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How do I get photos and music onto my Sony PSP?

How do I change my regular music to mp3 so that I can download it into my psp? I also can't get pictures into the psp? I have the regular usb cable


Dave's Answer:

It's not too hard to transfer files from your Windows PC to your Sony PSP, but here's the trick: the "PSP Value Pack" doesn't have everything that you need. Not so good. In fact, you'll want to add a larger Memory Stick Duo, for example, because 32MB just isn't much space at all, when you come down to it.

The other missing piece in the Value Pack is the USB cable that lets you connect your Sony PSP to your Windows PC and, of course, vice versa. Fortunately, these are pretty easy to find - anywhere that carries Sony digital cameras should have the right USB cable, or you can try somewhere like Froogle to find a cable. I did a quick search and found this $7.95 cable from one store.

To get everything working, plug the Sony PSP into the Windows PC via USB cable, plug the PSP into the wall, then turn both units on. On the PSP, click the "USB Connection" button (on the Settings menu) and, hopefully, your PC will beep and tell you that it's found a new "removable disk": your PSP.

Using Windows Explorer, find the new PSP device and if there isn't already a folder called PHOTO on it, create one as you ordinarily would create a folder in Windows. Now just drop in any JPEG images you'd like to have viewable on your PSP while on the go.

Music-wise, you'll want to create a folder called MUSIC and drop in MP3 format music files (which means that you can't play music you get from the Apple iTunes Store, for example, because that's in a different format).

I hope that'll get you going with this process. It doesn't seem too hard!

Here are a couple of useful additional references:

Thanks to Tommy Martin for his help with this question

Additional useful reference articles:

  •   Download music from your PC to your Sony PSP
  •   Watch DVD Movies on a Sony PSP
  •   Getting Network Update to work on a Sony PSP
  •   Sony PSP Firmware Update Instructions
  •   iTunes music on a Sony PSP


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Reader Comments To Date: 400

Bobby said, on November 30, 2006 5:56 PM:

Ok, so I have PSP Max Media Manager. I download my music from Limewire then transfer it to RealPlayer. Can you tell me how to get the music from RealPlayer or Limewire on my PSP?

BOB said, on December 3, 2006 2:43 PM:

HEY i have a mac adn i tunes hwo would i be able to but my itunes songs on my psp i am only planing on putting on about 10

From
volcom skater

bryce said, on December 8, 2006 10:44 PM:

sorry but i tryed the methid but it didn't work

Edna said, on December 25, 2006 11:56 AM:

TO: Dave
Dear Dave,
what are AMG files? how come the cable does come with the Value Pack? don't you think it should come in the pack.It's giving us a break from going to the store and buying one.

Edna said, on December 25, 2006 12:09 PM:

Dave my psp isn't pick much signal for the internet.20% is all I ever got.I'm I doing anything wrong.PLEASE HELP!!

Bob said, on December 28, 2006 1:16 AM:

i just got my psp for christmas how do i download photos and music on my psp?

jeffery said, on December 28, 2006 10:36 AM:

how do i hook my psp on to the wall

joey said, on December 30, 2006 9:06 PM:

what format should movies that i have downloaded be in

Ariel said, on January 1, 2007 1:33 PM:

How do I get the downloaded materials from my computer onto my PSP?

a la snaz said, on January 3, 2007 1:05 AM:

I do this but when i check my psp the music is copywright protected and will not play the music. How do i solve this?

Richard said, on January 4, 2007 10:03 PM:

hey Dave when I downloaded music to my psp I don't get the music but when I look at my 918MB I notice that I had 935MB. I don't even know how to get photos on my psp. Please help me how to do it step by step. Like what should appear when I do this or when I do that. Please help!!!

Richard said, on January 5, 2007 4:59 PM:

hey dave I have the music I want on my psp but it says that it can't play it because copyright protection please help me!!!!!!!!!!!!

JMar Smith said, on January 5, 2007 10:42 PM:

How can i get music and photos from my psp since it has a internet

Joe said, on January 8, 2007 1:51 PM:

how do you get the copyright protection off. The music files wont play due to a copryright protect.. what should i do.?

kellan said, on January 9, 2007 2:09 PM:

How do i get pictures from my computer to my psp? I have the usb cord or whatever. I have music but no pictures like off of google and stuff.
K-man

david said, on January 18, 2007 2:22 PM:

I got my music on my psp but it says it is not able to be copyrighted. What do i do?

