8 Methods to Recover Data from PS4 Hard Drive for Game Lovers

PS4 (short for PlayStation 4) from Sony Interactive Entertainment is a video game console universally favored by game lovers worldwide. Naturally, PS4 hard drive data loss circumstances like above become more common with its increasing popularity. It would definitely be a bummer to lose your saved games and cumulative trophies all of a sudden.

Therefore, in this article here’s everything we need to know about how to recover game data from PS4 hard drive.

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Best PS4 Data Recovery Software Ever Here

• Recover deleted and corrupted game data from PS4/PS5 hard drive
• Recover data from broken, damaged or formatted PS4 hard drive
• Support diverse PS4 data loss scenarios: accidental deletion, power failure, virus attack, hard drive damage, human misbehavior, etc.
• Fix damaged videos, photos and even documents automatically
• File filters applied to quickly locate the game videos you need

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What is PS4 File Format? Is it Possible to Recover Data from PS4 Hard Drive?

In the first place, PS4 file format is supposed to be clarified for figuring out the possibilities of PS4 hard drive data recovery.

Since the internal storage of PS4 console is limited to a certain degree, many PS4 users prefer to apply an external hard drive to extend the available storage of their game consoles. So PS4 system data are stored either in its internal hard drive or added external hard drive, and accordingly PS4 file formats should be divided into 2 types.

Format as local storage is a propriety and encrypted file system, which is not compatible with computer system. Your PC/Mac has no access to deal with this kind of Sony’s format and cannot recognize the PS4 internal drive successfully. While the extended storage is formatted as exFAT, a frequently-used format among disks.

Obviously, the answer to whether we can recover data from PS4 hard drive is YES. Against these 2 types of PS4 file format, the following parts will separately discuss feasible approaches to recover lost save files from PS4 external hard drive and from internal storage.

Best PS4 Data Recovery Software to Recover Game Data from PS4 External Hard Drive on PC

When it comes to restoring deleted, lost or damaged data from PS4 external hard drive on PC, a top practice must be using a professional hard drive data recovery tool. Here we highly recommend Cisdem Data Recovery for Windows or Mac.

With reasonable price and high recovery rate, this almighty software has always been more popular than other competitors on the Internet. Better yet, its users can gain a timely online customer assistance to ensure a smooth and quick data retrieval process.

Why choose Cisdem Data Recovery?

• Support all major file systems, including exFAT, FAT32, NTFS, APFS, HFS+, etc.
• Recover data from any Windows/Mac devices, hard drives, SD cards, digital cameras, etc.
• Repair unplayable videos file that corrupted.
• Detect and repair damaged photos and documents from scan results
• Retrieve 1000+ types of file (game video, graphic, audio, document, archive, email, etc.)
• Both quick scan and deep scan applied aiming to do thorough scanning.
• Preview options before actual file recovery.
• Previous scan records retained to resume scanning at anytime.
• Recover data to local drive or Cloud service.

How to recover data from PS4 external hard drive on PC/Mac?

1. Free download the best PS4 hard drive data recovery software: Cisdem Data Recovery.
   Free Download Windows 11/10/8/7 Free Download macOS 10.9 or later
2. Install and launch this program.
3. Scan the PS4 external hard drive.
   Connect your PS4 hard drive to the computer. Choose Hardware Disk from the homepage. All storage devices will be detected and listed on the right panel. Select the exact PS4 drive you want to restore data from and hit “Search for Lost Data” to start the scanning process.
4. Find the lost PS4 game data.
   Upon scan process completed, the software will show all scanned files on the left panel based on recovery path or file type. You can have a preview on them. Use filter tools or search bar to locate your missing PS4 game files. 
5. Recover the game data.
   Select the game files you wish to retrieve and click “Recover” to revert them back to the PS4 external hard drive.

7 Ways to Recover Save Data from PS4 Internal Hard Drive

Although PS4 local storage is unavailable on PC directly, there are still other ways to recover deleted, lost or corrupted game data from it. 7 potential methods will be covered in this part.

Method 1: Reboot PS4 console

Have you ever thought about that your saved game files are not truly lost? It’s possible when some PS4 games are hidden somewhere owing to an unexpected system glitch.

What you should do is reboot the PS4 console and start the game program from PS4 home screen again, to check if the saved games reappear properly. If not, proceed to the methods below.

Method 2: Rescue lost PS4 games from Cloud

PS Plus console has a auto-save feature to store game data to online Cloud storage. If you are a PS Plus user, congratulations, you have a good chance to get back the missing games. Now let’s walk through the steps to recover PS4 game data from Cloud saves.

1. Navigate to “PlayStation Plus” at the top of your PS4 home screen.
2. Choose “Manage Membership” and select “Online Storage” from the drop-down menu.
3. Click on “Saved Data in Online Storage”.
4. Select “Download to System Storage”.
5. Choose the games you want to restore > click “Download”.
6. Download process will begin. After download finishes, your chosen games will be saved to PS4 system storage.

