How to Set Up Your PS5

The PlayStation 5 is still one of the hardest gadgets to get your hands on, even a year after its release. If you somehow snagged one anyway—well, you may want to try your luck on the lottery next. After that, you're going to need to do the usual song and dance to get your console set up—which can take a few hours. Here's what you need to do, and how to do it a little bit easier.

Also, now that you have your PS5, read up on how to increase your storage space by installing an internal M.2 SSD or customize your PS5's home screen to save you time. You can also check out our guide to the best accessories for your PS5.

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The first time you set up your PS5, you'll need to connect your controller directly to the console using a USB cable and press the PlayStation button. Once the two devices are connected, you can disconnect the USB cable and continue the setup process wirelessly.

The onscreen wizard will walk you through most of the next steps, including getting online. It can be a little tedious typing out your Wi-Fi password with the controller, but once that's done you'll be asked to handle basic settings, like HDR calibrations, your time zone, and power saver options. 

If you have the disc version of the PS5, you'll also have a chance to insert a game disk to install while the setup process continues. Since downloading games on the first day can take forever, it's not a bad idea to get one or two of your favorite games on disc ahead of time. If you do, this is a good opportunity to expedite the installation process a bit.

Next, while you're downloading a system update—because of course there's always one of those, right?—you'll get a prompt to download the PlayStation mobile app. You can use this to create a PSN account if you don't already have one. Even if you do, downloading the app will save you a little bit of time in just a few minutes when, instead of typing out your account details with your controller, you can scan a QR code in the app to sign in to your account.

There's a good chance you won't be the only person using your PS5, so making sure players don't get their games' save data mixed up is important. Fortunately, you can create multiple profiles and even tie them to separate PSN accounts, which you'll need to do if you want to save any game data. Guests can create a temporary profile to play with, but data will be deleted when they're done.

To add another user, press the PS button on your controller and select the profile picture of the current user along the bottom of the screen, then choose “Switch User.” (You can also find this screen when you turn your console on.) Choose the plus icon to add a new user. You'll then be asked to sign in to a PSN account, either by typing in your credentials manually or by scanning a QR code through the app.