If your PS5 is running out of space too quick, make sure you don't have PS4 games installed twice

Sony
(Image credit: Sony PlayStation)

If your PS5 storage space is filling up faster than you expected, you may want to double check that you aren't doubling up on backwards compatible games - especially if you tend to start installing games straight from your mobile app.

PS5 can play both its own games and PS4 backwards compatible games, which are treated as completely separate applications that each need their full respective room to install. As noted in a thread by the PS5 Reddit community, it's entirely possible that you'll have both versions of a game which is available on both PS4 and PS5 installed at once - as user DavidEgrrr reported, several games which he installed through the PlayStation app had both versions sitting in storage.

Unless you really want to go back and forth between the PS4 and PS5 versions to play spot the differences, you probably don't need both installed. Just head to your storage options and you should be able to see "PS5" or "PS4" next to each game you have installed, and you can start clearing the dupes out manually. This is especially significant for games like Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, where the PS4 version requires just over 45 GB of space but the newly released PS5 version only needs 20 GB. The future is compressed.

Meanwhile, if accidentally downloading PS4 games is a problem you'd love to have because you still can't find a damn PS5, you aren't alone. According to the NPD Group, PS5 is the fastest-selling console in US history, and Sony is still struggling to keep up with demand.

Connor Sheridan

I got a BA in journalism from Central Michigan University - though the best education I received there was from CM Life, its student-run newspaper. Long before that, I started pursuing my degree in video games by bugging my older brother to let me play Zelda on the Super Nintendo. I've previously been a news intern for GameSpot, a news writer for CVG, and now I'm a staff writer here at GamesRadar.

Read more
Image of the PS5 box art for games Star Wars Outlaws, Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster and Resident Evil 4 Remake with a purple GamesRadar+ background.
My physical game collection is already ridiculous but these PS5 game savings have got me making space for more
Image of the WD Black SN850X SSD, with a pink GamesRadar background.
Say goodbye to those annoying storage notifications as this huge 8TB PS5 SSD just got a massive discount
Official promo image of the launch PS5 on a purple GamesRadar+ background pattern.
You can now get a PS5 for just $299.99, the perfect price for me to grab a second
Samsung T9 on a wooden gaming desk
Microsoft has added support for a ridiculous amount of storage for Xbox users, but it's content creators who should be taking note
PlayStation 30th Anniversary
Despite selling well initially, the PS5 Pro has since "fallen behind" the PS4 Pro in sales, says analyst
best ps5 external hard drive
Best PS5 external hard drives 2025: excellent portable SSD and HDD options
Latest in PS5
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
FC 25
FC 25 FUT Birthday guide and full cards list
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"
A screenshot of Jordan drinking a soda during the reveal trailer for Intergalactic: The Hertic Prophet.
Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "a game about faith and religion," which Neil Druckmann jokes will surely get less hate than The Last of Us 2
Skyrim
It took Skyrim players nearly 15 years to discover ingenious loot hack that completely changes the game and, uh, requires you to desecrate a couple corpses
Latest in News
Diego Luna as Cassian Andor in Andor season 2
Andor season 2 showrunner Tony Gilroy breaks silence on the weird release schedule: "It's a Disney decision"
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
5 years after starting development, Neil Druckmann says Naughty Dog's new game Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet is "still evolving and changing as we're making it"
Silent Hill f
After 2 years of silence, the next mainline Silent Hill game is getting a dedicated stream this week with "the latest news"
Original Xbox console
Former Microsoft exec says the first Xbox was killed early in favor of 360 because it was "losing money left right and center," but luckily "we could afford to hemorrhage cash"
A Monster Hunter Wilds character holding binoculars.
Despite Monster Hunter Wilds suffering monstrous performance problems on PC, it still outsold the PS5 and Xbox Series X versions in the US
Jordan A. Mun looks at herself in a mirror in just a vest in Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet screenshot
The Last of Us creator Neil Druckmann says Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet will also be about "being lonely," as if his zombie apocalypse wasn’t isolating enough: "I really want you to be lost"