PC Game Pass won't let me install to external SSD

Hello, My name is Jesse. I'm an Independent Advisor and a member of the Microsoft community and I'd love to assist you today.

- Open Windows 10 File Explorer (Windows + E), locate and right-click on the USB drive, select "Format".

- Set the NTFS as the target file system, tick "Quick Format" and click "Start" to start the formatting.

- When the process completes, click "OK" to confirm.

Afterwards try to use it again.

Hey Hayden.

I have formatted my external SSD a few days ago, but before that, I tried seriously everything you recommended but to no avail.

I could not uninstall and install back to my external SSD. Xbox would only let me install on my internal and then again would not let me move it to my external. So RE7 just stayed in the internal hdd. Same with other games.

Like I said, things started to get tricky. Other games from years ago could install on External SSD without problems and some could not.

I'm still downloading a ton of games like Halo, Red Dead 2, GTA and others with insane amount of GB so this will take some time...

I'll let you know if anything new comes up

Thanks again for the help Hayden.

Also should be noted patched games can only be installed internally or on storage cards

NOT external hds

Seagate ssd game drive won't cut it it must be the Seagate series x storage cards which uses nvme tech not ssd

Same problem for me. First of all I though the it is because I install on an external disk (SSD) but as I read, and as it is allowed by xBox PC app, we can install on any destination (including external disk).

Hope that MS will solve the problem asap.

Cheers...

The biggest difference is that if you want to play the Series X/S version of games they must be installed on the internal SSD or the Seagate SSD Expansion card. They cannot be installed on an external USB 3.0 drive, Quick Resume will also not work with any external USB drive. Previous generation games can still be launched from an external drive.

Personally I have the Seagate expansion SSD and prefer the speed and convenience it offers knowing that no matter what I'm installing the best version of the game and able to use all the enhancements that comes from playing on a Series X. It's worth noting that for the price, it's not much more that some of the high performances SSDs available for PC but it is definitely not cheap.