How to Factory Reset a PlayStation 4

Preparing Your Console for Sale

Whether you are upgrading to a PlayStation 5, selling your old PS4 on Facebook Marketplace, or giving the console to a younger sibling, you must completely erase your personal data before handing it over. Your PS4 contains years of highly sensitive information, including your credit card details, saved game progress, digital game licences, and private messages with friends.

Simply deleting games from the hard drive or logging out of your account is not enough. You must perform a complete factory reset, officially known as “Initialising” the PS4. This process permanently wipes the internal hard drive and restores the operating system to the exact state it was in when you first took it out of the box.

This process takes time—often several hours, depending on the size of your hard drive—so you should not start it five minutes before the buyer arrives.

Step 1: Back Up Your Saved Games

A factory reset is permanent. Once the hard drive is wiped, your saved game progress is gone forever. Before you begin the reset, you must upload your saves to the cloud or copy them to a USB stick.

To back up to the cloud (Requires PlayStation Plus):

1. Go to Settings on the main PS4 dashboard.
2. Select Application Saved Data Management.
3. Select Saved Data in System Storage.
4. Select Upload to Online Storage.
5. Press the Options button on your controller and choose Select Multiple Applications.
6. Choose Select All, then select Upload.

To back up to a USB drive (Free for everyone):

1. Plug a FAT32 or exFAT formatted USB drive into the front of the PS4.
2. Follow the exact same path above, but select Copy to USB Storage Device instead of Online Storage.

Step 2: Deactivate as Your Primary PS4

This is arguably the most critical step, and the one most people forget. Your PlayStation Network (PSN) account allows you to designate one console as your “Primary PS4.” This allows anyone using that specific console to play your downloaded games, even if they are logged into their own account.

If you sell the console without deactivating it first, the new owner might accidentally retain access to your digital library, and you will face frustrating errors when trying to set up your new PS5.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Select Account Management.
3. Select Activate as Your Primary PS4.
4. Select Deactivate.
5. Confirm your choice by selecting Yes.

Step 3: Factory Reset (Initialise) the PS4

Now that your data is safe and your account is decoupled from the hardware, you can securely wipe the hard drive.

1. Go to Settings.
2. Scroll all the way down to the bottom of the list and select Initialization.
3. Select Initialize PS4.
4. You will be presented with two options: “Quick” or “Full.” Always choose Full.
   • Quick: Simply deletes the file pathways, making the data invisible to the system. However, a tech-savvy buyer could easily recover your sensitive files using cheap data recovery software.
   • Full: Securely overwrites every single sector of the hard drive with zeros, making data recovery virtually impossible.
5. Select Full.
6. Select Initialize.
7. Select Yes to confirm.

The PS4 will restart and begin the wiping process. A progress bar will appear on the screen. Do not turn off the console or unplug it from the wall while this is happening, as doing so can corrupt the operating system.

Once the process is complete, the console will restart and display the initial “Connect your DualShock 4 controller using the USB cable, and then press the PS button” setup screen. Your PS4 is now safely ready for its new owner.