How to update a PlayStation 4

Update PlayStation 4

Last update: February 13, 2025 in the category: PlayStation

Updating your PlayStation 4 is key to enjoying the best possible gaming experience. Updates not only improve system stability but also introduce new features, optimize performance, and fix bugs that could affect your games. Additionally, they are often necessary to access recent games or online services. However, ignoring this process can limit your access to content and expose you to security issues.

Although updates can sometimes be slow or unexpected errors may arise, following the correct procedure minimizes these inconveniences.

Here we explain how to do it step by step and you can also learn how to configure automatic updates, whether you want to activate or deactivate them.

Estimated time: 10 minutes.

Step 1:

First, access the settings of your PlayStation 4. To do this, from the home screen, press the up direction button to go to the top menu. From the top menu, move to the right, almost to the end, until you find the "Settings" section. Press the X button on the controller to access it.

Step 2:

Once you are inside the Play Station 4 settings, scroll down until you find the section "System Software Update", which is the section with an icon of two arrows forming a circle in a clockwise direction. Press the X button on your controller to access it.

Step 3:

When accessing the software updates section, you can check if there are updates available to download and install. If there is an update available, the "Download" button will appear.

Step 4:

At this point, the update file has been downloaded and you can begin the installation. Select the "Update" button and press the X button on your PS4 controller to start the update installation process.

Step 5:

If you want the next updates to download and even install automatically, you need to activate a couple of settings.
Go back to the PS4 settings menu, scroll down until you find the "System" section.
Press the X button on your DualShock 4 controller to access it.

Step 6:

Within "System" you will find the "Automatic Downloads" section, where both updates and game and content downloads are configured.
Tap to access.

Step 7:

If you want the update files for your PS4 to download automatically, check the box.
If, on the other hand, you do not want future updates to download, make sure the box is unchecked.

Automatic download updates PlayStation 4

Step 8:

By checking the "System Software Update Files" box, the "Allow Restart" box will be enabled. This option allows updates to be installed automatically and to restart when necessary. I honestly do not recommend activating this last box as it may cause more inconveniences than advantages.