How to back up and restore data saved on PS4

Whether you have logged in 10 or 100 hours of play, go back to the beginning because the problematic data saving system is always annoying. This may not happen again if you know how to back up data stored on your PS4.

Why must backup data?

For example, you are playing a game that has errors but has not been fixed. This error will cause an issue that people call corrupting data on PS4. You should follow the following data backup steps if you do not want to be one of those heartbreaking cases.

By backing up data manually, you can save and stop this process at any time. So, even in the worst case scenario, you only lose your data since the last backup. It can still be frustrating, but at least your data isn't lost.

Now, imagine one day you turn on your PS4 and see an error appear on the screen. The system says your hard drive is damaged and must be reformatted if you want to continue playing. Chances are you'll lose all your existing data.

Natural disasters or any other accident cause the hardware of the machine to be damaged. When backing up online automatically, you won't be passive by external factors and your data is always safe no matter what happens.

Or if you're at a friend's house and want to continue your game, with the Sony cloud, simply log in to your PSN account and download the saved data. When you're done, upload them to the cloud so you can keep playing when you return home.

Data protection, the process of playing makes you feel more secure. It is also very convenient if you want to download data to a device that is not your PS4.

Automatically back up PS4 data to the cloud

To back up data automatically, you must have a PlayStation Plus subscription. You can register via the PlayStation Store or click on the PlayStation icon on the main screen. In the US, the price of this service is about 59.99 USD a year and 9.99 USD a month. This service allows you to download two free games a month and play them online.

If you have a PlayStation Plus subscription, auto save is turned on. You can save up to 100GB of data to the cloud.

You can only upload data automatically from a main machine. If there is more than one device, choose one of them as the main device for your account by going to Settings> Account Management> Activate as Your Primary PS4 .

Next, turn on Rest Mode if you are sure the device is connected to the Internet. This helps the machine to complete the upload of data as soon as the game is finished. To enable this mode, go to Settings> Power Save Settings> Set Functions Available in Rest Mode> Stay Connected to the Internet.

As a next step, turn on the Enable Automatic Uploads option by going to Settings> Application Saved Data Management> Auto-Upload . If this mode is enabled, your data is always safe in the cloud. You can set the save for each game you want.

When you turn on this mode for the first time, you may have to wait several hours for data to be transferred to the cloud. Time depends on how much data you need to save and your home Internet speed.

Backup PS4 data manually

You can upload data to Sony server manually. If you have automatic upload turned on, the rest of the PS4 will take care of it.

The main reason you want to upload data manually is for you to play on a PS4 that's not yours. If you want to continue playing on different devices, you must upload the data stored on other PS4s manually.

There are two ways to help you upload data by this method. Firstly, select the game from the main screen, press the Options button . Select Upload / Download Saved Data . From here, you can choose Upload All or Select and Upload with the files you want.

The second way is to access the previous selections via the machine options. Just go to Settings> Application Saved Data Management> Saved Data in System Storage and select Upload to Online Storage .

Wait for the PS4 to read (it may take 1 to 2 minutes), then select the game you want. If the entire game is uploaded, select Options> Select Multiple Applications .

When uploading new data, you will be asked if you want to overwrite existing data. Not all games support multiple data files, but most are. If you're playing a game with only one data file, make sure the version you're playing is the one you need to save.

Backup data to USB

Without PlayStation Plus, you still have another way to back up your data. You only need one more USB. Make sure the USB doesn't have any important data because the PS4 can reformat it before using it, which means all content in the USB disappears.

First, plug the USB into the PS4. Next, select Settings> Application Saved Data Management> Saved Data in System Storage> Copy to USB Storage Device . If you do not see these options, please review the USB is properly plugged offline.

Wait for the scanner to finish, on the screen, you can select each game one by one, then select Copy .

If you want to back up multiple applications, select Options> Select Multiple Applications to copy the entire folder containing the game files' data files.

Backing up to USB is the best way to avoid data corruption. If a corrupted data file is automatically sent to PlayStation Plus, you will lose the old version of the game (even if not corrupted). You can turn off auto-upload, but this will put your data at risk of another loss.

You will never know when it will happen. However, if you play a game with an error (known or unknown), backing up to USB is a good way. If something happens later or your cloud is not working properly, you can recover data manually and minimize the loss as much as possible.

Recover data from cloud and USB

Data recovery is actually a very simple process, just go to Settings> Application Saved Data Management . There, you can choose either Saved Data in Online Storage or Saved Data on USB Storage Device . Select the source you want to copy the data from, and then click Download to System Storage .

On the next screen, you will see a list of games. Select the Options button on the handle to use the Select Multiple Applications option and restore multiple games at once. You can choose a game and restore it if you want. Select Download / Copy and your data has been restored.

Can these data files be shared?

Your data is tied to your PlayStation Network account, not your device. This means you download or transfer your data to any PS4, as long as it uses the same source account.

However, this also means that you cannot share your data with other players.