Method 3: Recover deleted PS4 files with internal backup

Another helpful PS Plus feature that can be used to recover save data from PS4 hard drive is internal backup. This requires PS Plus members to save the game copy before data deletion or loss. Here’s how to achieve PS4 hard drive recovery through internal backup.

1. Log into your PS4 console > go to Settings menu > Saved Data and Game/App Settings.
2. Move to Saved Data (PS4) option > choose Cloud Storage.
3. Navigate to “Download to Console Storage”.
4. Select the game files you need to recover > choose Download. Then your PS4 console will be updated, thus you can see the lost game data in the game’s list again.

But what if you are not a PS Plus user? How to recover lost saved game data on PS4 internal drive without PS Plus? Read on.

Method 4: Retrieve PS4 data via re-downloading from PlayStation Library

PS4 console allows users to download their lost games again from the PlayStation Library. As long as you register with your PS4 game account, the previously purchased games can be re-downloaded easily for free. Follow the next guide to get back your game files.

1. Sign in to your PS4 game account.
2. Go to “Library” > “Purchased”.
3. Search for your missing games and hit “Download” to regain them on the PS4 hard drive.

One obvious drawback in this condition is that your original earned trophies are no more existing, so you have to start the game from scratch. Anyway, it is truly a workable way to retrieve the gone game data.

Method 5: Recover save files from PS4 hard drive with external backup

Without PS Plus subscription, you can still choose to copy and back up your PS4 game data to an external USB storage device. If you have the external backup available before game data loss, this solution is for you. The recovery process here will overwrite all existing files on your PS4. Check out the guide on how to retrieve data from PS4 hard drive easily.

1. Connect the backup USB drive with your PS4 system.
2. Head over to Settings > System > Back Up and Restore.
3. Choose Restore PS4.
4. Select the backup containing your lost save data to do the restoration.

Method 6: Perform PS4 hard drive data recovery using database rebuild

PS4 database rebuild is a simple and safe process to reorganize the relevant PS4 files stored on the hard drive, thus fixing defective game data in their right place. This will shorten the console boot time and improve console performance in the meanwhile. See the below for tutorial on resuming PS4 data from hard drive by rebuilding database.

1. Power off your PS4. Do not use rest mode.
2. Keep pressing the power button until you hear two quick beeps, which indicates PS4 has entered Safe Mode.
3. Connect the PS4 controller to PS4 with a USB cable. Hit the PS button. 
4. Navigate to “Rebuild Database” > press X button to initiate the rebuild process.

After the database rebuild completes, your deleted or lost game data might show up again in the PS4 hard drive.

Method 7: Restore PS4 hard drive data by contacting PlayStation Support

Supposing the above-mentioned methods all fail, as a last resort, contact PlayStation Support for help recovering PS4 data from hard drive. Just go to visit the official website of PlayStation and enter Support page. Search the entrance to send requirement of game data recovery to the PlayStation Support.

How to Back up Your PS4 Console Data in One Minute?

Creating a regular data backup is always a good habit to cultivate. It is a worry-free guarantee which ensures your crucial PS4 console data can be get back without hassles in face of any data loss cases. This makes learning how to back up PS4 data an necessary issue. Instructions are as follows.

1. Prepare an FAT32 or exFAT-formatted USB drive.
2. Insert the USB storage device into your PS4 console.
3. Go to Settings > System > Back Up and Restore > Back Up PS4.
4. Select the data you want to back up > click “Back Up” button. Your selected items will be stored to the USB drive.
5. Remove the USB drive and take care of it well.

Bonus Tip: How to Access PS4 Hard Drive on PC?

It has been mentioned more than once that we can’t open a PS4 internal hard drive directly on PC, due to the incompatibility between PS4 file system and computer operating system. However, there is a great demand about game lovers knowing how to get data off the PS4 internal hard drive and transfer saved data from hard drive to PC. As a bonus part, a proven piece of tip will be explored to show how to connect a PS4 (internal) hard drive to PC.

1. Plug the PS4 hard drive into the USB port of your PC. Nothing will pop up in the Devices and drives section.
2. Head over to the bottom right area of Desktop > click Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media. You’ll notice that the PS4 hard drive is listed, but not showing up anywhere else.
3. Right-click on your PC within File Explorer > choose Manage.
4. Go into Disk Management > find the PS4 hard drive.
5. Right-click those blue bars > choose “Delete Volume” to remove them.
6. Then right-click on the black bar > select New Simple Volume.
7. Follow the New Simple Volume Wizard prompts. Set the file system as exFAT and click Next.
8. Choose Finish to start the formatting.
9. Finally you may access the PS4 hard drive on PC successfully.

Summary

When you have found your saved game data disappearing from PS4 console, to recover them, at first make clear where your data were saved originally: internal or external. For PS4 data lost from external storage, your second-to-none choice is to utilize a PS4 data recovery software like Cisdem Data Recovery. For PS4 files missing from internal storage, we have covered 7 practical recovery ways for users with or without PS Plus plan. There must be at least one method suitable for your case to recover data from PS4 hard drive on PC/Mac.