How to Clone HDD to SSD in Windows 11 and Make It Bootable? A Complete Guide for 2024

• Question: Can I clone my operating system and data from an HDD to an SSD?
• Answer: Yes, you can.

For beginners: This page will show you how to easily clone your hard drive to an SSD in Windows 11 without losing any data. If it's the system drive, you won't even need to reinstall the operating system.

Want a quick guide on how to clone HDD to SSD in Windows 11? Follow this page and let's get started:

How to Clone HDD to SSD in Windows 11

When it comes to upgrading your computer's hard drive, what springs to mind? Here are two questions you might be pondering:

How do I clone my current hard drive to an SSD and make it bootable?

2. What tools do I need to clone HDD to SSD in Windows 11?

Note that as long as the SSD has equal or greater storage capacity than the original hard drive, you can copy everything on the hard drive to the new SSD.

Follow these guidelines, and you'll successfully upgrade your hard drive to an SSD on your Windows 11 computer:

• #1. Download and Install a Hard Drive Cloning Software
• #2. Install and Initialize the New SSD
• #3. Clone HDD to SSD and Make It Bootable in Windows 11

If your SSD is a used drive, back up its data to another location beforehand.

Guide 1: Download and install the Windows 11 Disk Clone Software

Tool: Partition Master

DURATION: 1 minute

Note that there are many disk cloning software on the web, and we recommend you try AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. It is not only a disk cloning software, but also a comprehensive hard disk partition management tool.

You can click here to download the software for free:

Guide 2: Installing and Initializing a New SSD in Windows 11

Notice: If you plan on copying your hard drive to a used SSD, you can skip this section and proceed directly to Guide 3 to begin the disk cloning process.

However, if you plan to use a new SSD, make sure it's correctly installed in your computer and initialize it by following these steps:

Step 1: Use a screwdriver to open your computer case.

Computer use is second, laptop use is first.

Step 2: Install the SSD in your computer.

For a SATA SSD, connect it to your computer with a power cable and a SATA cable.

For an M.2/NVMe SSD, slide it into the SSD slot and secure it with the screw.

Be careful when inserting the SSD into its slot. Otherwise, it might not work properly on your device. Sharing this guide with pictures to help more users.

Step 3: Close up the computer case, and then restart your computer.

Step 4. When Windows 11 starts, press Windows + R, type diskmgmt.msc, and hit Enter to open Disk Management.

5. Right-click the new SSD and select “Initialize Disk,” then choose either “MBR” or “GPT” as the disk type.

Note that the disk type on the SSD should be the same as the source drive. If Windows 11 is installed on the source drive, set the type to GPT.

Guide 3: Clone HDD to SSD and Make It Bootable in Windows 11

Now you can start cloning HDD to SSD in Windows 11. The process will be done with the help of a free disk cloning software - AOMEI Partition Assistant:

1. Clone Hard Drive to SSD

Step 1: Select the source disk.

1. Navigate to the "Clone" tab, click on "Clone System Disk" or "Clone Data Disk," then click "Next" to proceed.
2. Select the source disk that you wish to copy or clone, then click "Next."

Select the disk that you want to copy

Step 2. Select the target disk.

Select your desired HDD/SSD as the destination, then click “Next” to proceed.

Review the warning, and then click Yes to confirm.

Step 3: Choose your clone mode.

You can choose to "Adapt to disk automatically" or "Clone source disk size" to customize the disk layout.

Click “Start” to begin the cloning process.

2. Make a Cloned SSD Bootable in Windows 11

If the old drive contains your operating system—Windows 11—you'll need to follow the steps in this article to make the cloned SSD bootable.

Step 1: Restart the computer and press F2/F10/DEL to enter BIOS.

Step 2: Enter the boot menu and, in the Boot Priority section, set the new SSD as the boot drive.

Step 3: Press F10 to save all changes and restart the computer.

After that, you should see Windows 11 booting successfully from the new SSD.

Tips for Using an Old Hard Drive in Windows 11

After cloning your hard drive to an SSD in Windows 11, you might wonder what to do with your old disk.

Here, you have two options:

• 1. Sell it.
• 2. Use it as an external hard drive.

Wipe and securely dispose of old hard drives

Before selling a hard drive, you'll need to wipe and erase all its contents. The Wipe feature in Partition Master can help with that:

We have two options for clearing your data. Please choose the one you need.

