[Free] How to Clone A Hard Drive on Windows 11 without Data Loss

Why clone a hard drive on Windows 11?

More and more users upgrade from Windows 10 to Windows 11 after Microsoft officially released it. For different reasons, users may clone a hard drive on Windows 11. Here are some common reasons why you might want to clone a hard drive:

◥ Data Backup and Redundancy. Cloning your hard drive creates an exact replica of all data, including the operating system, applications, files, and settings. This serves as a backup in case your primary drive fails, ensuring you have a duplicate copy of everything.
◥ Replace the current hard drive with a new one. When you're running out of space on your current hard drive, you might want to replace the hard drive with SSD for better performance. Cloning allows you to seamlessly transfer all your data and settings to the new drive, avoiding the need to reinstall the operating system and applications.   

Can I clone a hard drive on Windows 11? Yes, you can clone a hard drive with a free and professional disk cloner. Please read the following contents to learn more useful information.

How to clone a hard drive on Windows 11 easily and safely

To clone a hard drive successfully, what you need most is a trusted disk clone tool. Here, I think you should try AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, which is a freeware that can clone HDD or SSD without losing data. And the cloned drive can be worked well. It has these highlights:

✦ It promises 100% safe downloads and does not carry any bundled software.
✦ It supports 2 different cloning methods: Sector-by-sector clone or cloning only used space.
✦ It provides the graphical user interface that is friendly to all-level users.
✦ It has many advanced features, such as, resize/format/create/merge partition, wipe hard drive, convert MBR to GPT, and more. 

★Tips:

If you need to clone a hard drive including OS drive, you should switch to Professional Edition.

For Windows Server users, please upgrade to AOMEI Partition Assistant Server, which is designed for Windows Server 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012, 2008, 2003.

How to clone a hard drive on Windows 11 for free

Now, I will show you how to clone a hard drive on Windows 11 step by step.

▶ Step 1. Preparation of cloning a hard drive

① Make sure you have connected or installed the new hard drive to the Windows 11.

② Please initialize the disk, and set the partition style (MBR or GPT) as the same as the source drive.

③ Clean up the old hard drive and delete unnecessary files to shorten the cloning time (if available).

▶ Step 2. The process of cloning a hard drive

First, install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, and you can finish the cloning according to the following steps:

① Select the target hard drive, click "Clone" and “Clone Disk” at the top interface in turn.

② Then, choose one disk clone method according to your requirements, and click “Next”.

③ Now, select the destination disk, and you can tick “Optimize the performance of SSD” if it is an SSD. Then click “Next” to continue.

④ Here, you can edit partitions on the new hard drive. Also, you can keep the defaults and click on “Next”.

⑤ Finally, click “Apply” on the main interface to generate the operations.

▶ Step 3. After cloning a hard drive

If it cloned the system hard drive, and there is only one slot, you can boot Windows from the new hard drive after changing the old one. But if you want to keep both the old hard drive and the new hard drive, you should change the boot drive.

● Shut down your computer: Make sure your computer is turned off before proceeding.

● Connect the cloned hard drive: Replacing the old drive with the cloned one or by connecting the cloned drive as an additional drive.

● Access UEFI Settings: Restart your computer and enter the UEFI settings. You typically need to press a specific key (e.g., F2, F10, Delete) during the startup process to access these settings. The key varies depending on your computer's manufacturer.

● Set the cloned drive as the boot device: In the UEFI settings, navigate to the "Boot" or "Boot Option" section. Select the cloned hard drive as the primary boot device. Ensure that it's listed before any other drives. Save the changes and exit the BIOS/UEFI settings.

● Restart your computer: After saving the changes, your computer will restart. It should now boot from the cloned hard drive.

FAQs about clone a hard drive on Windows 11

Here are some frequently asked questions about clone a hard drive on Windows 11 that you can refer to:

◥ What is hard drive cloning, and why would I need to do it on Windows 11?

A: Hard drive cloning is the process of creating an exact copy of one hard drive onto another. This is useful for data backup, system migration, upgrading to a larger drive, or quickly restoring your system in case of a failure.

◥ What do I need to clone a hard drive on Windows 11?

A: You'll need a destination hard drive with sufficient space to accommodate the data from the source drive. In addition, you'll also need cloning software, such as AOMEI Partition Assistant, which can be downloaded from the link.

◥ How to clone Windows 11 to another new hard drive?

A: You can clone your entire Windows 11 operating system to a new hard drive by "Clone Disk" feature of AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. This includes the OS, applications, files, and settings.

◥ What happens after the cloning process is complete?

A: Once the cloning is done, you can shut down your computer, replace the old drive with the newly cloned drive, and boot up. Your system should start normally with all data and settings intact.

◥ Do I need to activate Windows 11 again after cloning?

A: In most cases, Windows 11 should remain activated after cloning. However, if you encounter activation issues, you might need to reactivate using your product key.

Remember that these FAQs provide a general overview. Be sure to consult the help articles provided with AOMEI Partition Assistant for detailed step-by-step instructions tailored to your specific situation.

Conclusion

In this page, I have shown you how to clone a hard drive on Windows 11. With AOMEI Partition Assistant, you can clone disk or partition on Windows 11/10/8/7 easily and safely. If you are about to replace your hard drive but don't know what to do, following the steps provided in the tutorial is definitely a good idea.