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Does PlayStation 5 have a web browser?

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Playstation 5 with a controller.
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Sony added a bunch of great functionality to PS5, but one thing that’s missing is a web browser. Unlike its predecessor, PS4, there’s not a standard web browser you can access from your home screen. That’s a bit of a letdown, as it feels like a huge step back from what was available years ago.

Thankfully, all is not lost. With a little elbow grease and a lot of ingenuity, you can access a web browser on PS5. The process is quite convoluted, and it’s not the most user-friendly browser, but it’s possible to surf the web on your fancy new-gen console.

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Here’s a look at how the web browser works on PS5.

Does the PS5 have a web browser?

The PS5 does not have a traditional web browser in the way that the PS4 did, meaning users can’t quickly pull up websites and surf the net with ease. This is no doubt a frustrating omission for those used to accessing the web from their previous consoles, and it’s honestly a bit strange that Sony chose to leave out such a useful feature. However, while you may not be able to pull up a browser from your main menu, there is technically a workaround to gain access to an extremely limited web browser by finagling with the Twitter linking function in your settings, but it’s an awful lot of trouble to go through for something that doesn’t really function in a way that users can actually benefit from.

If you do want to access the web browser, navigate to the Settings page on your PS5, then enter the Users and Accounts section. From here, navigate to Linked Services and find Twitter. This will let you link an account — and attempting to link an account will open a web browser. Just click on the Twitter logo at the top of the screen and you’ll be faced with a pretty standard (albeit, low-quality) login page for a web browser.

We wouldn’t recommend using the web browser for anything but the most basic web surfing — and even that is pushing its functionality. Attempting to navigate various pages with the DualSense isn’t the greatest experience, and since Sony didn’t spend much time optimizing the browser, it’s a pretty clunky and slow bit of software.

Unfortunately, Sony doesn’t seem to want to add an official web browser app to the PS5, as the company has expressed on various occasions that it doesn’t feel that such functionality is important for gaming consoles. So, if you’re in the PlayStation ecosystem, it appears that your web browsing will have to continue exclusively on your old PS4. It’s a bummer, but hey, maybe you could try getting one of those refrigerators with web functionality.

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Billy Givens
Billy Givens
Gaming Writer
Billy Givens is a freelance writer with over a decade of experience writing gaming, film, and tech content. His work can be…
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