Thiren said, on February 18, 2007 6:35 AM:

Hi dave,

I followed your instruction to load music and photos and it worked! except for the photos. The images are all jpeg files but it does not appear in Photo folder on my PSP as does it should in Music. How can I get it to appear?

sam said, on February 26, 2007 8:34 AM:

dear dave,
i have plaugged my psp into my computer i have xp and when i try to install my psp, it says there was a problem installing the device and that the data is invalid how do i fix this, PLEASE HELP ME!

Jeremy said, on February 26, 2007 5:13 PM:

Excuse me Dave,

I need help, you see i have Window's XP and when i plug in USB cable all i get is unknown device. How do i get pictures to PSP, without unknon device stuff?

mike davis said, on March 3, 2007 5:37 PM:

my pictures were on. my psp when i went to download more pictures all my pictures went onto the computer and now i cant get them back on my psp:( what shoul i do?

ivan said, on March 10, 2007 12:43 PM:

Can you use mp3 on a psp..?

Andrew said, on March 10, 2007 7:05 PM:

I made the folders but they will not show the music in the music icone on the Psp its self. What do I do??

jared said, on March 11, 2007 8:00 PM:

Hey daveim having a problem with the network update it seems to not work ive tried over and over again i use DLINK wireless for my comp but ive tried scanning it on my psp it comes up with DLINK non wireless i trie it out it never works and ive seen a wireless one which my friend told me to use but it never works cause its 3COM and ive seen DLINK with no security and i cant use it as my acess point what do i do????

prince said, on March 16, 2007 9:36 PM:

hey, im trying to convert games from my pc to my psp, but every time i do it it sais my files are corrupted. Any idea how to fix it?

reggie said, on March 18, 2007 11:29 AM:

i use windows media player to put music on my psp. but when its done i go to look for the music on my psp but it says there arent any tracks on it. but the memory stick duo has less memory on it. Could ou email me and help me with this problem? reggie_nnz@yahoo.com

sergey said, on March 23, 2007 1:41 PM:

Dave, i got my PSP a while ago and have been triing to get music on it ever since the only problem... what does it mean to format your memory stick due and how do you do it ?

kk said, on March 25, 2007 1:53 AM:

What is a IP address?

Josh said, on March 27, 2007 1:26 PM:

What if your psp says un souported data on it?

SOFTBALL BABE said, on April 2, 2007 9:28 PM:

how do you make ur photos into JPEG mode??? thats my only problem!!!! =[[

zach said, on April 3, 2007 10:17 PM:

when i am trying to drag photos from the file to the removable disk, i says the system cannot find the file specified. i dont know what to do. please respond soon. thanks.

Danny said, on April 8, 2007 11:12 PM:

i don't understand how to download the music on my psp. i have the 32mb memory card, and i am buying the 512 mb one tomorrow, because i know that 32 is not enuff to download it says. i was wondering where to go to download the songs, i have them saved on my windows media player. can i download them from there?

nathan said, on April 9, 2007 11:00 PM:

if i format the memory stick, and backup game data on computer into a temporary file, then put the game data back in the file, will the save game files still load from the game??

Rebecca said, on April 10, 2007 6:56 PM:

When i try to load my game on my psp it says load failed data is curropted. But if i let my brother do it on his psp with his memory stick it works perfectly. If i get his game and load it with my memory stick it works. So, how can i load my game?

biswa said, on April 13, 2007 10:24 AM:

hey dave
can psp read or show lyric in a music of psp..or only we can listen music do psp show lyric like ipod..if there is any idea can u help me...about psp where i can make my psp show lyrics or make notepad..

CALLUM said, on April 13, 2007 11:15 AM:

THIS DONT MAKE SENSE HOW DO YOU PUT PHOTOS ON THERE?

lene said, on April 14, 2007 2:27 PM:

Thanks i have everything i need on my psp i dont know what i would have done without u thanks

man said, on April 19, 2007 9:10 PM:

is it possible to download music files to my psp from the wireless internet connection on my psp without using my pc?

anonymous said, on April 23, 2007 2:04 AM:

how do you delete a movie that isn't there.
i got a movie off the internet and saved to video but when i went to view it,it wasn't there.
The movie took up my memory but it isn't there, pls help me with this and tell me how to get the memory back.

