How to Transfer Data from Laptop to External Hard Drive in Windows 11/10/8/7

When it comes to migrating data from your laptop to an external drive, manually copying and pasting may first come to your mind. However, if there are a larger amount of data needs to be transferred, the manual method leaves much to be desired.

Imagine a simple and quick way to move all files from laptop to external hard drive without losing anything. This article from EaseUS will elaborate on how to transfer data from laptop to external hard drive in detail. Hurry up and learn.

Why Transfer Files from Laptop to External Hard Drive

The hard disk works to store and transfer files. An external hard drive works just like a traditional internal hard disk but in an external format. The external hard drive has a large user base because it usually has greater capacity than the internal one. It can help store data when a laptop's or PC's internal drive is full or when you want to back up important files, so you need to transfer them to an external hard disk.

So, here comes a question: Can you move all data from a laptop to an external disk? The answer is in the affirmative. You can migrate data from your laptop or PC to an external drive, and there are different ways to do so.

For instance, you can manually copy and paste data from your laptop to an external disk, and you can also try disk cloning software to help you move everything from your laptop to external drives. In the next part, you can learn how to transfer all data from laptop to external hard drives.

How to Transfer Data from Laptop to External Hard Disk

Theoretically, your data is stored on your laptop's hard disk, so, to move data from laptop or PC to an external drive means transferring data between hard drives. Let's see how in detail.

Method 1. Use Disk Cloning Software

To transfer data from your laptop to an external disk, the best and easiest way is to apply disk cloning software because cloning can help you transfer everything from one hard drive to another without data loss or move Windows to another drive without reinstalling Windows.

All you need to do is find a reliable and efficient disk cloning tool and use a USB-to-SATA cable or hard drive enclosure to connect the external disk to your laptop. To this end, EaseUS Disk Copy can help you transfer all data from laptop to external hard drive at once.

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It is a dedicated disk cloning program for Windows PCs to clone systems, disks, partitions, etc., and transfer data from one SSD to another. With EaseUS disk cloning software, you can even transfer data from dead laptop to external hard drives as long as your HDD or SSD works and transfer files from old hard drive to new computer to build a new PC.

EaseUS disk clone software can help you resize the disk partitions when performing cloning and create a WinPE boot disk to start up your new PC. It can also transfer data from one laptop to another using/without external hard drive. Just download it on your computer and use it to transfer data:

Before cloning:

• If your computer has only one slot, connect the target disk to your machine via a USB-to-SATA/NVMe adapter.
• If your computer has an extra slot, install the target disk into the empty slot properly, and make sure it is compatible.

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Disk Copy and choose Disk Mode.

Install EaseUS Disk Copy cloning software on your Windows computer, then launch it and select Disk Mode from the left panel.

Step 2. Select the source drive.

Select the drive you want to copy, then click Select.

Step 3. Choose the target disk.

Choose the disk that you want to clone data to, and click Select. Note that the used space of the source disk should be less than the target disk capacity.

*At this step, you can also click the option "Save as an image file" to store your disk as a compressed image file, which can be restored without any data loss.

Step 4. Adjust disk layout.

Specify the target disk layout as your preference. You can choose among:

• Autofit the disk: makes some changes by default on the destination disk layout so that it can work at its best.
• Copy as the source: create a 1-to-1 copy of your source disk; the layout is the same as the source disk.
• Edit disk layout: allows you to manually resize/move the partition layout on this destination disk.

*If the target disk is an SSD, the option "Auto-alignment to 4K" will be checked automatically to optimize the performance of your SSD.

Step 5. Start cloning.

Click Proceed, and a message will appear, warning you that data will be lost. Confirm the message by clicking Continue.

Now, it will start executing the cloning task.

*The time it takes to clone a hard drive depends on how much data is on the source disk, and it will also be affected by the disk types, USB connection, etc.

Share this article on your social media to help others transfer data from a laptop to an external drive.

Method 2. Manually Copy Files to an External Hard Drive

When transferring files between 2 hard drives, most people usually use the copy-paste method. That is, copy all files from the laptop's hard disk and paste them onto the external hard drive.

However, it is rather time-consuming since you need to access each partition to copy all files. Worse still, there is a great possibility that data, especially boot files, may be lost in the transferring process, and the target disk cannot boot. So, using Method 1 is preferred. Here are the detailed steps to copy and paste data from laptop to external hard drives:

Step 1. Connect the external hard disk to your laptop via a USB docking station or an external HDD enclosure.

Step 2. Go to File Explorer and then find the external disk.

Step 3. Go to every laptop's disk partition, highlight all folders and files, and press Ctrl + C to copy them all at once.

Step 4. Click on a blank space in the external drive's window, then press Ctrl + V to paste the folders and files.

Step 5. Repeat the transferring process until you have moved all of the data from the laptop to the external drive.

Method 3. Move Files from Laptop to External Hard Drive via CMD

If you don't want to use disk clone software or try the manual method, you can utilize CMD to transfer files from your laptop to an external hard drive. XCOPY and Robocopy can help copy the folder, all its content, and subfolders. You need to run CMD as an administrator. However, this method requires advanced computer skills, and the default copy does not copy subfolders.

You can refer to the following articles to copy your files from your laptop to an external disk:

To Wrap Things Up

This article tells you how to transfer data from laptop to external hard drive. You can try the disk cloning software, manually copy and paste, and use CMD to transfer everything from laptop to external hard drive Windows 10 or Windows 11.

If you prefer to move files to external hard drive without copying, data loss, or waste of time, just try EaseUS Disk Copy to clone laptop hard drive to external hard drives. This can ensure a faster and more secure data transfer between hard drives. Just download and try it now!

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How to Transfer Everything From Laptop to External Hard Drive FAQs

1. How do I back up my entire laptop to an external hard drive?

To back up your whole laptop to an external hard drive, you can use professional backup software like EaseUS Todo Backup to back up your computer to an external disk. You can also try HDD cloning software like EaseUS Disk Copy to clone your laptop to an external drive.

2. Is it OK to use external hard drive on laptop?

Yes, external hard drives work for laptops as long as the connection is compatible. Most of them use USB C to connect to the laptop.

3. How do I transfer everything from my old computer to my new computer in Windows 10?

To transfer everything from one computer to another, simply disconnect the hard drive from the new computer, connect it to your old PC, and use disk clone software like EaseUS Disk Copy or Clonezilla to clone your old disk to a new one.