PS5 power saving mode: how to save money with PlayStation's energy efficient console settings

If you want to make sure your PS5 is operating at its most power efficient to save you as much money as possible – especially when the heating is cranked to full – there are plenty of settings to help you out.

Cut back on your electricity consumption when using your PS5 by getting familiar with all of the options you have with the console's power saving mode.

The PS5 is a beautiful console, stacked with amazing exclusives to play like Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, Ghost of Tsushima: Director’s Cut, and the like. However, it being so powerful a console also means that it’s prone to eating up a lot of, well, power – especially since every current-gen console these days is expected to still work away quietly when not in use. That’s why we thought we’d go ahead and treat you to an explainer regarding the PS5 power saving mode, and how you can reduce the console’s power consumption.

Of course if you want to see how much power your PS5, Nintendo Switch or Xbox Series X uses, you can check out our breakdown of how much power each console uses. You can also delve into the Xbox Series X energy saving mode to cut costs there, thanks to Microsoft rolling out an energy-saving update for the console in January 2023.

In case you haven’t already guessed, the way to save the most power with regards to your PS5 use revolves around a feature called Rest Mode. This is the state your PS5 will enter when is turned off but remains plugged in, still sapping away some degree of power in order to perform specific quiet tasks such as downloading games, implementing updates, and checking for firmware patches. Here’s everything you need to know about the PS5 power saving mode and how to tailor it to you.

PS5 power saving mode options

The PS5 Rest Mode is incredibly useful for a number of things but if you don't want to take advantage of those perks, or would rather save the console's energy when it's not being actively used, you can tweak the settings to your preference.

First of all, to adjust how much power your PS5 uses during Rest Mode you'll need to head to your PS5 console’s settings (found in the top-right of the home screen), click the System option in the menu where you’ll find a tab called Power Saving. In the Power Saving menu you’ll be greeted by three options, all of which can dictate how much energy your PS5 uses when in Rest Mode.

The first is an option called Set Time Until PS5 Enters Rest Mode. This essentially allows you to dictate how long your PS5 will stay switched on before entering Rest Mode. By default, the PS5 is set to enter Rest Mode after four hours whenever media is played (movies, TV shows, music) and just one hour whenever you’re playing a game. Scroll through both options to find a length of time that makes sense for you. The shorter the time, the less power you’ll be using.

The second option is called Features Available in Rest Mode. It won’t surprise anyone to learn that, shock horror, this allows you to select what actions your PS5 can perform in Rest Mode. The major option here relates to how long power will be supplied to the console’s front-facing USB ports. The default length of time is set to three three hours, so adjust as necessary. It’s here where you can also tell your PS5 to stay connected to the internet or not, as well as whether you want the PS5 to be able to turn on from the network (aka, without you being there).

Finally, the last PS5 power saving setting option is called Set Time Until Controllers Turn Off. Much like the other settings available, this lets you determine for how long you want your PS5 DualSense controller to stay on for when not in use. You might not think this relates to the console’s power consumption, but the more your controllers have to be charged, the more energy you’re using after all. You can have the controllers turn off either after 10, 30, or 60 minutes when not in use.

Of course, the best way to avoid using too much power is by switching the console off entirely. However, this would mean not taking advantage of Rest Mode’s features at all, which might come to annoy every time you fire up the console, only to be hit with an avalanche of updates. The choice is yours!