Sony's PlayStation Network (PSN) isn't required for every game you want to play, but it is necessary for some, especially if you plan on playing online. Not being able to connect to PSN won't always affect your gaming, but if and when it does, it's important to figure out whether the network itself is down or if your connection is the culprit.

Chances are that if your PlayStation console can’t connect to PSN for whatever reason, you’ll be notified. However, you may also encounter other issues, such as being unable to sign in to PlayStation Store, play online, or access your account management settings. Below are the easiest ways to test the current status of PSN.

Turn on your console and wait for the home screen to appear. If you see a message that says “Sign in to PlayStation Network” on PS4 or “You're offline” on PS5, you are not connected.

Visit the official PSN Status webpage to see if there is a known outage for the service, or for specific features. If you see that all services are running, then either there is no outage or the issue is so recent that it has not been updated on the sidebar yet.