How to Format External Hard Drive for PS3 [2024 Full Guide]

Updated by

Tracy King 

Written by

Cici 

Updated on Apr 22, 2024

PS3 is still one of the popular consoles that some use to play their old favorite PS3-exclusive titles that aren't available on PS4 or PS5. Also, the PS3 is one of the first gaming consoles supporting Blu-ray and movie playback. And if you tried connecting one of your external hard drives to your PlayStation 3 today to play a movie and your PS3 didn't read it, don't worry; you just need to format it!

Continue reading this article! EaseUS will show you step-by-step how to format your external hard drive for PS3.

How to Format an External Hard Drive for PS3

Let's get down to formatting your external hard drive for the PS3. Whether you're a Windows or Mac user, we've got you covered when formatting your external hard drive for your PS3. We also have a method for you to use if you don't have a computer and want to format the external hard drive without one. Continue reading!

Guide 1. Format External Hard Drive for PS3 on Windows

Three different methods exist to format your external hard drive to the FAT32 file system on Windows. And we will begin with the easiest one. You can choose according to your preference.

Method 1: Format External Hard Drive for PS3 using EaseUS Partition Master

• Duration: 2-3 minutes 
• Operation Difficulty: Easy with four steps
• Suitable Users: For all users, including beginners and experienced

EaseUS Partition Master Free is a powerful PS3 formatting tool. It can easily and efficiently help users format any format that supports PS3 compatibility. If you want to change the file system of your external drive without spending too much energy and time formatting your drive, you should try out EaseUS Partition Master today!

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the partition on your external hard drive/USB/SD card which you want to format and choose the "Format" option.

Step 2. Assign a new partition label, file system (NTFS/FAT32/EXT2/EXT3/EXT4/exFAT), and cluster size to the selected partition, then click "OK".

Step 3. In the Warning window, click "Yes" to continue.

Step 4. Click the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button in the top-left corner to review the changes, then click "Apply" to start formatting your external hard drive/USB/SD card.

Other related format features with EaseUS Partition Master:

Method 2: Format External Hard Drive for PS3 via Disk Management

• Duration: 2-5 minutes 
• Operation Difficulty: medium with eight steps
• Suitable Users: For people who are familiar with computer operation

Disk Management is a native Windows program to create, delete, or format your internal or external drive's partitions. You can format your external hard drive for your PS3 using Disk Management. Though it isn't feature-rich or has an easy-to-use interface like EaseUS Partition Master, it does the job most of the time.

Here's how to format your external hard drive using Disk Management for PS3:

Step 1. Connect your external hard drive to your Windows PC.

Step 2. Press the "Win+R" button on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box, then type "diskmgmt.msc" and press "Enter."

Step 3. Disk Management will open. In the list, find your external hard disk.

Step 4. Right-click on the partition of your external hard drive and choose the "Format" option.

Step 5. Select "FAT32" as the desired file system in the format dialog box.

Step 6. In the "Volume label" section, name your hard drive.

Step 7. Ensure that the "Perform a quick format" option is checked.

Step 8. Click "OK" to initiate the formatting process.

Method 3: Format External Hard Drive for PS3 via CMD

• Duration: more than 5 minutes 
• Operation Difficulty: Difficult with commands
• Suitable Users: For experienced users

The Command Prompt is one of the most advanced tools available on every Windows computer. Using the Command Prompt, you can change settings, configure internal and external hard drives, and more.

Here's how to format your external hard drive using the command prompt for PS3:

Step 1. Connect your Windows computer to your external hard drive.

Step 2. Press the "Start" button on your keyboard and search for and open "Command Prompt" with administrator privileges by selecting "Run as administrator."

Step 3. Type the following commands and press "Enter":

• diskpart
• list disk
• select disk X
• list partition
• select partition x
• format fs=fat32

Other functions of Diskpart:

Guide 2. Format External Hard Drive for PS3 on Mac

You can use Disk Utility on a Mac to format your external hard drive for the PS3. The Disk Utility is Windows' Disk Management equivalent for the Mac.