josh said, on April 25, 2007 2:53 AM:

i got a psp and i dont know how to charge it and i dont know what i need for it so how i charge it and i wana put music and videos on it so plese tell me how email me at jdcostello@hotmail.com

clayton said, on April 25, 2007 1:52 PM:

how do i get pictures on my psp i have a ubs cord but then what do i do?

robyn said, on April 25, 2007 4:42 PM:

i use windows media player to put music on my psp. but when its done i go to look for the music on my psp but it says there arent any tracks on it. but the memory stick duo has less memory on it. pls help me

Wario said, on April 29, 2007 9:32 AM:

Ok, to cut my last message alot shorter, I've figured out what I was doing wrong as regards the PHOTO folder on my PSP, I changed it to PICTURE and now all my photos are there.. Hooray! :D
Can PSPs view animated GIFs as animations and not just as the first frame?

Theresa said, on May 2, 2007 2:55 PM:

Hi, I tried to put music I downloaded from limeware onto my son's PSP. I could see it on the pc ok when I created a folder in PSP called Music and I transfered it over to that folder from my ocmoputer, but when I come out of USB mode and into music folder (memory stick) it says no tracks. I am using Windows Vista, would this have anything to do with it? Many thanks.

Wario said, on May 3, 2007 4:27 AM:

Hey Theresa did you use block capitals for your 'Music' folder? It should be MUSIC and not Music.
That's what I did and my MP3s play fine, haven't tried other formats yet though.. :D

Sinead said, on May 4, 2007 9:29 AM:

when i connect up the psp with the usb cable and the computer....the psp does not appear in my computer????

Wario said, on May 5, 2007 9:12 AM:

Well you'll need to install the device driver for the PSP to be recognised by your PC.
I use Win98 and installed the driver before going to 'My Computer' which is where the 'Removable device' is located..

sohan said, on May 6, 2007 8:46 AM:

i did it finally! all you have to do is format your memory stick,then go to my computer and drag and click its that simple

Jeff said, on May 6, 2007 12:50 PM:

Whenever i try to download a game on my psp it comes up as "corroupt data" how do i fix it?

Dave Taylor said, on May 6, 2007 8:39 PM:

This will sound weird, Jeff, but the problem might well be your USB cord itself. Try another one and see if you get things to work better.

Corey said, on May 11, 2007 6:21 PM:

your info is useful but no music is showing up i will click on memory stick under music and it says no tracks...could u email me step by step

Justin said, on May 14, 2007 3:15 PM:

how would you put downloaded games on?

Lil P said, on May 15, 2007 5:28 PM:

How to put image on psp and internet

George said, on May 20, 2007 9:38 AM:

i have put the power and the usb cable in at the same time but it still ont work. i have also put a certain amount of music into a folder called "music" can you help me

maryann said, on May 30, 2007 7:02 PM:

I can't get my photos to work

r063r said, on June 3, 2007 7:07 PM:

i dont have a psp,but i tried on my cousins and it worked perfect ,but the problem was that he has a 32 mb and it only put half of a song so thanks!!

Kathy said, on June 7, 2007 9:17 AM:

Hello Dave,See I have been having this problem everytime I add mp4 files to my psp it says corrupted or unsupported data can you PLEASE tell me how to solve this?

Kathy,

Adam said, on June 26, 2007 5:19 PM:

hey.. i need a little help..i hook my psp up to my computer and it notice's it as a memory stick.. so i went to my computer and every time i click on it it says, please insert disc.. im just trying to get music on it and this is frustraring.. can anyone help..

Sarah said, on June 29, 2007 7:18 PM:

my computer doesn't beep when i hook up my psp and i can't find it?...

Dom said, on July 1, 2007 12:23 PM:

I have a similar problem to Theresa's, I'm using Vista and tried adding some songs onto the psp, some would immediately say corrupted file or unsupported data, and some would only play for about 30 sec... Also I tried to put some pics on and they came out distorted, I've done everything "right", formatting the disc, dropping in the right folder, etc....

Aaron Andrews said, on July 1, 2007 10:17 PM:

Ive had my psp for about two years and i cant get any music on it...im just fed up with it can you help me?????...

kyle burton said, on July 2, 2007 5:11 PM:

my psp has a problem i dropped it and it wont turn n what do i do

Mike R said, on July 3, 2007 9:39 AM:

Ok, so I have my PSP sitting here plugged in w/my usb, but every time I try to copy anything, (Game saves, Pictures, Music) I get and error saying that the file doesn't exist, or that there was in I/O error. any suggestions? I can copy FROM my MS/PSP, I just copy to it.

