Simple & Safe Way to Clone Windows 11 to SSD

Can I clone Windows 11 to SSD?

Why users want to clone Windows 11 to SSD

SSD (Solid State Drive) is a kind of storage devices, it uses integrated circuit components to store data persistently, usually in the form of flash memory. Compared with the HDD, it has the following advantages:

✔ Faster reads and writes: SSD will load files faster, and reduces the time to start up your PC.
✔ Less noise: Because it has no moving parts, it generates less heat and makes less noise, so you can enjoy a relatively quiet computer working environment.
✔ More Durable: Since SSD doesn’t have tiny moving parts, such as spinning platters (which can be easily damaged in HDD), it can effectively resist vibration and shock.
✔ Smaller: The size of SSD is smaller than that of HDD.

As same as the scenario we mentioned above, there are many users want to clone Windows 11 to SSD. Some users want to replace their old HDD with a new SSD for better performance. Some users want to upgrade a small SSD to a larger one for much more storage space. As only as you don’t want to reinstall Windows OS, clone Windows 11 to SSD should be the best way.

Powerful cloning software for cloning Windows 11

How to clone Windows 11 to SSD? Since there is no official feature available on Windows 11 for doing this, cloning Windows 11 to new SSD without any data loss becomes a very challenging task. If you want to clone Windows 11 safely and smoothly, using cloning software can help a lot.

We highly recommend AOMEI Partition Assistant, a comprehensive disk management tool that allows you to clone Windows 11 and keep your hard drive in the top condition. The feature “Migrate OS to SSD” creates an exact copy of your current operating system including boot files. During Windows 11 cloning process, you can resize partition on the destination disk, or you can manage the hard disk space after the system migration. Besides, there are many advantages of using AOMEI Partition Assistant:

• Its interface is bright and clear, even if you are a computer beginner, you can easily complete the operation under the detailed guidance.
• If you want to migrate the entire hard drive to a new SSD, including Windows OS, system-related files, and other data, you can also try "Clone Disk".
• It provides a disk-wiping feature, which can help you clean up your old drive.
• The hot clone technology allows users to clone Windows 11 without closing the computer.

Download this powerful disk clone tool to quickly clone Windows 11 to SSD.

Preparations before cloning Windows 11 to SSD

Before you clone HDD to SSD on Windows 11, make sure SSD is properly installed and initialized on your computer. If you don't know how to do it, please read the detailed steps below:

✎ Back up your data. Before making any changes, it’s crucial to back up your data to prevent data loss from unexpected situations.

✎ Open your computer case with a screwdriver and install the new SSD into your computer. (If your computer is a desktop, you can install SSD directly, if it’s a laptop, you should prepare a SATA to USB adapter.)

✎ Initialize SSD to GPT partition style if this is new.

✎ If your SSD is MBR partition style, you need to convert MBR to GPT in advance, because Windows 11 only supports boot from UEFI boot mode.

│Step by step: How to clone Windows 11 to SSD

After installing and initializing the SSD, let’s see how to clone Windows 11 to SSD.

Warnings: 
✍ The free space on the destination drive must be larger than the migrated data, or the migration will fail.
✍ Please ensure that the power connection is stable, otherwise the cloning process may be interrupted due to power failure.

Step 1. Install and open AOMEI Partition Assistant. Click "Clone"> "Migrate OS" in the top panel.

Step 2. “Migrate OS” will select the system-related files by default, and here you should confirm whether the system information is correct. If it is, click Next to the next step.

Step 3. Choose the SSD as the destination disk.

If there is any data on the destination disk, it will pop out a warning window to remind you that the data on the destination disk will be destroyed. If essential data is on the target disk, please back up it in advance. Click Yes to continue.

Step 4. Then, You will come to the page where you need to confirm the operations of cloning OS to new hard drive.

During the process, you can click Settings to adjust the partition size on the destination disk.

Or you can manage your hard disk drive space after cloning. click Save, and click Next.

│How to boot Windows 11 from the cloned SSD

After the OS migration process is complete, you should boot your computer from the cloned SSD to verify that Windows 11 is installed and functioning correctly. Follow the steps here to make the newly cloned SSD bootable:

Step 1. Restart the computer and repeatedly press F1/F2/F3/F5/Esc key to enter the UEFI setup.

Step 2. Turn to the Boot Menu, set the new SSD as the boot drive in the boot priority section.

Step 3. Press "F10" to save your new set.

Once you’ve confirmed that the new SSD is working properly, you can delete the old Windows 11 system partition, or remove the whole old HDD/SSD from your computer.

Further Tip: Wipe the old drive for reuse

When you finished cloning Windows 11 to SSD, you may decide to throw away the old drive or use it as a data disk. If you want to reuse the old disk, you can follow the steps to securely wipe your old hard drive:

Step 1. Open AOMEI Partition Assistant, right-click the target hard drive and click "Wipe Hard Drive". ( If the disk that will be wiped is an SSD, you should choose SSD Secure Erase to wipe your SSD without hurting).

Step 2. Select the disk that needs to be wiped, and click OK.

Step 3. Choose the wiping methods according to your requirements. 

Step 4. Click Apply to execute the wiping operation.

Conclusion

In this article, we have introduced how to clone Windows 11 to SSD via AOMEI Partition Assistant. As many users would meet the problem of “cloned SSD won't boot”, we also shared the detailed operation to boot from the cloned SSD. Hope this post can help you to solve your problem.

As we mentioned above, AOMEI Partition Assistant is also a powerful disk management tool that allows you to resize partition, create partition flexibly, format partition easily, and it also allows you to create a Windows-to-go USB drive, so you can boot your OS on any computer, anywhere.

By the way, if you are a Windows Server user, you can try the Server Version. Also, if you want multiple people to use the tool at the same time, go to the Unlimited Version.