Sony’s PlayStation 5 is the leading video game console in the current market. With its top-of-the-line hardware and equally good software, you can easily play games with high-quality graphics, resolution, and frame rate. Speaking of software, Sony uses its proprietary operating system (based on FreeBSD) and UI with user-friendly operation. It also frequently updates the software to improve performance, add any features, or fix errors or bugs. Sometimes, you might face an error while applying updates or you want to manually download and update the software. For this, you have to boot the PS5 in Safe Mode.
What exactly is the PS5 Safe Mode? How to boot PlayStation in Safe Mode? In this guide, we will discuss more about the PS5 Safe Mode, its different options, and many more related things.
A Brief Note On Safe Mode
You might be familiar with Safe Mode in Windows Operating System. Using Safe Mode in Windows, you can easily determine the source of an issue or problem. In Safe Mode, the operating system loads only essential services, files, and drivers.
So, if you boot your system in Safe Mode and everything is working normally, then you can assume that all the OS Files and device drivers are fine and you need to look elsewhere to find the problem.
Almost all modern Operating Systems offer a “Safe Mode” for the users to troubleshoot with the help of diagnostic tools.
What Is PS5 Safe Mode?
Safe Mode in PlayStation 5 (or the PlayStation Console in general) also works somewhat similarly. When you boot your PlayStation 5 Console in Safe Mode (we will see how to do this in the next section), only the basic functions are active.
Using PS5 Safe Mode you can do the following:
- Hard Reset the PS5 Console to load Factory Settings
- Reset PS5 to default settings without deleting data
- Change the Video Resolution or HDCP Mode
- Update System Software
- Clear System Cache
- Rebuild PS5’s Storage Database
How To Boot PS5 In Safe Mode?
Now that we have seen a little bit about Safe Mode in PS5, let us see how to boot the PlayStation 5 Console in Safe Mode.
- If the PS5 Console is on, you have to turn it off. For this, press and hold the power button on the console for at least three seconds.
- You can observe the Power Indicator light as it blinks a few times before the PS5 Console is shut down.
- After turning the PS5 Console off, wait for a couple of seconds. Now, press and hold the power button once again. Continue holding the button until you hear two beeps.
- You will hear the first beep as soon as you press the power button. Seven seconds later, you will hear the second beep. You can release the button after this second beep.
- Now, connect the PS5 DualSense Controller using the USB Cable and press the “PS” button on the Controller.
- Your PS5 will now boot in Safe Mode and you can navigate using the controller.
What Are The PS5 Safe Mode Options?
When you boot your PS5 in Safe Mode, you get a bunch of options on the screen. Let us quickly see about these options.
- Restart PS5: This is a simple option. If you select this, your PS5 will exit the “Safe Mode” and restarts the PS5 Console for normal operation.
- Change Video Output: If you are facing any Black Screen issues with your PlayStation 5 Console, then this option might be useful to you. With this option, you can change the display resolution. You can also change the HDCP Mode of the Console.
- Update System Software: One of the most common and most useful options of the Safe Mode. Using this option, you can update the PS5 Console’s System Software. There are two ways you can do this. Update the software using direct download. Or download the Software on another computer, transfer it to a USB Drive, and then use this drive to update the Console’s Software.
- Restore Default Settings: If you want to restore your PS5 Console to factory default settings without deleting your data (games, apps, etc.), then you can use this option.
- Clear Cache and Rebuild Database: Over time, your PS5 will accumulate “Cache” files for the system, games, apps, etc. This can lead to a drop in the performance or improper functioning of some features. You can clear the Cache if you experience this. Rebuild Database will scan your storage and rebuilds all the database for the content on the system. This option is very useful if you are seeing game icons even after uninstalling or deleting the game (or other similar issues).
- Reset PS5: If you want to completely reset the PS5 Console by deleting all the data and loading the software to factory defaults, then use this option.
- Reset PS5 (Reinstall System Software): Sometimes, even a complete reset such as in the previous option will not resolve certain issues. For this, you need to completely erase all the contents of the PS5’s storage (all data and even the system software). Later, you can reinstall the system software using the USB method.
Can’t Start PS5 In Safe Mode?
While booting the PS5 Console in Safe Mode is very easy and straightforward, sometimes users cannot start the Safe Mode. If you are sure that you followed all the steps that we mentioned above, then you can do a couple of things to solve this issue.
Check all the cables such as the power cable, HDMI Cable, and USB Cable.
If you still can’t start PS5 in Safe Mode, then try to power cycle the PS5 Console. Press and hold the power button on the Console for a couple of seconds to turn it off.
Wait until the power indicator stops blinking and the console is completely off. Now, take out the power cord from the outlet and keep the console idle for at least 20 minutes.
After this, you can retry to boot the PS5 Console in Safe Mode.
Conclusion
Sony PlayStation 5 or PS5 is the most powerful gaming console in the PlayStation series. It soon became highly desirable with its 4K 120FPS gaming, redesigned DualSense Controller, and a fluid overall experience.
If there was an error during the system software update (loss of internet connectivity or power) or if your console is offline for an extended period, then you have to update the software manually.
For this, the important step is to boot PS5 in Safe Mode. In this guide, we saw the basics of Safe Mode and the meaning of PS5 Safe Mode.
After that, we saw how to boot PS5 in Safe Mode. We also saw different options you get while your PS5 is in Safe Mode. As a bonus, we saw a simple troubleshooting guide if you cannot start Safe Mode in PS5.
