How to Transfer Data from HDD to SSD Drive in Windows 11/10/8/7?

Help! How to transfer data from hard drive to SSD

So I just got my SSD in the mail but sadly my dad (who recommended it and was going to help me install it) isn't going to be home for the holidays. I wanna give it a shot myself though, though it'll be my first time. Do you guys know how to transfer HDD to SSD? Also can I keep the hard drive in my computer for additional storage? Thanks a lot!

Why move files from HDD to SSD?

These days, a growing number of individuals are favoring the migration of data, encompassing operational and personal files, from HDD (Hard Disk Drive) to SSD (Solid State Drive). This preference stems from various compelling factors.

◤ The faster speed offered by SSDs. With faster read and write speed compared to traditional hard drives, transferring data to an SSD results in noticeably swifter system performance and booting times, thereby elevating the overall user experience.
◤ Less energy consumption. SSDs exhibit a significant advantage in terms of energy efficiency. By consuming less power, these drives contribute to prolonged battery life, proving beneficial for individuals who depend on portable devices.
◤ Better user experience. The absence of moving parts in SSDs leads to quieter operation, contributing to a more pleasant user experience by minimizing disruptive noise levels.
◤ Durability. It is a notable strength of SSDs. Outperforming HDDs in this aspect, solid-state drives offer increased resistance to physical shocks and mechanical failures, ensuring greater data integrity and longevity.

In conclusion, the shift towards SSD adoption is motivated by the promise of superior speed, energy efficiency, user experience, and durability, making it a compelling choice for data transfer and storage solutions.

How to transfer data from HDD to SSD in Windows 11/10/8/7?

Installing a solid-state drive is one of the most effective ways to speed up your computer because it is much faster in reading and writing, quieter during working and more durable than traditional hard disk drive (more details can be found in the table below). So it is a wise choice to replace your old HDD with an SSD drive to make your computer work better. However, how to transfer data from hard drive to SSD? Today, we would like to introduce two ways to do this job in Windows 11/10/8/7.

Way 1. Move data from HDD to SSD using “Copy and Paste” 

When it comes to migrating data from HDD to SSD drive, most users might think about “copy & paste” first of all, which is a traditional way of moving data between different hard drives. To do that, you have to right-click the files and choose the “Copy” or “Cut” option, go to your SSD partition and right-click a blank space to choose the “Paste” option.

For moving a small amount of data to SSD, that could be a nice method. What if you need to transfer a large amount of data or the files are in different directories in one partition? What if the “Copy and Paste” function does not work? Moreover, some pasted system files or program files cannot work as they did before. Therefore, we prepare another method to show you how to move files from SSD to HDD.

Way 2. Transfer data from HDD to SSD via disk clone

To move mass data (including programs, videos, images, documents, music, etc.) from HDD to SSD, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional provides a secure, easy, and fast way. You can use it to migrate files to SSD by cloning your old HDD to SSD drive through the following two different clone methods. 

1. Clone Disk Quickly: only copy the used space to another disk, so you can copy a larger disk to a smaller disk in this method.
2. Sector-by-Sector Clone: copy all sectors of the disk to a target disk no matter it is used or not. This method can copy the deleted or lost files.

No matter which method you choose, you can optimize the SSD performance in the disk cloning operation. Moreover, after migration, the OS or programs can start up successfully. You can also use the tool to transfer only one or multiple apps from SSD to HDD. 

Now please download the Demo version and learn how to transfer data from HDD to SSD through the cloning method.

Before proceeding:
√ Connect the destination SSD drive to a Windows computer and make sure it is detected successfully. If you are using a laptop with only room for one drive, you might need a SATA-to-USB adapter.
√ Back up everything you need on the SSD drive since all data will be deleted from it during the cloning process.
√ You can delete some unnecessary files or applications from the HDD in advance to make it smaller to fit the target SSD drive better.

