As any avid PC user knows, occasionally defragmenting your computer’s hard drive can help to keep it working at optimum capacity, since it gets rid of unnecessary files and reorganizes the files you do use so that they run more efficiently. What many PlayStation 4 users may not know is that there is a similar process you can perform for the PS4, a process which you should perform on a regular and consistent basis.
Why It’s Important To Rebuild Your PS4 Database
If you tend to keep your PS4’s hard drive mostly full with applications, save games, video clips, photos, and the like, those files can become disorganized and fragmented over time, leading to issues like the following:
- Slow load times and menu navigation
- The inability for the PS4 to consistently read game discs
- Stuttering and framerate drops during in-game cutscenes (especially during graphically intensive scenes)
- Trouble with accessing downloadable add-on content
Fortunately, rebuilding your PS4’s database can help address the above issues, and even if you’re not currently suffering from said issues, rebuilding the database is still a good idea if it has been a while since your last rebuild (or if you’d never rebuilt it at all and you’ve had your PS4 console for a while).
How To Rebuild Your PS4 Database
Before you rebuild your PS4’s database, rest assured that the process doesn’t delete any of your saved data, it simply reorganizes and freshens up your system’s files. To do this, you'll need to put your PS4 into Safe Mode. Now, as to the specific steps for initiating a database rebuild, those are as follows:
- Make sure your PS4 is completely powered down and that your Dualshock 4 controller is connected to the console via a USB cable.
- Boot up the PS4 in safe mode. This is done by pressing and holding down the power button until you hear two separate beeps (about seven seconds).
- Once the PS4 is booted in safe mode, you’ll be taken to a menu with a variety of options.
- Select the “Rebuild Database” option, making sure you don’t accidentally select the “Initialize PS4” option since that will erase all your data.
- The screen is supposed to go black when the rebuild process is underway, so don’t worry if that happens. Depending on how much data you have on your PS4, the rebuild process can take some time, so be patient, and don’t turn your console off while the process is still going.
Once the database rebuild process is complete, hopefully your PS4 will be running like new (or at least newer than how it was performing before the rebuild). If you want to ensure your PS4 is always in tip-top shape, make sure you perform a database rebuild at least once a month.