In the past few days, PlayStation 4 players have been kept on guard for a bug in the private message system that would reportedly cause the console to “brick”. Apparently, the bug forced some users to hard reset their systems to fix the issue. A spokesperson from Sony announced today that the PlayStation team has since issued a fix, but that’s not all. If your system is affected, there’s a way to fix it without a hard reset.
What To Do If Your PlayStation 4 Is Affected
On October 16, 2018, a spokesperson on behalf of Ask PlayStation UK announced on Twitter that a fix has been issued for the Private Message bug. That means if your console hasn’t been affected, it may be safe from this particular issue. However, if you received a private message that harmed your system, don’t jump for that hard reset. There’s a method to get your PlayStation 4 in working order again.
We’ve since fixed the issue, and it wasn’t bricking consoles, just sending them into a crash loop that can be quickly fixed in under 5 minutes. Delete the message on the PS mobile app, go into Safe Mode, use Option 5, console back to normal. ^DB
— Ask PlayStation UK (@AskPS_UK) October 15, 2018
As noted, the bug wasn’t necessarily “bricking” systems as just sending them into a crash loop. The first step to fixing the loop is to get rid of the message. Using the PlayStation mobile app (downloadable on iTunes or Google Play) you can log into your PlayStation 4 account, access the Private Message, and safely delete it.
From there, put the console into Safe Mode and use an alleged Option 5 to return your console back to normal.
Can A Private Message Still Harm My PS4?
It is unknown at this time if a firmware update will follow this information on the PS4 or if the fix is simply applied through the PlayStation Network. What we do know is that PlayStation UK is claiming the bug should be fixed. If errors still occur, the above instructions should be followed to keep from having to restart your PS4 from scratch.
If any further information on this matter becomes available, we will follow up here.
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