The Xbox Series X/S could soon see expanded storage options, addressing the growing need for more space as modern games demand larger file sizes. With the Xbox Series X and S’s current external hard drive cap set at 16 terabytes, many players find it challenging to manage their game libraries. This is particularly true for Xbox Series S owners, who only have 512 gigabytes of internal storage, making external solutions a necessity for those looking to optimize their consoles.
Currently, Storage Expansion Cards for Xbox Series X/S top out at 2 terabytes, but users can expand their storage further with SSDs and external hard drives. However, these devices are still subject to the 16TB cap. Microsoft appears to be addressing this limitation with an upcoming update, which could remove the cap entirely.
Xbox Insiders in the Alpha Skip-Ahead ring will soon receive a new Xbox Update Preview that introduces support for external USB drives larger than 16TB. However, these drives must be reformatted to take advantage of the feature, which partitions the storage into multiple virtual drives. This change is expected to benefit players by allowing them to store large Xbox One games and other content without worrying about storage constraints, provided they invest in high-capacity HDDs or SSDs.
This update signals Microsoft’s acknowledgment of the need for increased storage options, especially as games continue to grow in size. By making larger external drives compatible, Xbox players may feel more comfortable purchasing digital games or even opting for the Xbox Series S, which has less internal storage but offers a more affordable entry point into next-gen gaming. Additionally, this could help alleviate the high cost of Xbox Storage Expansion Cards by providing alternative storage solutions.
Despite the promising update, Microsoft has noted some issues with external drives exceeding 16TB. Specifically, some drives may not display the correct available space, and the company advises against formatting these larger drives for now. As this update is part of the Xbox Insider program, such bugs are expected, with fixes likely before the feature rolls out to all users.
Xbox Series Update Preview Release Notes
Expand Your Xbox Storage with Support for Larger Drives
We are introducing support for external USB drives larger than 16TB, ensuring your favorite games are always ready to play. Newly formatted drives exceeding 16TB will use multiple partitions, appearing as separate devices in the storage list to fully utilize the available space.
Spot Great Deals from the Comfort of Home
To make finding discounts even easier, a random subset of users will see a new badge on sale items they don’t own, displaying the discount percentage directly on their Home screen.
Accessibility
Improvements to Narrator readouts in Settings, particularly within power options and while enabling remote play.
Entertainment Apps
Resolved an issue where some media apps would become sluggish or unresponsive during extended use.
System
Various updates to ensure proper reflection of local languages across the console.
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