Xbox HDD not working.

mjharrell_ · Jan 23, 2023

I just plugged an external HDD into my Xbox Series S (I pulled the drive out of my old Mac mini) and it's not giving me an option to format for games. It is simply forcing me to use it for media. I am new to this area; what am I doing wrong?

:)

mjharrell_

Someone on Apple Support Communities suggested the same thing. Although the forma was successful, the Xbox still only recognizes it as media storage.

mjharrell_

I just looked. The button is not there. I have no option to format the drive.

Rostom L

Hi there! I'm Rostom, an Independent Advisor. I will be glad to help you here.

Did you check on the Settings below to format your external drive?

Press the Xbox button on your controller to open the guide.
Select Profile & system > Settings > System > Storage devices > Format the storage device.

Rostom L

Thanks for your response. Do you have Windows PC to plug in your external drive and format it there as NTFS?

Rostom L

Thanks for confirming that. I am thinking that the issue here could a compatibility issue. Another workaround we can do is to try a different HDD cable. It may be a cable issue where you have to use quality cable for faster data transmission.

If you believe that the issue is with your console, we can perform a factory reset. But my best suggestion here is to borrow or use external drive from a friend or family member which is working on their console. Because if it will work on your console correctly, then we can confirm it's a drive compatibility issue on your external drive.

Xbox HDD not working.