Sleep mode external HDD in game

Andres Montiel · May 8, 2025 at 5:24 PM

Hello. I have a problem with my Xbox Series S, which is very likely to occur on the Series X as well. I use a mechanical HDD as external storage for games that allow it. When I start any game, everything works fine, but after several minutes without the game having any activity, the hard drive goes into standby mode, and when doing any action in the game, it must wait for the hard drive to turn on again to load the data, leaving it prone to glitches, music glitches, graphic glitches and even crashes. How can I prevent the external hard drive from going into standby mode? Is there an option to keep it active? I am surprised not to find information on this problem, because it is something very common that can happen to anyone who uses a mechanical external drive.

Best regards

Andrés.

:)

Faline C

Hey Andreas, thanks for your post. I understand how this can be annoying. I'm happy to help clarify.

What you're seeing is actually normal. Most external mechanical hard drives are built to go into sleep mode when they're not being used to save power and reduce wear. The Xbox follows that behavior, and there isn't a built-in option to keep the drive awake. Some drives let you change that setting on a PC, but those changes usually don't apply when connected to a console.

Since this can cause delays, glitches, or crashes when the drive has to wake up mid-game, it might be better to store your most-used games on internal storage or use an external SSD instead.

If this is something you'd like Xbox to improve, it's a good idea to send feedback through the Xbox feedback hub.

Provide Feedback to Team Xbox:

https://support.xbox.com/en-us/help/account-pro...

Hope this helps you. If you have any other questions, you're always welcome here!

lordcontrataca302011

I have and external hdd desktop with external power supply and that occur to me too. it's on when the xbox is in sleep mode but last I check and it was downloading some update games. usually y unplug the external power supply.

baltyofgod

You can stick a hdd and move them, the problem of downloads and games that I suggest you download them at night while you sleep. with the economy mode. so you get the game downloaded and on external hdd.

Calle2k

Allright, seems like we have a similar issue if not the exact same one.

My games dont get the message "installation stopped", but just moves to the "ready to install" pane.

I will try what both of you suggest, to keep the external drive always on, to see if it solves something.

And i agree that i also think something does not work as intended. I would expect that i could use the instant on power mode together with an external hdd, and that the external hdd would act like the XBO's internal. With that i mean that the XBO should
be able to put the external hdd in and out of sleep if it need to use it, when it is turned off in instant on mode.

Ouwe Knorrepot

In Sleep mode your external HDD is supposed to be on as the Xbox One continually tries to download patches and updates for the hard- and software. If you want it turned off, you need to set it power management to Power Savings and then switch the One off
or press the Xbox button for 5 seconds on the console. that will power down the One completely as well. I have heard people having problems disconnecting while in sleep mode, being unable to resync their HDD later on, so it might not be a good thing to do
;-)

Sleep mode external HDD in game