By Michael | Last Updated
As a fast and stable storage device, SSDs (Solid State Drives) have become the first choice for more and more computer users. However, due to the expensive price and small capacity of previous SSDs, some users may face the problem of insufficient storage space over time. In this article, we will share three ways on how to transfer data from one SSD to another.
Before looking into different migration methods, we recommend that you first understand the considerations for moving one SSD to another.
1. Make sure the capacity of the target SSD is larger than the used space of the source SSD.
2. The format and partitioning of the target SSD should be the same as that of the source disk to avoid compatibility error issues.
3. If you intend to manually move part of the data from the source SSD to another disk, you need to pay attention to the paths and names of the files, otherwise there will be duplicates or conflicts.
4. Usually professional tools or software are the best choice to clone SSD data, if you do it manually it will easily damage your data or system.
As we emphasized earlier, since Windows doesn't come with any built-in disk cloning features, if you want to easily migrate an entire SSD, then you need to choose a reliable third-party cloning software first so that you can keep your original system, apps, files, settings, etc. without reinstalling or reconfigure them.
CloneGo is a full-featured migration and cloning tool that can efficiently and securely copy all the data on the source SSD to the target SSD, including the system, applications, and files. In addition, it provides options for system cloning and partition cloning.
Step 1: Connect the new SSD to your computer and make sure it can be detected by Windows.
Step 2: Click to download and install iSunshare CloneGo on your computer, which supports most of the systems like Windows 11/10/8/7/XP. Then run the software.
Step 3: Click "Disk Clone" option, and then select the source disk and target disk. If you only want to move Windows OS or a certain partition, then select "Copy" option.
Click "Start" and then the software will prompt you that this operation will format the data on the new SSD, click "Yes" to confirm to start the cloning process.
Step 4: Wait patiently for the cloning process to complete, do not interrupt or shut down your computer or software in the meantime, otherwise your data or system may be damaged.
Step 5 (Optional): After completing the cloning, if you plan to keep the old SSD on your computer, you will need to go into the BIOS setup and set the new SSD as the first boot device, then reboot your computer. Conversely if you choose to uninstall the old SSD, you can access the data on the new SSD directly in Windows.
Microsoft has not included the ability to clone disks on Windows. But it provides a file backup tool - File History, which is a way of backing up some of the data of the Windows. You can use File History to backup/transfer some file data from your computer to another SSD when the source disk capacity on your computer warns you and easily restore it when needed.
Note: This method can only be used to transfer data in some folders (e.g. documents, videos, music, etc.) to another disk, not support to clone the whole SSD, and there are Windows version requirements.
Step 1: Connect the other SSD you want to use as the backup target to your computer, and then open "Settings", select "Update and Security" > "Files Backup".
Step 2: In the right navigation bar, you can see the option "Backup using File History", click "Add a driver" to select the new SSD as the target disk. If File History is not enabled, click the toggle button to activate it.
Step 3: Click "More options" to configure file history settings, such as backup frequency, save backup version, select backup folder and so on.
When everything is ready, click "Back up Now" to trigger a backup manually, or wait for the system to perform the backup automatically according to the frequency you configured.
Step 4: If you need to switch to another disk to store your backups, scroll to the bottom of the page and click "Stop using drive" to pause the current backup, then click "See advanced settings" to open the File History control panel. Here you can select a new disk as the destination disk to use for backup data.
Tip: Please refer to these solutions if Windows pops up the error message "File History does not recognize this drive".
For some users, manually copying and pasting data may be a more straightforward method that does not require the use of any tools or software throughout the process. This is a simple and effective way but it may require more maneuvering, and it is prone to some errors or omissions.
Step 1: Install or connect the new SSD to your computer and locate the files or folders on the source SSD that need to be copied.
Step 2: Open the target SSD, and paste these copied contents into the appropriate location.
Step 3: Repeat the above steps until you have completed the migration of all files.
There are several ways to transfer data from one SSD to another, but they are not all able to guarantee the integrity and security of data during the migration process. Compared with other methods, a professional cloning software can make you twice the effort with half the effort, such as CloneGo, which is a perfect helper for newbies who don't have any technical foundation to perfectly upgrade the old SSD to a new one.
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