Configuring an External Drive on Xbox One or Xbox Series
After you buy the external storage you want, here’re the options to configure the drive:
- Turn on the console
- Plug the drive into any of the Xbox One’s USB ports
- When you first connect it, the Xbox will ask you if you want to format the device
Otherwise, here’re the steps to format the device yourself:
- Press the Xbox button to open the guide
- Go to Profile & system
- Go to Settings
- Go to System > Storage
- Select the external drive and select Format. Otherwise, you can simply press Use for Media
- Type a name for the drive
- Select whether you want to install games on the external drive by default or not. If you choose “Keep Current Location,” the console will install new games on the Xbox internal drive (if it’s not full)
- End the process by selecting Format Storage Device.
These options are the same for Xbox One or Xbox Series, as both consoles share interface and features.
Adding External Storage to the Xbox Series
The Xbox Series ships with 500GB or 1TB of storage. Moreover, it supports the same external drive expansions as the Xbox One. It means they must fulfill these three requisites:
- A minimum of 256GB storage, up to 16TB
- You can only use up to 3 external drives
- A USB 3.0 interface
- The portable drives can be either HDD or SSD
However, new-gen games can only run on the internal SSD. It means Xbox Series games and “Optimized for Xbox Series X/S” titles must be running from the internal SSD.
Aside from the internal SSD, you can also buy the official Seagate Storage Expansion Card for the Xbox Series X or S. It will run your new-gen games.
In summary, here’re the functionality of the drives on the Xbox Series:
| Media Type | Internal SSD | Seagate Expansion Card | USB External Drive |
|---|---|---|---|
| Xbox Series X/S games | Can run | Can run | Only storage |
| Xbox One games (Optimized) | Can run | Can run | Only storage |
| Xbox One games (not optimized) | Can run | Can run | Can run |
| Xbox 360 games | Can run | Can run | Can run |
| Xbox games | Can run | Can run | Can run |
Configuring the Official Seagate Expansion Card for Xbox Series
The official Seagate expansion card for the Xbox Series is a plug & play device. You connect it to the back of the console as a regular USB drive, and you should be able to use it immediately.
To configure the official expansion card on your Xbox Series, these are the steps:
- Press the Xbox button to open the guide
- Go to Profile & system
- Go to Settings
- Go to System > Storage
- Select Use as Media. Follow the subsequent steps to finish the process.
If you don’t see the card, remove it, wait 30 seconds, and place it again on the USB port.
As you see, the steps are the same as configuring a regular external HDD or SDD drive.
How to Manage Your Xbox Storage
Aside from spending your money to buy extra storage, you can also manage the items on your drive. These items include saved files, apps, games, videos, screenshots, etc.
However, system files will take up some space, so even without any games or apps, you won’t see the full 500GB or 1TB.
Either way, we’re sharing a few tips to manage your storage. Some of these include the possibility of you using an external drive.
Manage Your Internal and External Storage
After you connect and configure external storage, here’s how to manage your internal and external drives:
- Press the Xbox button to open the drive
- Go to Profile & system
- Go to Settings
- Go to System > Storage
- The Storage menu has a graphic for each drive displaying available free space.
You can hover over any drive and press the Menu button on your controller for a list of options. Here’re things you can do:
View Contents
It takes you to games and apps, and you can see how much space any game or app is using. If you want to uninstall something:
- Press the menu button on your controller
- Select Manage game and add-ons
- Check the box of the items you want to uninstall
- Select Save changes
Install Here by Default
It will choose the drive as the default install location of any game or app you download.
Move or Copy
The option allows you to transfer files from one drive to another. That includes games, apps, screenshots, videos, and more.
Here’s how to do it:
- You can check the box of the items you want to move, copy, or press Select all on the right
- Press Copy selected or Move selected. The “Copy” option will leave the original game in its original location; the other option will copy it to the new place and delete the file from its original position.
- Select the drive you’re moving or copying to. A full copy or move may take a while.
Uninstall Things
As I explained above, it will allow you to uninstall games and apps. You simply check the boxes and then uninstall games and apps.
Uninstall, Move, or Copy Games
Some of these options on the storage menu are available on the Games & apps menu. In particular, you can uninstall a game like so:
- Press the Xbox button to open the guide
- Go to My games & apps
- Select See all
- Select Games or Apps
- Highlight a game
- Press the Menu button on the controller
- Select Uninstall
Delete Local Files
Another option is deleting your saved files, which take a significant amount of storage. Microsoft will keep your data on the Xbox Live cloud, so you don’t need to have the “physical” copy on your console.
Here’re the steps:
- Turn on your Xbox One
- Press the Xbox button on your controller
- Go to Profile & system
- Go to Settings
- Go to System > Storage
- On Manage storage devices, select Clear local saved games.
Remove Leftover Add-ons
Leftover add-ons are the items that remain after you uninstall a game. Here’s how to remove it:
- Press the Xbox button to open the guide
- Go back to My games & apps
- Select See all
- Select Manage
- Select Free up space
- Select Leftover add-ons or Shrinkable games
- Select Uninstall All
