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How to Play Videos on PS3 With an External Hard Drive

The Sony PlayStation 3 does a lot more than just play video games. It connects to the Internet, hooks you up with your friends on voice and video chat, and plays music and movies. You're not limited to DVDs and Blu-ray discs, either, as your PS3 can even play videos stored on external hard drives connected via a USB cable.

Things You'll Need

Computer with USB port
PlayStation 3
External USB hard drive

Instructions

- 1
  
  You have to use a USB cable to connect an external hard drive to the PS3.
  
  Plug the external hard drive's USB cable into the PS3. The PS3 automatically detects the hard drive and reads the files on it.
- 2
  On the PS3 main menu, go to the "Video" tab and scroll down to "USB Device." The PS3 displays the hard drive name in parentheses next to "USB Device."
- 3
  Press the "Triangle" button when the USB external hard drive is highlighted and select "Display All" from the menu that pops up on the right side of the screen. The PS3 should show the file system of the hard drive.
- 4
  Navigate to the video's location on the hard drive and press "X" to begin playback. The PS3 does not support all types of video files. Visit the PlayStation Knowledge Center for a complete list of supported file types.

PlayStation 3