After you installed your M.2 solid state drive on your PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Digital Edition home console, you may decide to remove it for one reason or another. To see how you can safely take out the expansion SSD, you can take a look at this guide from Seeking Tech.
How to transfer games from M.2 SSD Storage to Console Storage
If you don’t plan on using the M.2 for your PlayStation 5 for a long time, or ever again, then you might want to consider moving any games you have installed on storage to the internal storage drive. Otherwise, you have to download and/or reinstall these games if you want to play them again.
To move transfer the games you have installed on the M.2 SSD Storage over to the Console Storage, you need to take the following steps:
1. Head to the Settings menu, which you can do by selecting the gear icon from the home screen.
2. In Settings, select Storage.
3. In the Storage menu, select M.2 SSD Storage from the left column.
4. On the right side in the same Storage menu, select Games and Apps.
5. From the Games and Apps in M.2 SSD Storage menu, select a game that you want to move over.
6. In the pop-up menu, select the “Select Items to Move” option.
7. In the next screen, select the games that you want to transfer to the Console Storage.
8. Finally, select the Move option at the bottom right side of the screen to start the transfer process.
How to remove the PS5 M.2 SSD
In order to remove the M.2 solid state drive from your PlayStation 5 or PlayStation 5 Digital Edition system, we recommend that you take the following steps:
1. Turn off your game console completely.
2. Remove the HDMI cable, power cable and any other cables/accessories attached to your PS5.
3. You should also detach the stand.
4. Next, lay the system down with the side that has the PS logo at the bottom.
5. You should also make sure that you are facing the backside of the console, which has the HDMI port and power cable port.
6. From your vantage point, place your left hand on the top left corner of the outer case and then your right hand on the bottom corner of the outer case.
7. Lift the bottom right corner of the outer case upwards and then slide the rest of the case off to the left.
8. Next, use a crosshead screwdriver to remove the screw and M.2 metal bay cover.
9. Afterwards, you need to use the same screwdriver to remove the screw and spacer holding the M.2 SSD down.
10. With the screw and spacer removed, gently lift up and then pull away the M.2 solid state drive from the M.2 slot of your PlayStation 5 system.
11. With the M.2 SSD removed, you can reassemble all the parts you previously had to remove in order to gain access to the M.2 docking bay.
12. You can then reattach the stand, cables and other accessories that you previously had to detach.