Step 1. Open the installed AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, click "Clone" in the main interface, and select "Clone Disk".

Step 2. Choose the hard disk that you need to clone as the source disk like SSD and click "Next".

Step 3. Select the destination disk to store the data on the source disk, and then click "Next".

Step 4. Then, you can check the source and destination disk in the next window or change to "Sector to Sector clone", and click the "Confirm" button to continue if there is no problem.

Here, you can also click the "Settings" button to adjust the partition size on the destination disk or tick "4k alignment" to Optimize the performance of SSD if the target disk is an SSD drive. 

Tip: If you want to clone Windows to a smaller drive, the "Clone without resizing partitions"  button will be greyed out. Then, a Note about how to boot OS from the destination disk will pop up. Read and keep it in mind.

 Step 5. After returning to the main interface, check the pending operation and click "Apply" and "Proceed" to commit the operation.

How do I transfer Windows 10 from HDD to SSD?

The above demonstration is based on transferring all data from non-system hard drive to SSD drive. But I have found many users are asking: “how do I move Windows 10 from HDD to SSD?”.

Actually, you just need to choose the system disk as the source disk and follow the instruction. If you want to only transfer Windows 10 partition to SSD drive, not all partitions, you can try the “Migrate OS to SSD Wizard”, which can move only Windows 10/8/7 volume to another hard drive without boot issue.

For transferring Windows 10 from HDD to SSD drive, you need to note:
1. If you are planning to clone system MBR disk to GPT SSD drive, you need to ensure your motherboard supports EFI/UEFI boot mode, or you can first convert GPT into MBR before cloning.
2. After cloning, you need to restart your computer, enter the BIOS environment and change boot order to boot computer from destination disk.

FAQs about how to transfer data from HDD to SSD

Can I switch from HDD to SSD without losing data?

Generally speaking, you will lose your files on the HDD if you directly change from an HDD to an SSD. This is because switching from HDD to SSD is not like RAM: you remove one chip and insert another, and when you power on it, everything is OK.

But if you choose to clone your HDD to SSD with a professional data cloning software tool like AOMEI Partition Assistant, you can keep everything on the HDD. 

How do I transfer files from HDD to NVMe SSD?

For a swift transfer of files from your HDD to an NVMe SSD, you can utilize the following steps:

Step 1. Begin by accessing the location of your HDD drive. Once there, carefully select the specific files you wish to transfer. With the desired files highlighted, right-click on them, and choose the "Copy" or "Cut" option from the context menu.

Step 2. Now, navigate to the location of your NVMe SSD drive. Once you've reached the desired destination, right-click within the SSD drive and then select the "Paste" option. This action will facilitate the successful transfer of the chosen files from the HDD to the NVMe SSD.

How to clone my hard drive to SSD Windows 10?

A convenient and straightforward approach to clone hard drives to an SSD on Windows 10 involves using AOMEI Partition Assistant. Here's a step-by-step guide on how to accomplish this:

Step 1.Launch the AOMEI Partition Assistant software and access the "Clone" section from the main interface. Within this section, select the "Clone Disk" option, and then proceed by clicking "Next."

Step 2. At this stage, you will be presented with various cloning methods. Make your desired selection, and designate the target SSD as the destination for the cloning process. Once you've made these choices, click "Next" to proceed further.

Step 3.Before initiating the cloning operation, you have the option to edit the size of your destination partition on the SSD. Once you're satisfied with your adjustments, click "Next" to begin the cloning process.

Summary

In this article, we have shown how to transfer data from HDD to SSD in Windows via two different methods. Hope you can find the best way to do the job. AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional does not only support transferring data from HDD to SSD but also supports moving data from HDD to HDD or SSD to SSD. Besides that, AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro also allows you to clone partitions to SSD.

To perform cloning tasks in Windows Server such as cloning Windows Server 2016, 2019, 2022, 2012, etc to SSD/HDD, you can try AOMEI Partition Assistant Server instead.