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I've decided to get rid of my PS3 by donating it to a younger brother. This means that I want to totally purge all data on it such as user accounts, save games, credit card details and the like before I give it to them. (I love my little brothers but they aren't getting my credit card number or owt). Is this possible? Does Settings > System Settings > Restore PS3 System option actually do this?

I did look for other questions before posting this one but they all seemed to be about removing user accounts and not the whole thing.

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    Make sure that browser history is cleared ;) – Lyrical Oct 18 '13 at 14:54
  • ...I would be really worried if that had owt to do with my credit cards. – wdh Oct 18 '13 at 14:56
  • Restore PS3 system should wipe it all, do that then double check to see if any accounts are left? There really shouldn't be – Ben Brocka Oct 18 '13 at 14:58
  • I'm sure there's a Format Drive option in the system settings. – TZHX Oct 18 '13 at 15:00
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The PS3 can reformat its hard drive. Reformatting the hard drive will erase everything on it except system software which you need. You don't need any special hardware for this- just the console, the hard drive and time.

The format utility is found in settings-> system settings. From there, follow the on-screen instructions.

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  • This is it. You also have to deactivate your PSN account first by going to PSN > Account Management > System Activation. Thanks! – wdh Oct 18 '13 at 16:08
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  1. Scroll to the left to settings
  2. Scroll up to system settings
  3. Scroll down to restore PS3 system
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