D said, on July 19, 2007 10:53 PM:

I tried to get music on my psp from limewire but after I got out of usb mode it says there are no tracks

josh said, on July 24, 2007 7:55 AM:

I dont know how to get the mp3 downloaded to my pc can anyone help?

Josh branson said, on July 24, 2007 7:58 AM:

I dont know how to download the mp3 player to my pc can anyone help me?

Austin said, on July 28, 2007 11:45 AM:

I cant get my pictures &stuff like that can you help, Austin

Nico said, on August 3, 2007 1:58 PM:

HELP ME!

Dave,
I tried your method to get photos and movies on my psp but they dont seem to work. I can get MP3's on my psp no problem, but when it comes to movies and pics ive followed your instructions and ive had to success all that happens is i put the photos and movies on my psp and i try to view them and my psp just says "there are no photos/movies". What can I do!

thanks,
nico

Danielle said, on August 10, 2007 9:38 AM:

I used my usb cord to put my pics on my psp after it was safe to take out the usb cord i wanted to see my pics.The pics were not on a camera the were already stored ta the computer.And wen i took out the usb cord my psp was freakin out and it would show me my pics of course i am going ta sue the computer company. And i am gonna make them buy me a new psp.

maxim said, on August 14, 2007 9:46 AM:

how do i get videos or photos? i got music but do i need a special format disc to get videos/ i tried what u said, but still no photos or videos. my friend sayes i need a format disc.. do i? plz help.

Rory said, on August 25, 2007 5:28 AM:

I can't find my PSP on my computer PLEASE HELP im real deperate to put em on!

alec said, on September 2, 2007 6:17 PM:

hey dave,
i have a cannon camera will the cable for that work for my psp? and what is the cheapest cord for that you have found?

CRYPTSAVER said, on September 24, 2007 1:55 PM:

In the PSP 3.60 version the "PHOTO" folder has to be put inside the SYSTEM folder and not in the ROOT like the "MUSIC" and "VIDEO" folders. This is due to the latest version having compatability with Digital Cameras.To find the PSP on your computer first make a connection with USB cable and the computer then open "My Computer" and look under Devices with Removable Storage (E:) or (F:). Hope this helps others.

krysten said, on September 24, 2007 6:17 PM:

it really helped thanks

josh said, on October 21, 2007 11:15 AM:

hiw do i get music and videos on my psp becouse when i try to do it doesnt

Dave said, on October 24, 2007 4:55 AM:

Dave

If you've seen this before apologies but I thought I'd pass it on......

I tried to download some photos onto my nephew's new style PSP at the weekend. I followed the instructions in the PSP manual to make a folder called "PICTURE" for all the photos. When I dragged and dropped the photos the PSP could not see them. It seemed odd that the PSP screen said "PHOTO" yet the manual wanted a different name for the folder so I changed it to "PHOTO" and needless to say it worked....this is a clearly a typo and may be causing confusion. Perhaps you might want to put it in the advice above. Cheers dp

Conor said, on November 1, 2007 10:53 AM:

Thanks very much, this was taking me weeks to figure out, and now its dead easy

Erica said, on November 1, 2007 4:07 PM:

Thank you soooo much. I was getting so frustrated, because I just got a silver psp and of course it didn't come with the usb cable, so I got one and still couldn't figure it out. thanks for the help :D

yee boiii said, on November 3, 2007 9:46 PM:

Everytime i click on the removabledist thing it says PLEASE INSERT A DISK INTO DRIVE E wat do i do???????? plz help

david said, on November 5, 2007 5:26 PM:

hey
i did what you said but it didnt work
im on a new psp running update 3.7 and when i look into my pic section it says i have no photos/vids but my memory stick says that the space it being taken up i dont know what to do from here thank for the help

david said, on November 5, 2007 5:28 PM:

sry for the re-post but my 1st one didnt work anyway im on a new psp running update 3.7 and i followed your steps but it didnt work any advice? thanks.

