How do I successfully format an external hard drive for use with the Xbox One? Here’s the guide

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Tracy King 

Last updated on April 22, 2024

Notice that it's not a good idea to delete the purchased games when your Xbox One has no room for a new game. You have a better solution, that is, upgrading Xbox One SSD and formatting an external hard drive for Xbox One.

With a new external hard drive, you can download and install new games and play them on your Xbox One without issue. Follow this guide to learn how to choose the right external hard drive and set it up for use with your Xbox One.

\#1 Tips for Choosing an External Hard Drive for Xbox One

For most Xbox One users, the best solution to running out of built-in hard drive space is to add an external hard drive.

However, for the best performance – both in terms of load times and gameplay – we don't recommend adding just any old USB 2.0 external hard drive to your Xbox One.

There are some Xbox One external hard drive requirements that you should follow. We've gathered them in the list below.

For more information, read: [Article](/computer-instruction/xbox-external-hard-drive-not-working.html) and [Article](/computer-instruction/xbox-one-stuck-on-green-screen.html).

#2. Preparing the External Hard Drive for Formatting

Before we begin, here are some pointers to check and prepare before formatting an external hard drive for your Xbox One. Let's take a look:

Step 1: Check if the External Hard Drive is Partitioned and its File System

1. Connect the external hard drive to your computer. 2. Right-click "This PC," then select "Manage." Click on "Disk Management" in Device Manager. 3. Check if the external hard drive is shown as unallocated.

• If not, proceed to the next step. • If so, format the external drive in the next step.

4. If the external hard drive has partitions, check if the file system is NTFS.

If it's formatted as FAT32 or exFAT, you'll need to reformat it as NTFS for the Xbox One in the next step.

Check the file system of the external hard drive

Step 2: Partition the external hard drive or format it to NTFS

Note that if the external hard drive isn't partitioned or its file system isn't supported by Xbox One, you won't be able to format it for use with your Xbox One.

Partition External Hard Drive

To save your time and effort, we show you here an easier way to partition an external hard drive with a partition tool.

Step 1. Run AOMEI Partition Assistant and check the free space of the disk in "Partition Management".

If you have unallocated space on your hard drive, skip to Step 3 to create the partition. If you do not have any unallocated space, continue to Step 2.

Step 2: Shrink the disk partition to create unallocated space.

Right-click the target disk partition with plenty of free space and select “Resize/Move Partition”.

Slide the partition to the right or left to shrink it, and free up unallocated space. You can see how much you've reduced the size by in the “Size” area. Click “OK.”

Click “Run the xx Task,” and then click “Apply” to save all changes.

Return to the “Disk Management” screen, and you'll see the unallocated space on the same drive, allowing you to proceed with creating a new partition on the hard drive.

Step 3. Create a new partition on the target drive to allocate the unallocated space.

Right-click the unallocated space, and then select “New.”

Create Partition Step 1

Customize the partition size, drive letter, label, and file system (NTFS, FAT32, EXT2/3/4, exFAT) in the "Advanced Options." Click "OK."

Create Partition Step 2

Finally, click “Execute Tasks” and “Apply” to create the partition with the unallocated space on your disk. Repeat these steps to partition a hard drive and get more partitions.

Create Partition Step 3

< strong > Convert FAT32 External Hard Drive to NTFS < /strong >

If the external drive is formatted as FAT32, you can use a partition tool like Partition Assistant to convert it directly to NTFS:

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If your external hard drive is formatted as exFAT, you will need to format it to NTFS. Here's how:

#3 How to Format an External Hard Drive for Xbox One

Step 1. Find a USB port on your Xbox One console.

It's usually on the front, side, or back of the Xbox One.

Step 2. Press the power button on your Xbox One to turn it on.

Step 3: Connect the external hard drive to your Xbox One using a USB 3.0 cable.

4. When the Xbox One asks “Use for media, or games and apps?”, choose Format storage device.

Step 5: In the Name Your Device section, give your external drive a name up to 12 characters long. Press A when you're done.

< strong > Step 6. In the Installing on < strong > Ext section, select < strong > Install new content here.

This will install new games to your external hard drive.

You can also change the default location for saving games and files on your Xbox One at any time.

Step 7. In the “Format * Ext” section, select “Format storage device” to confirm formatting.

Wait for your Xbox One to format the external hard drive. Your Xbox will let you know when it's ready.

Your Xbox One should now be ready to download and install your favorite new games, which will automatically install to the newly formatted and added external hard drive.

