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GTA 5 PS5 and series x: How to transfer your saves to next-gen consoles

Trophies and achievements migrate as well.

by Joseph Yaden
Updated: 
Originally Published: 
GTA 5
Rockstar Games

Now that Grand Theft Auto 5 is available on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S, players will no doubt want to migrate their progress from the previous generation of consoles. Unfortunately, the process isn’t as straightforward as you’d expect, but we’ve got all the steps you’ll need to transfer your old save data to your new system. Here’s what you need to know about migrating your GTA 5 save to the new version on next-gen consoles.

How to upload your GTA 5 save from older consoles

To move your story mode and/or GTA Online progress from your old console to PS5 or Xbox Series X, the first thing you need to do is upload the save to the Rockstar servers. This means you need to have access to the older version if you haven’t uploaded the data yet.

Start by uploading your previous generation save to the Rockstar servers.

Rockstar Games

From PS4 or Xbox One, jump into GTA 5, and from the pause menu, you’ll want to head to the “Game” tab. From here, navigate to “Upload Save Game,” and select the save file you’d like to migrate to the new system. After you’ve selected the save file, wait a few seconds, and you’ll receive confirmation that it has been uploaded successfully.

From here, you’re free to close down the older version of the game.

How to retrieve your GTA 5 save on next-gen consoles

After you’ve uploaded the save to the Rockstar servers, launch the next-gen version of GTA 5. You’ll then come to a menu where you can either launch into Story Mode or GTA Online. Below is a step-by-step guide for retrieving your saves across each.

Story Mode

Launch the next-gen edition, boot up the single-player mode, and you’ll be asked to utilize the save you uploaded.

Rockstar Games

Select the Story Mode tab and you’ll be asked to download your saved data. Keep in mind, you need to have the Story Mode version of GTA 5 on your new console to utilize the transfer function. After you’ve purchased it, you’ll have the option to skip the transfer and start fresh, but if you want to pick up where you left off, select the save you just uploaded, which will appear on the left side of the screen. Wait a few seconds, and the game will launch into Story Mode from your previous save.

GTA Online

Migrate your GTA Online save from the previous generation version to pick up where you left off.

Rockstar Games

The process of retrieving your GTA Online character is similar. Select the GTA Online tab, and watch the cutscene that plays. From here, you’ll be presented with your GTA Online character file, which should appear on the left side of the screen. Make sure you pick the “Migrate” option and it should pull the save from the server. One thing to note is that it might give you an error message at first. This happened during our testing, but after we logged into the Rockstar account on a browser, we tried to migrate the file again on PS5 and it worked.

Do GTA 5 trophies and achievements transfer?

Thankfully, trophies and achievements do carry over, as well. Any trophies/achievements you’ve earned on the PS4 or Xbox One will automatically pop once you’ve migrated your save over on you next-gen platform of choice.

We advise getting all the trophies/achievements on the previous generation version first, because otherwise, you’ll have to start from scratch if you planned on earning 100% on those editions, since the save file gets deleted. If you have a platinum trophy on the PS4 version, you can perform the migration to earn a platinum on PS5 with little effort.

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