Here's How to Access the Hidden Internet Browser on Your PS5 (2024)

The PlayStation 5 console hit the stores last year, and it was all the rage. Improved graphics, new games, tons and tons of excitement. But one thing makes it seem a bit inferior to PlayStation 4 and the Xbox Series X console – there’s no web browser.

At least, there’s no obvious one that you could simply launch from your home screen. Instead, you need to pry around the OS and tinker with its settings to get access to a handicapped browser. This is not something new to the console space – Nintendo has its own share of issues within the same landscape, we talked about it in our Nintendo Switch web browser article. So, yes, you can still access the web from your PS5 console, but you will have to spend some time setting things up.

There are a few ways of getting a hold of the hidden PlayStation 5 browser, but we think that the two described below are much more practical and convenient in the result they provide.

The User Guide Method to Access the PS5 Web Browser

If you go to the Settings feature on the home screen and then scroll down to System, you will see the Web Browser option, where you can change several features. So, there’s clearly a way to access the web on PS5. But, still, there’s no direct access to it. So, what do you do, then?

First, go to Settings and select User’s Guide. You will see the guide opening in the web browser, but you won’t be able to change the URL and are basically stuck with just this guide. However, you can use it to get your way through to Google and then access any site you want.

Once you’re there, you can access the PS5 internet browser in two ways, one is through YouTube, the other is through Instagram.

To open the PS5 browser through YouTube, select the playstation.com/help link next to the QR code. You’ll be taken to the PlayStation Support page. On the bottom, you’ll find six links that you can click. Let’s say you select ‘PS Store & Refunds’, and once it loads, scroll down and find the embedded YouTube video. Click it, start playing it, and then hit the ‘YouTube’ sign in the player to go to YouTube itself.

This way, you’ll get out of the PlayStation site. Reject the ‘Sign in’ request and agree to the Terms of Use. Next, click ‘Share’ and select Reddit – you’ll be taken to Reddit and be asked to sign in. Select “Continue with Google,” once you’re on the Google login page, go down to ‘Privacy,’ and once you’re there, hit the ‘Google’ sign in the ‘Google Privacy & Terms’ sign at the top of the page.

On the next page, scroll all the way down and tend to the ‘Google’ link on the bottom right. Now you can perform Google Search and access any website you want.

To open the hidden PS5 web browser through Instagram. Sometimes, the YouTube video from the first few steps won’t play and lead you to an error page instead, not letting you out of the PlayStation site. So, a workaround would be the Instagram method which follows similar steps. .

Go back to the User’s Guide page, and hit the playstation.com/help link. Select ‘Connectivity,’ and go to ‘PSN Status’ from there, then hit the ‘Back to playstation.com’ link in the upper right corner, which will take you to the main PlayStation website.

Go all the way to the bottom and select Instagram. Click ‘Sign Up’ and hit the Google Play button on the sign-up page. Once you’re on the Google Play page, select the gear icon in the upper right corner, and you’ll be taken to the Google sign-in page.

From there, perform all the same steps as described with the YouTube option: Privacy -> Google Privacy & Terms -> Google -> access any site you want through Google search.

The DNS Method to Access the Hidden PS5 Browser

The DNS method is perhaps the most convenient of all. It doesn’t need you to go through multiple pages and doesn’t require any tools. Instead, you just set it up. What you’re essentially doing here is pointing the console’s “Internet route” using a specific IP address. Once pointed, it will bring a particular web page up by default, or in this case, specific DNS (Domain Name Server). This way, you’ll avoid all the hassle of navigating to Google’s search engine.

In the Settings menu, go to Network -> Settings -> Set Up Internet Connection. Then, tend to the ‘Registered networks’ section, select the network you’re connected to, and select ‘Advanced Setting.’ Once you’re there, select the ‘DNS Settings’ option and choose ‘Manual.’ Choose ‘Primary DNS’ and set it to either 165.227.83.145 or 192.241.221.79 if the first one doesn’t work (you can set it either as the ‘Secondary DNS’ or just change the ‘Primary DNS’ of the first address doesn’t work). Then, hit OK and wait for your console to connect to the access point.

Go back to the User’s Guide. Perhaps, nothing will change, so you will need to refresh it. Hit the PS button and log out of your account. Then, log back in, load User’s Guide again, you’re going to be redirected to the PS4 exploit site by Al Azif.

Once the site is loaded, just hit L2 twice, which will bring up the URL redirector. There, all you have to do is introduce the site you want to access. Type in google.com and use it at will. Now, every single time you go to User’s Guide, you’ll be redirected to Al Azif’s PS4 exploit site, from which you can go straight to Google and so on.

Why Doesn’t the PS5 Have a Web Browser?

Considering the fact that PS5 has web browser settings, the plan was to implement it from the get-go, but due to some reason, no particular details were released up to this point. Of course, it’s highly probable that we’re soon going to see the full-scale web browser app on PS5. But, considering how things sometimes go slow in the console space, it may take a couple more years.