Summary
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The Xbox Series X/S could soon support external drives larger than 16TB, expanding game storage options.
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Users in the Xbox Insider Alpha Skip-Ahead ring are receiving an update that enables support for larger external USB drives.
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Expanded storage options could benefit gamers with larger games and more titles.
The Xbox Series X/S could soon get larger storage options. Since many new games require more storage space, the Xbox Series The Xbox Series S itself only has 512 gigabytes of internal storage, so the need to use external options could be a necessity for most gamers who really want to maximize their systems.
Currently, storage expansion card options are limited to a maximum of 2TB. However, there are many other ways to expand Xbox Series X/S storage via SSDs and hard drives. Despite the multitude of commercial options for these forms of storage, Xbox hardware still limits users to the aforementioned 16TB limit. Surprisingly, it looks like Microsoft is looking to remove this limitation through a future update.

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Xbox Insiders who are part of the Alpha Skip Ahead ring are getting a new Xbox update preview. According to the release notes, there will now be support for external USB drives larger than 16TB. The catch is that drives need to be reformatted to take advantage of this change. After formatting, new partitions will then exist on the drive, which will also appear as multiple devices. Considering that there are many large Xbox One games that can be stored on the external drive, Xbox owners don't have to worry much about size limitations. Admittedly, you would first have to buy the hard drive with more storage space.
This seems like a step in the right direction to help Xbox owners. As technology continues to advance, games could eventually get bigger. More storage options could also help entice gamers to play more titles and download more digital software. Since Xbox storage expansion cards are so expensive, an alternative option for storing downloaded titles could make it easier for gamers to make the decision to purchase digital games or even purchase the Xbox Series S as their console of choice.
Still, with all of these updates, Microsoft has mentioned that there is currently an issue with some drives larger than 16TB. Some external hard drives do not reflect the correct information and available free space. It is currently recommended not to format drives larger than 16TB. This is an understandable oversight since the members of the Alpha group are somewhat like testers. As the Xbox Insider Program introduces new features, it is expected that some will still have issues that need to be resolved before it is released to all Xbox owners in the future.
Xbox Update Preview release notes
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Expand your Xbox storage with support for larger drives
We enable support for external USB drives larger than 16TB, so you can be sure your favorite games are always ready to play! Reformatted drives larger than 16TB will be formatted with multiple partitions to utilize all available space for games and apps. These will appear as multiple devices in the storage device list.
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