Almost every piece of gaming hardware has to go through teething problems on launch. Whether it’s the Xbox 360’s red ring of death, the PS3’s infamous yellow light, or the ubiquitous issue of controller drift that now appears to be plaguing every major console’s peripherals, it’s fair to say that even the most powerful hardware has its fair share of bugbears. Unfortunately, it looks like the PS5 is no exception, as some users are complaining of the PS5 shutting off randomly.
So, what’s actually happening when this problem occurs? Well, as you might expect, the problem is that users are saying the PS5 is randomly turning itself off. Sometimes, this occurs during gaming sessions; players are midway through a game when the PS5 suddenly shuts down, causing them to lose progress in some cases. At other times, the PS5 is closing itself down during extended periods of inactivity, with users leaving their consoles inactive for a while only to come back and realise the PS5 has shut itself down.
If you’ve experienced the PS5 shutting off randomly, you’ll know it can be an immensely frustrating moment, especially if you’re in the middle of something important during a gaming session. Luckily, there are ways to fix the problem, although you’ll first need to determine exactly what’s causing it if you want to get to the bottom of it. Most of the time, the issue can be fixed. Occasionally, however, this will be an issue for Sony’s support team, and you should talk to them if you’ve been unable to correct the problem any other way. Here’s how to solve the PS5 shutting off randomly.
Update your firmware
The first thing you should do is make sure your PS5’s firmware is updated. At the beginning of the PS5’s life cycle, many users complained that the console was suddenly shutting itself off at random times, so Sony corrected this problem with a firmware update. Here’s how to go through this process.
- Navigate to the PS5 Settings menu
- Head to “System”
- Find the “System Software” heading
- Select the “System Software Update” option, then “Update System Software”
The PS5 will usually prompt you when there’s a firmware update ready to download, but you may have missed the latest update, so this is how to find the system update option manually.
Disable Rest Mode
Unfortunately, sometimes, the cause of the PS5 shutting off randomly is Rest Mode. This feature allows you to charge controllers and continue downloading games while the console is powered down, but it can also cause issues whereby the console automatically shuts down at random times due to how Rest Mode is configured. The best way to check whether it’s Rest Mode that’s causing your problem is to disable it entirely. Here’s how to do that.
- Go to your PS5’s Settings menu
- Find the “Power Saving” option
- Go to “Rest Mode”
- Select the “Don’t Put in Rest Mode” option
You can also turn off Rest Mode by long-pressing the PS button on the DualSense controller, or by simply holding down the PS5’s power key until you hear two beeps.
Turn off the HDMI Device Link option
The PS5’s HDMI Device Link option is a pretty nifty feature. If you have a PS5 connected to a device with an HDMI port – which you almost certainly do – then you can set up your console to automatically power on when you switch on the connected device. However, if you’ve also got other devices connected – such as Roku devices, Chromecast sticks, or anything else similar – then this could cause issues with your PS5’s power cycle. Here’s how you can turn off HDMI Device Link.
- Go to Settings in your PS5’s menu
- Find the “System” option
- Navigate to “HDMI”
- Disable the “HDMI Link” setting
This will ensure that your PS5 isn’t randomly turning off or on because of another HDMI device hooked up to your TV. It will, unfortunately, mean that you can’t expect your console to switch itself on when you turn on the TV, but we’re sure you’ll agree that’s a small price to pay to make sure your gaming sessions aren’t interrupted by random shutdowns anymore.
Contact PlayStation support
If you’ve cycled through all of the above options and their variants (you can also update your firmware via USB, for example), then unfortunately, you may have a defective PS5, or there may be a glitch in your firmware that isn’t solvable on the user end. In this case, the only course of action available to you may be to contact the PlayStation support team and explain your issue to them. While this is a time-consuming and occasionally frustrating process, it’s a small price to pay for peace of mind and to get your console fixed. You can find the PlayStation support team’s contact details here.
We hope that this guide has been at least somewhat helpful in assisting you with fixing this vexing problem. It’s unfortunate that the PS5 has been shutting off randomly for some users; this brand-new console is great fun when it’s all working properly, so to have something like this happen and interrupt an important gaming session can be incredibly frustrating and disheartening, especially given how difficult it is to get hold of a PS5 at the moment. If you contact Sony support, though, and exercise as much patience as you can, you should soon see your problem resolved.