Olive said, on November 7, 2007 2:25 PM:

Hi Dave Im trying to put music on my pictures and put it on a cd Im trying Windows movie maker which does the job but I cant play it on my dvd player but if I leave the music off it works can you help me please

Daniel said, on November 19, 2007 9:41 AM:

I put the music on my PSP,but when I go to music on the PSP itself there isnt anything there.When I connect the PSP and play it in Windows Media it plays away but I just can't find it on the PSP.
Any help will be great!
Cheers

mollie said, on November 25, 2007 12:34 AM:

hey thanx johno ur a good man.
i really needed the help man.

ross said, on November 26, 2007 7:37 PM:

so ive been looking at questions from other people trying to get my psp to load files... but in the E: and F: in my computer it says that theres nothing there even though my psp is pluged in to the cp by USB. it says there is a device found but it dosent show it anywhere in my computer. how do i go about finding the psp in my computer and/ or do you need the memory stick in to find it in the computer im not sure

Patrick said, on December 2, 2007 2:06 PM:

I have been having a problem when downloading music to the SW edition of the PSP. every time i downlod the msic, it sayd its on the Mem Stick and that the artists are there but that there are Zero Tracks. How do i fix this?

asad said, on December 7, 2007 3:41 PM:

What if it does'nt happen when i try to load pictures it does'nt gets there can you help me

darian said, on December 13, 2007 9:34 PM:

my pc isnt beeping :( what do i do

SIKANDER said, on December 21, 2007 5:42 AM:

HI DAVE THANX FOR UR SUGGESTION
I GOT MY PICS ON PSP

alvin said, on December 22, 2007 1:55 PM:

THANKS U UR SOO HELPFUL...

AJ said, on December 22, 2007 5:37 PM:

I am having the same problem as someone else was having. I downloaded music from limewire and I could see it on the pc ok when I created a folder in PSP called MUSIC and I transfered it over to that folder from my computer, but when I come out of USB mode and into music folder (memory stick) it says no tracks. PLEASE HELP!

jake said, on December 23, 2007 1:02 AM:

i need help, i connected my PSP tp the USB port, turned off the USB charge setting, and put it in Usb mode but it still does not rggnize my psp is connected to my computer. i hava a program i got with a package with Pelican that helps me organize and transport my music, photos, and videos to and from my PSP. it says at the top"No PSP/Memory Sticks are found". its the new PSP slim, black.

PLZZZZZZ HELP!!!!!!!!!!,
jake

code said, on December 26, 2007 3:02 PM:

i did everyting you said and it is coming up (there ane no images)

Coollll Dude said, on December 26, 2007 7:37 PM:

hey dave, i just got my psp and i am having trouble putting photos and music on it. i go excactly what the instuctions and yourself say to so do i create the fp;der that says either music or picture put the file on but it comes up "there are no images/tracks" please help asap

Jen said, on December 26, 2007 8:02 PM:

hi dave this is jen. i just got my psp and i don't know how to create a folder for my music. i tried to drag a drop but when i try to open up the music from my memory stick, it states "there are no tracks" please help. thanks

Brielle said, on December 27, 2007 1:24 PM:

i can not open my psp after i i connect it and plug it in how do u open it.

joey dupuis said, on December 27, 2007 5:55 PM:

please help me i must have tried everything im tryig to get a wallpaer on my psp i got a picture and drag and dropped it onto the psp file and when i check it on the regular psp its not on there

haley said, on December 28, 2007 11:43 PM:

if you've tried dragging the song onto your psp and that didn't work, try copying, it worked for me (:

pie said, on December 31, 2007 9:13 PM:

how do i get images off my computer and put them on mi psp

Jay said, on January 2, 2008 9:10 AM:

I need help getting movies to play on the PSP. I put the video files on the memory stick as .mp4 and it seems no matter what I do I cant get them to play. The PSP keeps saying that it has no video files when I know for sure they are there. I have firmeware 3.80 if that makes any difference. I have tried many ways that people have talked about on many websites and nothing has worked.

Brandon said, on January 7, 2008 4:09 PM:

I followed your instructions on how to put pics on the psp and it did not work. There was a file I created called "PHOTO". The pics are all JPEG.
It was connected. I have an memory stick in it. I did every thing what you said to do. Why is it not working.

Starbucks coffee cup I do have a lot to say, and questions of my own for that matter, but first I'd like to say thank you, Dave, for all your helpful information by buying you a cup of coffee!

I do have a comment, now that you mention it!











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