Option 1: Erase the partition

• Right-click the partition you want to wipe and choose “Wipe”. • In the new window, set the time you want to wipe the partition, then click “OK”. • Click “Perform 1 task” at the bottom right to apply the changes, then click “Apply”.

Option 2: Erase disk

Select HDD/SSD, then right-click "Erase Disk." Choose the number of times you want to overwrite the data. (Up to 10 times.) Then click "OK." Click "Perform 1 Task" and then click "Apply."

Erasing and Reusing Old Hard Drives

To use the old hard drive as a data drive, you can use a tool like Partition Master to delete all partitions on it and repartition it, following a guide like this one:

To delete all partitions:

< strong > Step 1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant and then click "Partition Management".

Before deleting any partitions on the disk, make sure you have backed up important data.

Step 2: Choose to delete the partition on the hard drive or delete all partitions.

• Delete a partition: Right-click the partition you want to delete, and then select "Delete." • Delete all partitions: Right-click the hard drive from which you want to delete all partitions, and then select "Delete All."

Step 3: Click OK to confirm the deletion.

Step 4: Click on "Run Task xx", and then click "Apply" to save the changes.

0:00 - 0:26 Remove a single volume; 0:27 - 0:53 Remove all partitions.

如何分区硬盘:

It's easy to clone an HDD to an SSD in Windows 11, and you should upgrade your drive now.

This page offers a complete and straightforward guide on how to clone HDD to SSD without boot issues in Windows 11.

If you're new to this, stay with me and you can use the Partition Master tool to assist you in completely migrating your computer's hard drive to the new SSD. Aside from disk cloning, you can also use the software to wipe your old drive clean for resale or other purposes.

In short, the process of cloning HDD to SSD in Windows 11 is pretty simple, and you can do it yourself. Now follow the guide to upgrade your computer's hard drive. If you plan to keep both HDD and SSD on your computer, you can also use this software to migrate OS from HDD to SSD without reinstalling Windows 11.

Frequently Asked Questions About Cloning Windows 11 Disk to SSD

We've gathered some popular topics. If you're interested, follow and find the answers here:

1. Can I clone Windows 11 to SSD for free?

Yes, but for that, you would need third-party disk cloning software. Tools like the free Partition Master Free, which has a feature to copy partitions, can help you clone Windows 11 to an SSD for free. Afterward, you would need to configure the BCD boot settings to ensure the operating system is bootable.

① If your computer uses the traditional BIOS boot mode, type the following:

These two commands are used to set the BCD (Boot Configuration Data) store to boot the default operating system from the D: partition. Replace "x:" with the actual letter of your system drive: ```markdown bcdedit /store x:\boot\bcd /set {default} device partition=d: bcdedit /store x:\boot\bcd /set {default} osdevice partition=d: ``` Make sure to adjust "x:" with the correct drive letter where your Windows installation is located.

② If your computer uses the UEFI boot mode, type the following command:

These are two BCDEdit commands used to modify the Boot Configuration Data (BCD) store. In these examples: - The first command sets the default boot entry's device to the D: partition. - The second command sets the operating system device to the D: partition. Make sure to replace "x:" with the actual drive letter of the EFI System Partition and "d:" with the drive letter of the partition where your Windows installation is located.

2. Does Windows 11 Have Disk Cloning Software?

No, just like Windows 10/8/7, Windows 11 indeed comes with built-in system backup utilities and disk management tools. However, it lacks cloning software. To clone Windows 11 or the entire disk, you'll need to turn to reliable disk cloning software. A tool like Disk Partition Master can help with its cloning feature.

How to Migrate Windows 11 to SSD for Free?

1. Install the new SSD as a second hard drive in your computer. 2. Initialize the SSD with the same type as your Windows 11 operating system disk - either MBR or GPT. 3. Create two partitions on the SSD. 4. Launch the Partition Master tool and click on "Clone" followed by "Clone Partition." 5. Select the operating system volume as the source, choose the SSD as the target, and then click "Execute Task." 6. Repeat this process to copy the system volume to the other partition on the SSD. 7. Modify the Windows 11 boot configuration to load the boot information from the new system volume on the SSD. 8. Configure your computer to boot from the new drive.

4. Can I clone only Windows to SSD?

Yes, you can. By using the "Migrate OS to HDD/SSD" or "Clone Partition" feature in the tool Partition Master, you can easily clone Windows only to an SSD. You may refer to this guide for the operation: Migrate OS to SSD.