Anybody who uses a PlayStation 4, especially the 500GB version knows the pain of having to kick out games to make room for storage-heavy games like COD: Warzone or successive updates of GTA V or RDR 2. These games and their DLCs, updates take a lot of space, which, on the already memory-strapped PS4, cause the console to bug the user to clean out the HDD. Which of course, involves, deleting games that you haven’t played in a long time or were simply holding out for a rainy day. But this being the PlayStation, you can’t just up and kick the game out; there’s a procedure to it. So, here’s how to delete games on PS4.
This whole process started way back with the PS3, whose 320GB version simply could not keep up with the newly released GTA V and its many updates and whatnot, all the while holding essentials like the Uncharted series and many Final Fantasy games, prompting users to start cutting games from their digital library. This problem eventually carried on to the PS4; but while the 1TB and the very impressive 2TB version could hold out on the massive game data, this meant that the 500GB version would always see games come and go to accommodate the user’s favorite game. Which is sad, considering keen and avid gamers like to collect and keep games; be it their digital collection or on-disc collection. So, if you are looking for how to delete games on PS4 to make way for the next Warzone update, here’s how you can do it.
So, basically, there are three ways you can get about deleting the games on your console. However, the third method, which involves doing away with the game data files in Settings is a permanent move, so it will be discussed separately. Now, without any further ado, here’s how to delete games on PS4.
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How to Delete Games on PS4
So, you’ve got yourself COD: Warzone and you can’t wait to join in on the madness that has engulfed everybody. So, you download the initial 2GB file thinking ‘Alright, this seems good. I can play it and keep Spiderman. Dunno why everybody was going on about how they had to delete their games because of Warzone’. So, you load it up and it requires another 2GB. Okay, 4 gigs can’t hurt your might PS4, right? Wrong. As, you discover, update after update, that you aren’t special and are beginning to face the same problem that made COD so trending with the meme community: you need to get Spiderman out or say adieu to that old Need for Speed to keep playing Warzone. Too bad, right? Since you won’t use an external hard drive, here’s how you can delete games on PS4 then.
Deleting Games on PS4 from Main Menu (Game Tiles)
The PS4 is incredibly innovative and intuitive. Pretty simple to use and equally powerful. Deleting games, therefore, isn’t a task that would require you time or skill navigating from the various Settings or menus. You can do it from the main menu directly. No fussing about, no hunting for the game’s source file and whatnot like you’d do in a PC. The main menu, which shows right after you boot up the PlayStation, has game tiles on it, right? You can go about your business right from there. Ain’t that convenient?
So, simply boot up your PS4 and let the main screen show up. Once on the menu, simply navigate to the game tile that you want to delete and on your DualShock 4, press the Options button. This will pull up a side menu with a list of actions that you can perform with the game selected. Navigate down to Delete and press the X button. This will prompt you to confirm the delete action. Simply press X on Yes and the game will be deleted from your library and the space will be freed.
If you have a disc of the game that you have deleted, not all is lost, of course. You can still play the game, but it would require installation time again when you insert the disc and would of course, take up space again. But you can play the game again if you have a disc. If that was a digital version, you can still manage to salvage it from the game data files, which will be discussed in the last method. Nevertheless, this is the most-used and simplest way of deleting games from the PS4.
Deleting Games on PS4 from Storage Option in Settings
Sometimes knowing which game you ought to delete to get that sweet storage spot helps a lot. Imagine deleting Devil May Cry 5 before you discover Warzone only required you to delete your screenshots or clips from the Gallery. The controller will obviously not fare any better after you smash it (hopefully) on the wall and not the TV. Anyways, to protect your library from accidental omissions that could have been avoided if you were just a little bit more diligent, we have got this method.
While this certainly requires more steps from the first step, while in the Storage section of Settings, you can easily work out what to delete to free up space and what game can stay. Its certainly useful, this feature. Otherwise, why would Sony bother with it.
So, to start with this option, boot up your PS4 and go to Settings in the menu above the game tiles. From there, navigate down to Storage and access Applications in it. This will pull up the list of games that are taking up space on your PS4’s hard drive. From there, navigate to the game you deem fit for deletion and press the Options button on the controller, bringing up the side menu with the Delete option. Simply confirm that you want to delete it and the game will be gone and the space, reclaimed. Its pretty simple.
This method can also be used if you want to delete games from your PS4’s external drive. Simply go to Settings and access Extended Storage to delete games and data from the external drive. This can also help you get some extra storage from beyond the console’s own storage. Access the Extended Storage and repeat the steps from the first method.
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Permanently Deleting Game File from Storage
When you delete a game from the PS4, the console saves some game file save data and other game settings in case you install it again, so that you can revert back to the original settings and preferences. While they aren’t much, when the time calls for it, you need to do away with them too just to get those dire MBs back. So, to delete those save data and game settings file, you need to go deep into Settings to delete those files as well.
Please note that this is a permanent step. Once done, if you attempt to install the same game again, it will follow the same procedure as the PS4 does with a new game and will take a lot of time to install and the settings will also not be reverted.
Go to Settings, navigate down to Application Saved Data Management and go into Saved Data in System Storage and press Options and select Delete to delete them all.