Now, here's how to format your external hard drive for PS3 using the Disk Utility:

Step 1. Connect your Mac to your external hard drive.

Step 2. Open "Spotlight" and search and open "Disk Utility."

Step 3. Once you're in Disk Utility, select your external hard drive on the left sidebar.

Step 4. Look at the top of the Disk Utility window and find that sweet "Erase" button. Give it a tap.

Step 5. In the "Format" dropdown menu, choose "MS-DOS (FAT)" because that's what the PS3 supports.

Step 6. Give your external hard drive a name.

Step 7. Double-check the settings, and when you're ready, press "Erase."

Step 8. Once the formatting is complete, eject your external hard drive from your Mac.

That's it! Your external hard drive is now formatted and ready to be used with your PS3.

Guide 3. Format External Hard Drive for PS3 Without A Computer

If you don't have access to a computer but still want to format your external hard drive for PS3, you can do so using the "Format Utility" option in the settings menu. The "Format Utility" is the PlayStation 3's version of Disk Management and Disk Utility. It can help you format your drive without a Mac or Windows computer.

Here's how to use the Format Utility settings option in PS3 and format your external hard drive:

Step 1. Power on your PS3 console.

Step 2. Connect your external hard drive to one of the available USB ports on the PS3.

Step 3. From the PS3 home menu, navigate to "Settings" and select "System Settings."

Step 4. Within the "System Settings," find and choose "Format Utility."

Step 5. In the "Format Utility" menu, select "Format External Hard Disk."

Step 6. To begin formatting, confirm your choice and follow the on-screen instructions.

Step 7. Your external hard disk is prepared with your PS3 once formatting is finished.

With these steps, you can format your external hard drive for the PS3 without a computer.

What Is The Best PS3 Hard Drive Format?

If you want to backup your PS3 on an external drive so that all of your PS3 data is safe in case the internal drive unexpectedly crashes or dies, you need to format it.  You may get some errors if you don't format the external hard drive for the right file system format. Here is a typical case:

Since most external hard drives are pre-formatted to NTFS files, but PS3 only supports FAT32 and exFAT file systems, you need to format your external hard drive to one of these supported file systems. Your PS3 can't read the external hard drive if you don't.

And among FAT32 and exFAT file systems, the best file system you need to format for your external hard drive is FAT32. FAT32 is the standard format provided by SONY.

Lastly, if this article helped you learn how to format your external hard drive successfully, share it with your friends and family to help them!

Conclusion

That's it! This tutorial provides a full guide to formatting external hard drives for PS3. Whether you're using Windows or Mac, or using the PS3 console, this article gives specific solutions.

• For Windows users: try EaseUS Partition Master to format the external hard drives for PS3 easily and quickly.
• For Mac users: Try Disk Utility to format PS3 drive safely.
• For users without a PC: You can also format your PS3 drive with the setting menu. 

Download the tool you need and enjoy the format conveniences!

FAQs About Format External Hard Drive for PS3

Do you have any other questions about formatting an external hard drive for the PS3? Here, we answer everything about it.

1. Why does the PS3 external hard drive not show up?

It could be because the external hard drive is not formatted to the correct file system, or your computer could fail to read it. Disconnect and reconnect to your computer to see if the external hard disk is operating properly. If you are not using EaseUS Partition Master, format it to make it work again.

2. What is the best PS3 format tool?

The best tool to format an external drive for the PS3 is EaseUS Partition Master. It is feature-rich and can change file systems without formatting your external drive.

3. Does PS3 recognize NTFS or exFAT, or FAT32?

PS3 doesn't recognize the NTFS file system, but it does recognize exFAT and FAT32. However, the exFAT file system sometimes works, and other times, it doesn't, which makes FAT32 the best file system for PS3.