For me, the official software of my Playstation 5 is stable. That said, sometimes you may run into situations where a “power off and on again” doesn’t fix the problem. Phones, computers and game consoles like the Sony PS5 can sometimes benefit from a fresh start, including if you’re looking to sell the console.
Fortunately, the PS5 has multiple options you can tinker with to get it back to working order. Some are simple, while others require a little more effort on your part to make sure you’re in a good place when all is said and done. Below, we’ll show you some ways to reset your PS5.
For more PS5, be sure to check out everything we know about the PS5 Pro.
How to reset your PS5 from the settings menu
The easiest and most common way to reset your PS5 is to do it from the console settings.
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From the Playstation home screen, navigate to Settings menu in the top right.
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Select The system.
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Select System software.
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Select Reset options.
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Then confirm by selecting Reset your console.
If you don’t have a controller to navigate the PS5’s system UI, you can connect peripherals like a mouse and keyboard to reset your console this way. You can even connect your mobile device to the PS5 using the Remote Play app for iOS or Android to control your console via your phone and reset it that way.
If all else fails, enter PS5 Safe Mode
Safe Mode gives you multiple options to take advantage of even before you need to reset your PS5. For example, if you’re having storage issues, you can repair your console’s storage to try to resolve it. Bugs or system interface problems? Performance drops? In safe mode, you can try the Clear Cache and Rebuild Database option to rebuild a new database of all console content without having to start from scratch. Or try to, at least. And if necessary, you can reset the keyboard
If your PS5 won’t boot up completely, you won’t be able to reset it like you normally would since you won’t be able to get to the settings menu, so you’ll need to boot into Safe Mode and reset console that way.
How to boot into PS5 Safe Mode and reset it
Note that resetting your PS5 from Safe Mode will result in the loss of all data saved on the console, so make sure you back everything up properly before proceeding.
- With the PS5 off, press and hold the power button and release after you hear two beeps (one beep occurs with the initial press and a second should follow 7 seconds later.)
- Connect your controller via USB cable and press the PS button on it. (If this doesn’t get you into safe mode, turn off the console and try the above steps again.)
- From the safe mode menu options select either Reset or Reset (Reinstall system software)
The reset will erase all user data and return your PS5 to its original state. Reinstall System Software will erase all user data and, you guessed it, reinstall system software.
How to manually reinstall PS5 system software
If you needed to reinstall your PS5 system software and it failed, you can try to reinstall it manually, using a USB drive.
To get started, you’ll need a USB drive that has at least 1.2GB of free space on it and will need to be formatted to EXFAT or FAT32 using a PC or Mac.
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Create a folder inside the USB drive called PS5 and another folder inside that named Please update.
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Visit the PS5 software download page and download the reinstallation file. (There are two on the page, so make sure you’re selecting the reinstall file and not the update file.)
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After downloading, save the file to Please update folder on your USB drive and rename it to, “PS5UPDATE.PUP“
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Now that your USB drive is prepared, insert it into your PS5 and boot the console into safe mode using the steps above.
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Select Reset (Reinstall system software) and the console should recognize the USB with the update file on it and install the software image from there.
If for some reason this fails, try the same process using a different USB port on the console.
Plus, don’t miss out on what to expect as the PS5 enters its “end of life cycle.”