Check your console storage tonight: GTA 6 pre-load is 18 days away, and your drive is fuller than you think

Short version first. Pre-load opens on Thursday, November 12. That is 18 days from today. Rockstar still has not said how big GTA 6 is, so the only safe plan is to have 200 to 250 GB free before then. Go and check your console tonight. It takes two minutes, and I promise it is fuller than you think.

I'm Rolo. I do the hardware on this site. I said all this last week, and I am saying it again, because I have seen the inside of my friends' consoles and I am worried about all of you.

What is confirmed, and what isn't

Confirmed: GTA 6 launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, and pre-load opens on November 12 for digital pre-orders. Our pre-load guide has the details and the unlock times piece has when it actually starts.

Not confirmed: the install size. Rockstar has not published one. The PlayStation Store shows nothing, and the Xbox listing still shows a placeholder of a few hundred megabytes, which is not the game unless Rockstar has invented a new kind of maths. Outlet estimates sit between about 150 and 200 GB. Red Dead Redemption 2 was 105 GB, and Leonida is a lot bigger.

You will also see posts saying a figure like 228 GB has been "confirmed". It hasn't. If Rockstar or a store listing publishes a real number, we will put it on the download size page the same day. Until then, plan for 250 GB and be pleasantly surprised.

Step one: check what you actually have

On PS5 and PS5 Pro:

1. Open Settings, then Storage.
2. Pick Console Storage.
3. The bar at the top shows free space. Underneath, it splits into Games and Apps, Media Gallery and Saved Data.

On Xbox Series X and Series S:

1. Open Settings, then System, then Storage devices.
2. Pick the internal drive to see how much is free.
3. For a per-game breakdown, press the Xbox button, open My games and apps, then Manage.

Now compare that number to this list. This is roughly what each console can actually use, after the system takes its share:

• PS5 (825 GB): about 667 GB.
• PS5 Slim (1 TB): about 848 GB.
• PS5 Pro (2 TB): roughly 1.8 TB.
• Xbox Series X (1 TB): about 802 GB.
• Xbox Series S (512 GB): about 364 GB. This is the one to worry about. Our Series S piece goes through it.
• Xbox Series S (1 TB): about 802 GB.

If you have 250 GB free, close this page and go and do something nice. If you don't, keep reading.

Step two: find what is eating your drive

General advice: it is almost never the thing you think. In order of how often I find it:

• One giant shooter. Call of Duty on its own can take well over 200 GB once every mode is installed. Both consoles let you remove parts of some big games instead of the whole thing. On PS5, press Options on the game in the storage list and look for a manage content option. On Xbox, go to Manage game and add-ons.
• Games you finished in 2022. You are not going back. You think you are. You are not.
• The Media Gallery on PS5. Every automatic trophy video and every 4K clip of you falling off a roof. It adds up quietly. Settings, Storage, Console Storage, Media Gallery, and delete in bulk.
• Two versions of the same game. The PS4 and PS5 versions of one game, sitting side by side, both full size. Keep the one you play.

Step three: delete, move, or buy

Delete. It is the fastest option and the right one for most people. Deleting a game takes seconds. Downloading 200 GB of GTA 6 does not, and the download page has the times by connection speed.

Before you delete anything, know where your saves are:

• PS5: saved data is kept separately from the game, so deleting a game does not delete its saves. PlayStation Plus members can also back saves up to the cloud.
• Xbox: saves sync to the cloud automatically for almost every game, as long as you are signed in and online.

If a save matters to you, check it is backed up first. Your 300-hour Elden Ring character is not a thing I want on my conscience.

Move. Any ordinary USB drive works as a parking space:

• PS5: PS5 games can be moved to a USB drive and stored there, but they have to come back to the console's drive to be played. PS4 games can be played straight from the USB drive.
• Xbox Series X|S: same idea. Series X|S games can be stored on a USB drive but not played from it. Xbox One and older games can be played from it.

So park everything you are not playing this winter on a USB drive, and keep the internal drive clear for Leonida.

Buy. Only if deleting and moving still leaves you short. A PS5 takes a PCIe 4.0 M.2 drive with a heatsink. A Series X or S takes a Seagate or Western Digital Storage Expansion Card. My hardware piece goes through both. Whatever you buy, fit it before November 12 so the pre-load goes straight onto it, instead of downloading the whole thing twice.

Bought it on disc? You are not off the hook

This catches people every launch. On PS5 and Xbox Series X, a disc copy still installs the game to the console's drive. The disc is a key and a head start on the download. It is not where the game runs from. You need the same free space as everyone else, and you will still be downloading whatever patch is waiting on day one.

And if you own a PS5 Digital Edition or a Series S, there is no disc drive, so the digital copy is your only option anyway.

Step four: let it download while you sleep

Pre-load is a week long for a reason. Set the console to keep downloading when you are not using it:

• PS5: Settings, System, Power Saving, Features Available in Rest Mode, and turn on Stay Connected to the Internet. Then put it in rest mode, not off.
• Xbox: Settings, General, Power options, and pick Sleep. The energy-saving shutdown mode does not download in the background.

Then leave it plugged into the wall, and ideally into the router with a cable. Wi-Fi from two rooms away is how a pre-load turns into a pre-week.

What I'd do tonight

Two minutes: check your free space. Ten minutes: delete the games you finished years ago and clear the Media Gallery. If you are still short, park your backlog on a USB drive this week. If you are still short after that, buy the drive this week too, not on November 11.

Vox, for the record, has none of these problems. He has just bought a PS5 with one planned game on it, which he told everybody about. It is the first time he has been the most prepared person on this site, and I would like it noted that it was an accident.

I will update this page and the download page the moment Rockstar publishes a real install size. Until then, the launch guide has the full checklist.

The launch checklist: pre-load, storage and unlock times