PS5 Downloads Slowly: Causes and What Actually Helps

Download speed on PS5 is almost never limited by your internet connection. Far more often something on the console itself is in the way: another download running in parallel, a game left open, Wi-Fi instead of a cable, or the console unpacking what it has already downloaded. So the first thing to look at is not your broadband plan but what the console is busy with.

What to check first

Whether anything else is downloading. Downloads on PS5 share the channel between them, and a second item in the queue easily takes half the speed. Open the download list and pause everything except the one you want.

Whether a game is running. With a game open the system deliberately throttles downloads so as not to interfere with play. Close the game fully rather than minimising it.

Whether this is downloading or unpacking. After downloading, the console copies and unpacks the data. Progress crawls at that point and the network is no longer in use. Wait it out — there is no way to speed it up.

From experience. The searches that bring people here show the order of operations back to front: someone looks for a way to speed up a download three hours after starting it. In practice nearly all of the gain comes from what you do before the download begins — put the console into rest mode with downloading allowed, and do not leave a game running. A game in the background takes the channel for itself, and no network setting will beat that.

Wi-Fi versus a cable

This is usually the biggest difference of them all. Wi-Fi on PS5 works fine, but it depends on the distance to the router, the walls in between and how crowded the band is with neighbours.

A practical test: connect the console with a cable for one download. If the speed jumps several times over, the question is settled — it was the wireless network, not the console and not your provider.

If there is nowhere to run a cable, switching the console to the 5 GHz band and moving the router away from household appliances both help.

Rest mode

In rest mode the console downloads faster because it is not spending resources on anything else. By default, though, this may be switched off: power saving settings have to allow internet access in rest mode.

The trick is simple and it works: start the download, put the console into rest mode, come back later.

About DNS

Changing DNS sometimes helps, but not because it "speeds up the internet" — that is a myth. DNS affects which distribution server you are directed to. If you are being sent to a distant, busy server, a different DNS can give you a different route.

Try this last rather than first: the gain is not guaranteed, and it is smaller than switching to a cable.

What is out of your hands

Sony's server load. On the launch day of a major game, or during a big sale, speeds drop for everyone. Nothing but patience fixes that.

The publisher's own speed. Some content is distributed from servers other than Sony's, with their own limits.

Your provider's throttling. Some plans limit speed on certain ports or at certain hours. Test this by comparing with a download on a computer at the same time.

What to do when nothing helps

1. Stop every download except one.
2. Close all games completely.
3. Plug in a cable, or move Wi-Fi to 5 GHz.
4. Allow internet access in rest mode and put the console into rest mode.
5. Restart the router and the console.
6. If the speed is still low after all that, try later: server load is the likely cause.

While the game downloads

If you are waiting for a new game, this is a convenient moment to check your subscription is in order: online play and catalogue access are needed the moment the install finishes, not a day later.

The difference between the subscription tiers is covered in the article PS Plus Extra or Deluxe.

Frequently asked questions

Is it true that downloads are faster in rest mode? Yes, usually noticeably faster — the console is not spending resources on the interface and on games.

Does an external drive affect speed? Not download speed. Unpacking and installation speed, possibly, if the drive is slow.

Should I reinstall a game if the download has stalled? Pause the download and resume it first. That works more often than a full reinstall.

Does restarting the router help? Sometimes, especially if the router has been running for weeks without a reboot.

Does the account region affect speed? No. The region affects prices and what the store carries, not distribution speed.