How to set a primary account on PS5 is a question carried over from PS4. On the new generation the feature has a different name and you set it on the console, not on the account. It is called Console Sharing and Offline Play, and when you turn it on, anyone who uses this PS5 can play your games and media, even with the console offline, and also gets some of your PS Plus benefits. Only one PS5 per account can be active.
Where to turn on sharing on PS5
The path is short: Settings, Users and Accounts, the Other item, then Console Sharing and Offline Play, and there you choose Enable or Don’t Enable. The first PS5 your account signs in on is activated automatically. You can switch to another console only after turning the feature off on the old one.
This detail is what holds people up most often when they replace a console: you can’t enable sharing on the new PS5 while it is still enabled on the previous one. What else to sort out when moving from the last generation is covered in the article on transferring games and data from PS4 to PS5.
On PS4 it is called the primary console
On PS4 you go to Settings, Account Management, Activate as Your Primary PS4, and there choose Activate or Deactivate. Each account can have one PS4 activated as primary, and the first one is activated automatically, just like on the new generation. On the primary PS4, anyone who uses it can then launch apps bought from the PS Store and get some of your PS Plus benefits.
That means the older console stays usable as a second device in the household, because a PS5 and a PS4 can be activated at the same time. Whether that is still worth it today is covered in the article on whether a PS4 still makes sense.
How many devices you can activate on one account
| Device | Activations per account |
|---|---|
| PS5 | 1 |
| PS4 | 1 |
| PS3 | 2 |
| PS Vita and PS TV | 3 |
The limits come from Sony’s help page on deactivating consoles, as of 11 September 2026. A PS5 and a PS4 can be activated at the same time, so you don’t have to give up either of them.
Remote deactivation works only once every six months
If you don’t have physical access to the console (you sold it, it stayed with someone else, or it broke), you can deactivate it remotely in account management: Device Management, PlayStation Consoles, Deactivate All Devices. Two restrictions apply.
- You can’t pick one specific console remotely. All devices are deactivated at once, so you also knock out the console you have at home and have to activate it again.
- It works only once every six months. Sony states it plainly: you can deactivate consoles only once every six months. So if you set up sharing wrong and use up the bulk deactivation, your next attempt is six months away.
Deactivation doesn’t delete data or harm the console in any way. It is still an operation you can’t run whenever you feel like it. Before you start it, check that the problem isn’t just a network outage, because you can check PSN status on a single page.
What a second account on a shared console gets and what it doesn’t
Sony describes this option in its own help page on sharing PS Plus benefits. They can be shared on one PS5 with Console Sharing turned on and on one primary PS4, and only there. Friends on other consoles don’t get access to them.
| Other accounts on the shared console get | Other accounts don’t get |
|---|---|
| online multiplayer (subject to parental controls) | buying discounted items in the PS Store at the PS Plus member price |
| downloaded PS Plus monthly games | the option to claim PS Plus games on their own account |
| games from the Game Catalog and Classics Catalog, depending on the membership tier | cloud storage for saved data |
| downloaded games bought with the PS Plus member discount | automatic update downloads |
| early access to time-limited game trials |
The split comes from Sony’s help pages, as of 11 September 2026. The most important entry is the second one in the right column: the second account doesn’t claim a subscription game for itself, it only launches it on this console. How claiming works on the account owner’s side is described in free games in PS Plus, and what each membership tier includes is summed up in PlayStation Plus tiers.
Share Play is something else
Console sharing covers one household and one box. Share Play lets a friend into your game over the network without owning it, but under much stricter conditions.
- A session lasts one hour and ends automatically an hour after the visitor joins.
- There can be only one visitor.
- The host must be a PS Plus member, and for the mode where you play together, both of you must be members.
- There are three modes: the visitor watches, plays as you, or you play together on one screen, even in games without online multiplayer.
- Sony recommends at least 2 Mbps for both upload and download.
The restrictions are specific: only the host earns trophies, Remote Play and broadcasting don’t work on PS5 during a session, the visitor can’t save screenshots or video clips, a visitor younger than the game’s age rating can’t join, and a game unavailable in the visitor’s region can’t be played. The trophy rule is the most common disappointment, and the context is covered in trophies on PlayStation. Remote Play being off also means you can’t move the game to a PlayStation Portal at the same time. Other ways for two people to play are summed up in two-player games on PS5.
Where sharing ends and risk begins
Sony describes this feature as meant for a console you use yourself. Its help page says the games can be played by anyone who uses this PS5. One household, a second account on the living room TV: that is exactly what it is made for. When that second account belongs to a child, extra restrictions come on top, and they are described in the guide to parental controls on PS5.
“Game sharing” with a stranger from the internet is a different thing. To turn on sharing on their console, you have to give them the sign-in details for your PSN account. The account is personal, and with this step you turn it into shared property. The risks are purely practical:
- You are giving them the whole account, not just the library. With access they can see your purchase history, your wallet and the option to buy things, and they can change the password and email.
- You can undo it only in bulk. Remote deactivation turns off all devices at once, not just their console.
- And only once every six months. If the arrangement falls apart twice in a row, you don’t get a second attempt.
If the goal is to save money on games, there are ways that don’t involve handing over your account: a library borrowed from a subscription, games bought once for the whole household, or a subscription on another platform, whose terms are described in Game Pass tiers. If you are thinking about a second console, the options are compared in the article on which PS5 edition to buy.
FAQ
On PS5 the feature is called Console Sharing and Offline Play. You turn it on in Settings under Users and Accounts, the Other item and Console Sharing and Offline Play. The first PS5 you sign in on is activated automatically, so often there is nothing to set up.
One PS5 and one PS4, both at the same time if you like. Older devices have higher limits: two PS3 consoles and three PS Vita or PS TV devices. To move the activation to another console of the same generation, you first turn it off on the original one.
Remotely in account management through Device Management and PlayStation Consoles, using Deactivate All Devices. You can’t pick one specific console, they are all deactivated at once, and Sony allows it only once every six months. The data on the console is not deleted.
That would mean giving them the sign-in details for your account, which includes access to your wallet, your purchases and the option to change the account settings. For playing together without handing over your account there is Share Play, which works over the network and leaves your account with you.
Sony adjusts the list of benefits that carry over to other accounts on a shared console from time to time, so check it directly in the PS Plus help pages before you decide. More articles on consoles and accounts are in the PlayStation section on Gamers Together. Information verified as of 21 August 2026.