## 4. How to Update Your Xbox One Without Deleting Everything ### Formatting an External Hard Drive for Xbox One Before you can use an external hard drive with your Xbox One, you'll need to format it. This will erase all of the data on the drive, so make sure to back up any important files first. On the Xbox One 1. **Connect the hard drive to your Xbox One.** Use the USB cable that came with the drive, or plug it directly into one of the console's USB ports. 2. **Turn on your Xbox One.** 3. **Sign in to your account.** 4. **Press the Xbox button.** This will open the Guide menu. 5. **Select "Settings."** It's the gear icon in the upper-left corner. 6. **Scroll down and select "System."** 7. **Select "Storage" in the left column.** 8. **Highlight your external hard drive.** It should be listed below "This Xbox." 9. **Press the Menu button.** This is the button with three horizontal lines. 10. **Select "Format as internal storage."** 11. **Select "Format."** 12. **Confirm that you want to format the drive.** You'll be asked to confirm your choice before the formatting begins. On Windows 1. **Connect the hard drive to your computer.** Use the USB cable that came with the drive, or plug it directly into a USB port on your computer. 2. **Open File Explorer.** Click the folder icon in the taskbar, or press ⊞ Win+E. 3. **Right-click the hard drive.** It will be listed under "This PC" or "Computer." 4. **Click "Format."** 5. **Choose a file system.** Select "NTFS" for Xbox One compatibility. 6. **Check "Quick Format."** 7. **Click "Start."** 8. **Eject the hard drive safely.** Once the formatting is complete, right-click the drive and select "Eject" before unplugging it. Now that the hard drive is formatted, you can use it to store games, apps, and updates on your Xbox One. ## How to Update Your Xbox One Without Losing Your Games There are two types of updates for Xbox One: system updates and game updates. System updates usually occur automatically, but you can also check for them manually. Game updates typically download when you launch the game, but you can also force them through the Xbox Store. To Check for a System Update 1. **Open the Guide menu.** Press the Xbox button. 2. **Select "Settings."** 3. **Scroll down and select "Updates."** 4. **Select "Console updates."** 5. **Select "Check for updates."** To Force a Game Update 1. **Press the Xbox button to open the Guide.** 2. **Go to "My games & apps."** 3. **Select "See all" if necessary.** 4. **Highlight the game you want to update.** 5. **Press the Menu button.** 6. **Select "Manage game & add-ons."** 7. **Select "Updates."** 8. **Select "Available updates."** 9. **Follow the on-screen prompts to install the update.** Keep in mind that downloading updates won't affect your saved games or profiles, so feel free to update whenever new patches become available.

If you've replaced the Xbox One's internal hard drive with a larger one, you might not need the external drive anymore. If you want to re-purpose the external drive for regular file storage on a PC, you'll have to format it for PC use.

However, the disk seems to show up as “Unknown Disk Uninitialized” in Disk Management. So how do you fix this issue?

The best way to do this on a Windows PC is to initialize and repartition the disk. Here's how to do that using the Partition Master tool:

Step 1. Launch Partition Master, right-click on the partition of the external hard drive/USB/SD card that you wish to format and choose "Format".

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

<Step 3> Click Yes in the warning dialog box to continue.

Step 4. Hit the “Run 1 Task” button on the top left to preview the changes and then click “Apply” to start formatting the external hard drive/USB/SD card.

After going through these steps, you should now be able to use your external hard drive as a regular storage device.

You might also like: Xbox One Won't Read Disc

Easily Format External Hard Drive for Xbox One the Right Way

This page outlines the steps to improve your Xbox One storage for a better gaming experience.

1. First, choose an external hard drive that's suitable.
2. Prepare your external hard drive.
3. Format the external hard drive on your Xbox One as new storage.

Now you can install games to your formatted external drive and enjoy better Xbox One gaming.

As you can see, the process isn't complicated, just fiddly. Format your external drive with a disk partition tool, then follow this guide to expand your Xbox One's storage. Enjoy your faster, better gaming experience.

Frequently Asked Questions on How to Format External Hard Drive for Xbox One

If you have more questions about formatting an external hard drive for Xbox One, look here for answers:

1. What file system does Xbox One use – exFAT or NTFS?

Xbox One uses exFAT for game storage. However, most drives are formatted to NTFS by default. If you plan on using a drive to store games or game content, you'll need to format it to exFAT.

2. How do I format a Seagate drive for use with Xbox One?

How to Format a Seagate Hard Drive for Xbox One on PC:

Connect the Seagate hard drive to your computer and launch the Partition Master. Right-click on the Seagate drive and select "Format." Set the file system to "exFAT," check "Quick Format," then click "OK." Select "Execute Task."

Steps to format a Seagate hard drive on Xbox One are as follows:

Connect the Seagate drive to your Xbox as an external drive. Power on the Xbox One, and if it detects the new drive, select "Format Storage Device." Press "A" to continue and choose "Install new content here." Click "Format Storage Device" to confirm formatting.

3. How long does it take to format an external hard drive on Xbox One?

The time it takes to format an Xbox One hard drive depends on how much data is on it.

• If your hard drive is empty, the formatting process should take 3-5 minutes. • If your hard drive contains 100 GB to 1 TB of data, formatting the hard drive could take around 20 minutes to an hour.