Why you should never put your PlayStation 5 on a carpeted floor

Your PS5 needs a better home than a carpet, and you should keep the vents clear, wherever it ends up.

By Thomas Godwin Nov. 7, 2026 6:45 pm EST Jair Fonseca/Shutterstock Add Engadget on Google: Google Discover

Sony is a bit ambiguous about the PlayStation 5 and carpeted flooring. Whether you read the downloadable PDF guide or the PlayStation Blog, it references avoiding long-fiber carpet only. However, there are three different PS5s in play, which include the Slim, the PS5 Pro and the original model. The original has no vents on its vertical base, while the Slim and the Pro have small vents on the vertical base and come with little rail stands for horizontal placement. With that knowledge, it's reasonable to assume a Slim and Pro can sit horizontally on carpet, and a first-gen PS5 with its base is fine vertically. But with Sony's basic, innocuous statement to go on, there are no distinguishing suggestions for each.