We earn a commission for products purchased through some links in this article.
The best external hard drives you can buy for Xbox Series X right now
Expand your library of games on your Xbox with these powerful hard drives.
If you've managed to get hold of an Xbox Series X or Series S over the last few months, one of the things we recommend you consider getting is external storage for you shiny new console.
Why, you ask? Because games are only getting bigger thanks to 4K graphics, ever-expanding game worlds, and huge multiplayer modes. You'll quickly realise the terabyte you get on the Series X (or the perilously small 512GB on the Series S) just isn't going to cut it – the future of gaming looks fantastic, but all that realism comes with a whole lot of data.
Related: Xbox buying guide: Xbox Series X vs Xbox Series S – which console is best?
If you don't believe us, look up how big an investment Call of Duty Black Ops: Cold War is right now. With the single-player campaign, multiplayer mode and Warzone combined, it's a whopping 180GB, taking up almost a quarter of your hard drive with just one game.
Other games like Destiny 2 and Assassin's Creed Valhalla need more than 70GB each, and even smaller games like FIFA 21 take up almost 40GB now thanks to the enhanced visuals.
And that's before you consider Microsoft's impressive Xbox Game Pass system that lets you download more than 300 titles like Sea of Thieves, Outriders and Hello Neighbour for free, so you're going to have to get external storage to make room.
What can you do with an external hard drive?
While you can load and store games on a portable hard drive to free up space, there are some limits to what these devices can do. For example, you can only play Xbox Series X-optimised games that are stored on the console itself or a Seagate Storage Expansion Card.
Say you bought FIFA 21 on your old Xbox One and it hasn't been upgraded with the 4K graphics and 60fps. You can store and play that version of FIFA from either the internal or external drive. But if you have the Series X version, the console can't read that data from the external hard drive, so you'll have to either put it on the console's memory or buy the expansion card.
The expansion card adds an additional terabyte of storage for your new console, and is specifically optimised to run Xbox Series X games at the highest performance.
Any other games that haven't been enhanced for the next generation of console, like Overwatch, Apex Legends and Rocket League, can be housed on your external drive.
The Xbox Series X has a USB port, and all the drives below will use either a USB 3.0 or USB 2.0 connection – though there really isn't that much difference between the two.
After all that, which one should you buy? Check out our top picks below.
Type: SSD
Available capacity: 1TB
Dimensions: 7.8 x 31.6 x 52.9 mm (H x W x D)
Compatibility: Xbox Series X|S
Ports/connectivity: USB 3.0
Most hard drives on this list are bulky, taking up room at the back of your console, but this one looks like a smaller, traditional memory card that slots into the back of the console's dedicated hard drive port.
The expansion card uses the same architecture as the Xbox's own hard drive, so it will seamlessly integrate with the console, loading up enhanced games at lightning speeds.
This is the only option on this list that allows you to run Series X-optimised games and use the console's Quick Resume feature.
Western Digital WD_BLACK 1TB P10 Game Drive for Xbox, Portable External Hard Drive with 1-Month Xbox Game Pass
Type: SSD
Available capacity: 1TB, 2TB, 3TB, 4TB, 5TB
Dimensions: 118 x 87.9 x 12.7mm
Compatibility: Xbox Series X|S (incompatible with Xbox Series X-optimised games), Xbox One
Ports/connectivity: USB 2.0
WD Black has several external hard drives on offer that let you store data from multiple devices at once.
It has boosted the performance to upload game files at a lightning-fast 20GB/s, helping to fire up menus, and load the game as fast as possible.
It also works with PC, Xbox and PS4, so if you're the ultimate gamer with all types of consoles, you can store all your games in one place.
Western Digital WD 4 TB My Passport Portable Hard Drive with Password Protection and Auto Backup Software - Red - Works with PC, Xbox and PS4
Type: HDD
Dimensions: 107 x 74.9 x 19 mm
Compatibility: Xbox Series X|S (incompatible with Xbox Series X-optimised games), Xbox One
Ports/connectivity: USB 3.0 and USB 2.0
For around £100, this option from WD is a great way to store all those additional games from the Game Pass without cluttering up your console.
This model comes with WD's backup software, so everything you keep on it – photos, files, videos and games – will never be lost. It's also password protected and encrypted for security.
You can choose different storage sizes for more money depending on how much you need, and there are a few colour options too, including red, black, blue and silver.
Seagate Game Drive for Xbox 2 TB External Hard Drive Portable HDD – USB 3.0 (STEA2000431)
Type: HDD
Available capacity: 2TB
Dimensions: 117 x 80 x 14.7 mm
Compatibility: Xbox Series X|S (incompatible with Xbox Series X-optimised games), Xbox One
Ports/connectivity: USB 3.0
For the die-hard Halo fans, this Seagate hard drive has the iconic Master Chief splashed across the front, and the famous UNSC logo on the back.
Samsung T5 500 GB USB 3.1 Gen 2 (10 Gbps, Type-C) External Solid State Drive (Portable SSD) Alluring Blue (MU-PA500B)
Type: SSD
Available capacity: 500GB
Dimensions: 57 x 10 x 74 mm
Compatibility: Xbox Series X|S (incompatible with Xbox Series X-optimised games), Xbox One
Ports/connectivity: USB 3.0 and USB 2.0
Samsung's Gen 2 SSD is a great option for housing a few extra games away from your main console.
There is a more expensive Samsung T7 available at the moment, but that will cost you upwards of £300 right now, so this £70 one is much more budget friendly.
We like that you can get a hard drive as small as 500GB in case you just need a bit more space to store a few games from the Game Pass, though you won't be able to store any Series X-enhanced games on this one.
It's quite compact and we quite like the shiny metallic finish on it too.
Type: HDD
Available capacity: 2TB, 4TB, 8TB
Dimensions: 117 x 80 x 15 mm
Compatibility: Xbox One
Ports/connectivity: USB 3.0 ports
For the hardcore gamers among who simply refuse to delete any games ever, this 8TB hard drive from Seagate will store your entire library with plenty more to spare, should you need it.
Designed specifically for the Xbox One, this model has enough space to store more than 200 games and all the DLC you could possibly want, and it's not even priced that highly.
There are also two USB ports so you can use the hard drive to charge your phone or Xbox One controller at the same time.
What's new in Assassin's Creed Black Flag remake?
Save £16 on Pragmata with this deal
Pragmata review: One of this year's best games so far
Crimson Desert praised as latest update addresses complaints
