PlayStation 4

Backing up your data

Backing Up Your Data

Before you modify anything, protect your save files and important data. Backups cost little time and can save you from losing progress if something goes wrong during setup.

What to back up

Game saves — the most important and hardest to replace.
Screenshots and video clips stored in the capture gallery.
Account details so you can sign back in cleanly if needed.

Methods

USB backup
Format a USB drive the console accepts, then use Settings > Application Saved Data Management to copy saves to USB storage. This keeps a local copy independent of any network.
Cloud backup
If you have an active online subscription that includes cloud saves, upload your saves there as a second copy. Note that connecting online carries its own considerations once a console is modified.
Full system backup
For a complete copy, the system offers a backup option that writes user data to an external drive. This is the most thorough safeguard.

Do these backups before touching the jailbreak, and ideally while still on a clean, unmodified system. Once you start, recovering lost data is far harder.

Keep at least one backup that does not live on the console itself. A USB copy stored separately means that even a worst-case rebuild leaves your saves intact. Verify the backup completed before moving on to any modification steps.