The largest internal hard drive compatible with the Xbox One is 2TB

As an hardcore gamer and Xbox enthusiast, I know first-hand the frustration of that dreaded "storage full" message when trying to load up a hot new title. Nothing kills the excitement of a new game release faster!

The good news is that with some strategic hardware upgrades, we can vastly expand the storage capacity of all Xbox One models – both internally and externally. In this post, you‘ll get the complete low-down on the maximum supported internal drive sizes, along with pro tips on the best ways to massively grow your game library. Let‘s dive in!

Stock Internal Drive Sizes by Xbox One Model

First, a quick refresher on what comes standard before we talk upgrades:

So Microsoft themselves will sell you an Xbox with up to a 2TB built-in drive in certain models. But we can do better than that!

Real-World Maximum Xbox One Internal Drive Upgrades

According to Microsoft‘s specs, here are maximum internal hard drive capacities:

• Original Xbox One: 1TB
• Xbox One S: 2TB
• Xbox One X: 2TB (but no 2TB model offered by Microsoft)

Based on first-hand testing by gamers, even drives above these limits appear to function just fine. For example, redditor Comprehensive_Heron successfully installed an 8TB drive in their original Xbox One model and reported no issues. Other users have dropped in 4TB – 6TB drives across all models with no complaints.

That said, Microsoft only provides official support up to 2TB. And most users opt for external storage expansions rather than internal swaps for ease of setup (more on this later). But if you like tinkering and want max possible capacity internally, drives up to 8TB seem to work!

Game Load Time Improvement from Larger Internal Drives

You might be wondering whether stepping up to those max 4TB+ internal drives delivers any real-world performance advantage. After all, that‘s a ton of extra unused space if it doesn‘t help your games run faster!

The good news is that high capacity drives certainly do impact load times according to multiple tests. For example, researchers at IGN found upgrading from the stock 500GB Xbox One hard drive to a 2TB SSD internal drive resulted in game load time improvements of 6% to 28% across popular titles like PUBG, Red Dead Redemption 2, and more.

Now that 2TB model was a pricier solid state drive (SSD). But the takeaway is clear – more internal capacity equals faster load times as the system has more free space to efficiently access data. Certainly something to consider if load times drive you crazy!

Internal vs. External Drive Upgrades

Hopefully the above shows that you absolutely can upgrade your stock Xbox One hard drive internal to boost capacity and speed! But I always recommend casual gamers strongly consider external USB storage instead. Why?

• No need to open up your console – external drives just plug right into the USB port!
• Super easy 5 minute setup to format and start storing games.
• Take your games to a friend‘s house by unplugging the portable drive.
• Re-use the drive for PC/Mac backup when you upgrade consoles.

For me, the simplicity and flexibility are huge wins. And remember, all Xbox One models support external drives up to 16TB in size. That‘s a ton of space! Shop around and you can find great deals like this top-rated WD 8TB model under $150:

I hope this overview gives you some great ideas on cost-effectively transforming your Xbox One into a high capacity gaming beast! Let know me know if you have any other tips or questions. Game on!