Establish what the drive is being used for
Keep an existing game-storage drive separate from a USB drive prepared for media files. PlayStation’s USB video instructions specify exFAT or FAT32. Its extended-storage documentation describes a different game and app storage role, with its own console formatting procedure.
Do not accept a format prompt just to see whether it exposes a video. PlayStation warns that formatting deletes saved data, and reformatting extended storage as exFAT erases the game data on that drive. Preserve anything needed and identify the selected drive before making a deliberate storage change.
Follow the PS5 video route
On a computer, place the authorised video files inside a folder at the drive’s root, as the PS5 guide instructs. On the console, open Media Gallery from games home, connect the drive and select USB. This is a different route from launching a subscription app on media home.
If the drive appears but the intended file does not play, note that result separately from the drive not appearing at all. Keep the folder arrangement and file name with your notes. This preserves the point at which the task changes from discovering storage to interpreting a particular media file.
Check encoding and permission separately
PlayStation lists specific video and audio combinations for PS5, including H.264 with AAC LC in MP4 or MKV and VP9 with Opus in WebM, subject to its documented limits. The extension alone is not a complete encoding description. Media Gallery also does not play copyright-protected files.
For help, report the console model, drive filesystem and role, folder location, container, video codec, audio codec and whether another permitted sample appears. A title downloaded inside a streaming service should not be assumed to be an ordinary exportable video file. These facts support a useful media-playback report without repeatedly formatting storage or reinstalling unrelated television apps.