How to prep your PlayStation 4 for sale

With the next generation of consoles officially here, many people may be looking to trade in or sell their older systems in order to pick up the newest version. Whether you’re ready to pick up a PS5 or just looking to get rid of your PS4 system, there’s some things that must be done before you part with it and I’m not just talking about making sure it’s clean. With that in mind, we’ve put together a guide on what steps you should take in order to prep your PS4 for sale.

Products used in this guide

Back it up: Seagate 2TB External Drive ($117 at Amazon)

How to back up the data on your PS4

The first thing you’re going to want to do is to make sure you have all the parts together. Making sure that everything is in proper working order is probably important as well. However, the most crucial thing you must do is to ensure that your console is a blank slate upon which its new owner can build their gaming world.

If you’re planning on moving over to a newer model of PlayStation, you may want to back up your data to an external hard drive. Once you’re armed with an external storage device, plug it into your PS4 and the transfer can begin!

From the home page on your PS4, go to Settings.
In the Settings menu, select System.
From System, scroll down and select Back Up and Restore.
Finally, select Back Up PS4.

How to deactivate your system as your primary PS4

The first thing you need to do is make sure that your PlayStation account is no longer linked to the system that you intend to sell.

From the home page of your PS4, go to the Settings menu.
Scroll down and select Account Management.
Select Activate as Your Primary PS4.
From the Activate menu, choose Deactivate.

Initialize your PS4

From the home page of your PS4, go to the Settings menu.
Scroll down and select Initialization at the very bottom.
Select Initialize PS4.
Select Full initialization.

This is going to take a few hours but it’s going to ensure that all your data is wiped clean like you were never there.

This is a great point in the lifecycle of the PS4 to sell. It has an incredibly robust library of games which makes it desirable for those who have been aching to check out the titles they have been missing. And with the Slim and Pro versions of the PlayStation out it is also a great time to upgrade

Our top equipment picks

A great backup drive

Seagate 2TB Drive

$117 at Amazon

Your key to game streaming

If you want to save all the data you pull off of your PS4, you’re going to need a drive. This baby is perfect for the task and should have more than enough space to store all your saves and screenshots with plenty of room to spare.

Grab a console

PlayStation 5

$500 at Amazon
$500 at Best Buy

Get your hands on it before it sells out

The PS5 is available, although finding one is tough at the moment. Should you get lucky, the PS5 is the latest and greatest in Sony’s line of consoles, offering players blazing fast speeds and some huge improvements in other areas as well.

Digital future

PS5 Digital Edition

Time to play — digitally

$400 at Amazon
$400 at Best Buy

Play the same great PS5 games as well as your older PS4 titles — provided they are all digital. The PS5 Digital Edition doesn’t have a disc drive but it has the exact same specs as the regular PS5 otherwise.

PlayStation accessories you’ll love

Every one of these quality accessories is guaranteed to enhance your PlayStation experience.

EasySMX VIP002S RGB Gaming Headset

$36 at Amazon

Good headsets tend to get expensive, but the EasySMX VIP002S headset gives you the best of both worlds: affordability and quality.

HyperX ChargePlay Duo

$20 at Amazon

Charge up your controllers without taking up that precious USB space on your console. The HyperX ChargePlay Duo can charge two at once in two hours through an AC adapter.

PDP Bluetooth Media Remote