In this article, we will discuss another simple but an important practice that you should be doing on your PlayStation console - which is How to Safely Close or Quit Games and Apps on PS5. Seems pretty normal right?
But before that, it is important to know the reason behind this good practice.
Why do we need to "safely" quit games and apps on our console?
- Free up memory usage and prevent from performance hiccups
- To prevent data corruption on the save files on your PlayStation games
- To optimize the execution of the app or games by focusing its resources on other processes.
Unfortunately, there are still gamers who just play but ignore closing their games and consoles properly.
Okay, so how do we properly turn close or quit opened apps in the PS5? Follow these procedures:
How to close games and apps on the PS5?
Via the console control or hardware
You can press the eject button of the game anytime. It will forcefully close the game you are playing, and will eject the game disc. However, this is not a good practice because if you do this while the console is in process of writing data or saving a game, it may corrupt your game's data or worse your game files and may affect your save files afterwards.
If ever the game or data corruption happens, you can fix this by deleting the game and reinstalling it. Rebuilding database of PS5 console might also work because it reorganizes the files on your hard drive.
Via the home screen
- During gameplay, press the PS button or home button (the one with the PlayStation logo) on the DualSense controller. The control center will appear.
- Go to Switcher and press X, it will open the active games and the list of recently played games.
- Highlight the game and press the options button on the DualSense controller and it will pop up another window with the following selections:
- Back to game
- Go to Game Hub
- Close Game
- To close the game, select the "Close Game" and press X. It will close the game currently being played and will go back to the main menu.
Look at the video below on how to close a game.
Video source: VVaby
Via the Main Menu
This scenario happens while the game is minimized or running at the background. On the game library or main menu, select the game being loaded, press the options menu and Click Close game.
- Press the PS logo on the DualSense controller
- Highlight the last game played
- Press the options button on the controller then press the close game
Via Remote Play
Playing via Remote play is pretty much the same as playing on console. You can also follow the procedures stated above since it will send a command to your console to close the game or app. You can also choose to close the game or console via the app directly.
Effects of not closing your game or apps properly on your PS5
Not closing the game properly may cause problems on your console. These are the most common results:
- Slow or nonresponsive menu - you will notice that the menu has delays on its responsiveness or a "sticky" feeling.
- The game may not load properly or closes abruptly. This may be caused by corrupted clusters on your hard drive.
- Game data is corrupted. The entire game, specific cutscene, or you can encounter game crashes during a certain moment while playing.
These issues are mostly software related (hopefully) and can be fixed by either of the following steps:
- Restart your console through your DualSense controller or pressing the power button
- Delete the game and reinstall it
- Rebuild database
- Reformat your PS5 console
Now, what happens if I turn off my console improperly?
This may result to the following:
- Damage to peripherals and hardware: worst case is the PS5 console may not power on anymore.
- Corrupted data on external hard drive and other connected hardware.
There are times, a power surge, or a power failure occurs which damages the hardware. This will be prevented if you are using a UPS (Uninterrupted power supply) because it regulates the power being supplied on your console and prevent from unwanted shutdowns. It may cost you, but in the long run, a UPS is very important and may prolong the life of your console and other gadgets.
Putting on Safe Mode instead of power off? Is this a best practice?
If you're downloading games, system software updates, or game updates, or wish to quick resume or charge your DualSense controller, use Safe Mode. Otherwise, turn the console off entirely, as Safe Mode doesn't fully shut down the console; it minimizes resources while remaining powered on, consuming electricity.
Conclusion
Closing the game properly or quitting a game will enable your console to have longer life because it will prevent issues on the software and hardware. If you want to play more video games, I strongly recommend following the tips in this article so that you won't encounter problems in the future and your console lets you play a different game that may be released in the future.
So remember...
Close apps properly and take care of your console, all the time!
Did you learn something new today? Have you experienced problems like this before? Let us know in the comments section.
Related Articles:
How to Eject a Disc from Your PlayStation Console
How to Reset my PlayStation 5 DualSense Controller
How to put your PlayStation 5 Console in Rest mode
