What To Do If You Can‘t Enable Console Sharing: The Ultimate Troubleshooting Guide
As a hardcore PlayStation gamer, one of my favorite features is console sharing. There‘s nothing better than being able to access my entire digital library on multiple consoles. However, I recently ran into major issues getting console sharing to work properly between my PS5 and PS4 Pro.
After days of frustration, I managed to find solutions to finally fix my console sharing problems. In this guide, I‘ll share everything I learned to help fellow gamers troubleshoot console sharing.
Why Console Sharing Can Fail to Enable
Before jumping into fixes, it‘s important to understand what causes console sharing problems in the first place. Based on my research in gaming forums and discussions with PlayStation customer support, here are the most common reasons you may be unable to enable console sharing:
- Incorrect activation status – For console sharing to work, it needs to be disabled on your primary PS5 console first. If it‘s still activated from another attempt, you‘ll get errors trying to enable it again.
- Network connectivity issues – A stable high-speed internet connection is mandatory. Connection drops or latency can interrupt the sharing process.
- Account permission problems – To activate sharing, you have to use the master account that owns content and has an active PS Plus membership. Restrictions from family management or parental controls can also cause conflicts.
- System software problems – Outdated firmware, corrupted data from crashes, and other software issues can all impact console sharing.
With the reasons why console sharing fails clear, let‘s get into the best troubleshooting tips I‘ve found to fix problems.
Step 1: Disable Console Sharing on Your Main PS5
The most common fix I‘ve found that works is fully disabling console sharing first on my primary PS5 that I use as the main hub for my gaming.
You can check your status and disable it by:
- Going into Settings > Users and Accounts > Other
- Selecting Console Sharing and Offline Play
- Choose Disable (you want offline play enabled still for remote gaming during network outages).
Once it‘s fully disabled on my main console, I can then activate game sharing on my PS4 Pro without getting errors.
Step 2: Reboot Your Consoles and Router
Before attempting to enable console sharing again, it‘s a good idea to fully power cycle your PS5, PS4 Pro, and your internet router:
- PlayStation Consoles – Fully power down by holding the power button for at least 5 seconds until systems shut off. Unplug power cables for 30 seconds. Plug back in and boot up.
- Network Router – Unplug the power adapter for 60 seconds. This clears the router cache and resets all connections.
Rebooting clears any corrupted temporary data or glitches that could impact console sharing.
Step 3: Check Account Settings and Restrictions
With fresh reboots on your consoles and network completed, sign into your primary account on the PS4 Pro and check for restrictions:
- Go to Settings > Family Management > PS4 System Restrictions
- Make sure all communication features like console sharing are set to Allowed
- Also check Account Management for any restrictions on your master account that owns content and PS Plus membership
- If your account is a child profile with parental controls, you must sign in as the parent/guardian to activate sharing
Removing all restrictions enables seamless access for console sharing access across both systems.
Step 4: Activate Your Account as Primary on PS4 Pro
The last key fix I found is properly activating my account as primary on my PS4 Pro before attempting to enable console sharing again:
- Go to Settings > Account Management > Activate as Your Primary PS4
- Select Activate to register your account as the master on PS4 Pro
By activating it as primary, all your content and PS Plus access becomes available for sharing.
Final Attempt – Try Enabling Console Sharing Again
With restrictions cleared, accounts activated, and fresh reboots completed, try enabling console sharing again:
- Return to Settings > Users and Accounts > Other
- Access Console Sharing and Offline Play
- Choose Enable
If you run into errors again, I recommend contacting PlayStation Support for further troubleshooting. Make sure to give them clear details on your console status, network setup, account types, and the steps you tried already from this guide.
Benefits of Fixing Console Sharing
Getting console sharing working again provides amazing benefits that vastly improve all your gaming experiences:
- Access your entire digital game collection – I have over 80 digital PS4 and PS5 games that I can now play on both consoles thanks to seamless library sharing. It saves me from rebuying games!
- Share a single PS Plus subscription – Instead of paying for 2 PS Plus memberships, console sharing allows me to access online multiplayer and monthly free games with a single membership. This saves me nearly $60 a year.
- Sync progression across both consoles – Since all my save data syncs via the cloud storage included with PS Plus, I can start playing a game on my PS5 and pick up right where I left off on my PS4.
So fixing console sharing issues is well worth the effort for all the perks you gain! Let me know in the comments if these troubleshooting tips resolved your console sharing problems. And if you have any other fixes I didn‘t cover, please share them with our gaming community below!
