How to Transfer OS to SSD Without Reinstalling Windows (Windows 11 Support）

Personal buyers and computer manufacturers are likely to choose SSD as a thinner, lighter, and faster alternative to HDD in recent years. Undoubtedly, SSD has become the trend of top-rank hard drive storage choices in 2019 and will be in the next few years. After investing some money in a new SSD, what are you going to do subsequently? Replace the old HDD with the new SSD, I guess. There is a way to transfer your Windows 7,8,10,11 installations to an SSD without reinstalling Windows. It's easier and more energy-efficient than fresh install OS, as long as your current operating system runs well and you don't need to install Windows OS on the SSD from scratch.

PreparationMake Everything Ready for Transferring OS to SSD

Most people are interested in finding a hard drive migration software to directly move OS from one hard drive to the other. It takes only a few steps but saves a great amount of time. