You don’t need a guide to turn on a PS5 and go through the setup wizard. The console walks you through language, network, account and update on its own. Things get interesting after that. This checklist covers the settings the console doesn’t offer on first launch, even though you will end up looking for them within a month anyway.
Checklist for the first thirty minutes
| What to set | Where it is | Why right away |
|---|---|---|
| Console Sharing and Offline Play | Settings → Users and Accounts → Other | decides who in the household can play your games |
| Features Available in Rest Mode | Settings → System → Power Saving | without it, nothing downloads overnight |
| Remote Play | Settings → System → Remote Play | you enable it in advance, not once you are away |
| PS5 login passcode | Settings → Users and Accounts → Login Settings | a four-digit code for your profile |
| PS5 Console Restrictions | Settings → Family and Parental Controls | the default code is 0000 and needs to be changed |
| Audio output and 3D audio | Settings → Sound | calibration is done from where you play |
Console sharing decides whose console it really is
The most important choice in the whole setup is called Console Sharing and Offline Play, and you’ll find it in Settings → Users and Accounts → Other. When it is on, anyone who uses this PS5 can launch your games and media, even when the console is offline, and use some of your subscription benefits. When it is off, the games are tied to your sign-in and online verification.
The catch is that only one PS5 per account can be active. The first console your account signs in on is activated automatically. If you want to move the activation elsewhere, you first have to turn it off on the old one. Sony also sets activation limits per account: one PS5, one PS4, two PS3 consoles and three PS Vita or PS TV devices. A PS5 and a PS4 can be activated at the same time.
If you lose access to the console (you sell it, it gets stolen, it stops working), you can also deactivate it remotely in account management through Device Management → PlayStation Consoles → Deactivate All Devices. There are two catches: you can’t turn off one specific console remotely, only all of them at once, and you can do it only once every six months. Deactivation doesn’t delete anything or harm the console. That is why it pays to know where the option is before you need it.
On a shared console, other accounts get online multiplayer, downloaded PS Plus monthly games, catalog games depending on the subscription tier and downloaded games bought with the member discount. What they don’t get is buying at the member price, claiming PS Plus games on their own account, cloud storage or automatic update downloads. The benefits are shared only on this one console, so a friend on their own PS5 gets nothing from your PS Plus subscription.
Rest mode decides whether anything downloads overnight
On first launch, the console doesn’t tell you that rest mode has its own settings and that by default it may not do what you expect. The path is Settings → System → Power Saving → Features Available in Rest Mode. Turn on both items: Stay Connected to the Internet and Enable Turning On PS5 from Network.
The first option is required for remote downloads. Sony explains that you can start a game download from a browser or from the PlayStation App, but only to a console that is in rest mode and has the internet connection enabled. The second option lets the network wake the console, which is a requirement for Remote Play on mobile and PC. Remote Play itself is also turned on separately, in Settings → System → Remote Play.
Transferring data from your old console
If you are moving from the previous generation, sort out the transfer right at the start, not once you are already in the middle of games on the new console. Sony has its own procedure for it and it is worth going through in full. It is summed up in a separate article on how to transfer games and data from PS4 to PS5. If signing in to the network fails during setup, the problem may not be on your end, because you can check for a PSN outage on a single page.
Closely tied to data is storage, which runs out sooner than you expect. The built-in drive is 825 GB on the original PS5, one terabyte on the CFI-2000 model series and two terabytes on the PS5 Pro. The Digital Edition has a snag: the CFI-2100 revision has only 825 GB instead of a terabyte. Sony never announced this change; it shows in retail listings and in Sony’s own online store. The disc version isn’t affected. How to add space is covered in the guide to expanding PS5 storage with an SSD.
Set up audio from the couch, not next to the console
Audio output is in Settings → Sound → Audio Output, where you choose the output device, HDMI device type, number of channels and speaker layout. For headphones, the PS5 has a separate item called Output to Headphones.
Spatial audio has two separate branches. 3D Audio (Headphones) offers five preset profiles, or you can have a personalized profile created through listening tests. It is saved separately for each user, works on all PS5 models and doesn’t work during cloud streaming or Remote Play. 3D Audio (TV) is calibrated differently: the console measures the room acoustics with the microphone in the controller, so sit where you normally play while it does that. After you change the position of the TV, the seating or the room furniture, Sony recommends repeating the measurement.
Which output makes sense in the first place depends on what you connect. The options and their limits are covered in the guide on how to connect headphones to PS5.
Security: three codes that get mixed up
- PS5 login passcode in Settings → Users and Accounts → Login Settings → Set PS5 Login Passcode. Four digits, it protects signing in to your profile.
- Console restrictions passcode in Settings → Family and Parental Controls → PS5 Console Restrictions. By default it is 0000, and if you change it and forget it, Sony offers no way out other than resetting the console.
- Parental controls on the account, which are something different from both of the above and travel with a child’s account even to someone else’s console. The setup and, above all, its loopholes are covered in the article on parental controls on PS5.
Where to place the console and what it is still missing
Sony lists four placement conditions that are hard to change a year later: at least 10 cm from the wall, not on a long-pile carpet, not in a tight space and not covered with cloth. The less air the console gets, the sooner you will have to deal with it, which ties in with the guide on how to clean dust out of a PS5.
If you got the digital version and want a disc drive later, keep two things in mind: the add-on drive is compatible only with the CFI-2000 model series and the PS5 Pro, so it doesn’t fit the original “fat” Digital Edition, and it requires an internet connection when pairing. Which version to get, if you are still choosing, is covered in the overview of which PS5 edition to buy.
What can wait
- A second controller. It is worth it only once you know what you will play. The differences between models are covered in the overview of which PS5 controller to choose.
- A subscription. You won’t get online multiplayer going without one, but the catalogs are worth deciding on only once you know what you are actually missing on the console.
- Storage expansion. As long as your games fit, there is no rush. Once you start deleting, it is time.
- A perfect picture. Tuning HDR and resolution makes sense with a specific game on a specific TV, not on an empty console on the first evening.
FAQ
On PS5 the feature is called Console Sharing and Offline Play, and you’ll find it in Settings → Users and Accounts → Other. Only one PS5 per account can be active, and the first console you sign in on is activated automatically. To move it to another console, you have to turn it off on the old one.
Rest mode has its own settings. In Settings → System → Power Saving → Features Available in Rest Mode, “Stay Connected to the Internet” has to be turned on. Without it, the console drops the connection overnight. The second option, turning on the system from the network, is what you need to wake the console remotely.
It depends on the model: the original PS5 has 825 GB, the CFI-2000 model series one terabyte and the PS5 Pro two terabytes. The Digital Edition is an exception: the CFI-2100 revision has only 825 GB. Sony didn’t announce this change; it shows in retail listings and in Sony’s online store. The disc version isn’t affected.
Yes, in web account management through Device Management → PlayStation Consoles → Deactivate All Devices. You can’t turn off one specific console remotely, only all of them at once, and you can do it only once every six months. Deactivation doesn’t delete data or harm the console in any way.
Console Sharing and Offline Play, both rest mode options, Remote Play and changing the console restrictions passcode from the default 0000. Leave audio for when you are sitting in your usual spot in front of the TV, because 3D audio calibration measures the acoustics from the player’s position.
Information verified as of 24 August 2026. Menu item names sometimes shift with system updates, so if you can’t find something at the path given, look one level up. More console guides are in the PlayStation hub on Gamers Together.