How to manage storage on Xbox One

The main things that take up space on Xbox One are games and apps. If your Xbox fills up, make space by uninstalling stuff you're not using. If there isn’t enough space when you try installing a new game or app, we’ll help you make room so you can install it right away.

Any data for your games and apps (preferences, saved games) syncs online when you sign in to Xbox Live. So when you reinstall a deleted game or app, your saved data comes right back with it.

Frequently asked questions

Topics

How much storage do I have?

What’s stored on my hard drive, and what’s stored in the cloud?

How can I check my free space?

How do I set up external storage?

How do I play media from an external drive?

How do I manage external storage?

How much storage do I have?

Xbox One comes with either a 500-gigabyte (GB) or 1-terabyte (TB) internal hard drive. Most of this space is available for games and apps, though some is reserved for saved games, console software, and other system functions.

What’s stored on my hard drive, and what’s stored in the cloud?

When you’re signed in to Xbox Live, personal data for your games and apps gets stored on your Xbox and online. That way, you don’t lose game position when you play at a friend’s house or get a new Xbox.

Note A regular connection to Xbox Live is required to keep your data in sync. Playing offline could put your online data out of sync. Your data refreshes every time you connect to Xbox Live.

How can I check my free space?

Go to your games & apps:

Press the Xbox button to open the guide, then select My games & apps.
In the bottom left corner, a meter will show total space used and free.

Note Your Xbox uses some storage for system files, so even with no games installed, you won’t see the full 500 GB or 1 TB free.

For more info about freeing up space, see Uninstall Xbox One games or apps to free hard drive space.

How do I set up external storage?

Video: Add extra storage. Connect a USB hard drive to your Xbox One, or take your hard drive to use your games with someone else's console. Learn how to move games, apps, and add-ins among drives.

Note This video is available in English only.

To use external storage with Xbox One games and apps, your hard drive must:

Hold 256 GB or more
Connect via USB 3.0

When you first connect, Xbox will prompt you to format your device. You can use it for Xbox games and apps, or for personal media such as pictures, music, and video. (Xbox will treat devices that don’t meet the above requirements as media storage.)

If your Xbox doesn’t recognize your external drive, see Troubleshoot external storage detection on Xbox One.

Note Xbox will recognize only two external drives at one time.

If you cancel formatting when you connect a storage device, you can set it up later:

Press the Xbox button to open the guide and select System > Settings > System > Storage.
Select your device, and then select Format for games & apps.

How do I play media from an external drive?

Install the Media Player app from the Store. In Media Player, you’ll see your external USB drive. Select it, then choose something to play.

How do I manage external storage?

To manage storage at the device level, press the Xbox button to open the guide and select System > Settings > System > Storage.

To manage storage at the game or app level, go to Home and select My games & apps. Highlight a game or app, press the Menu button , then select Manage game & add-ons.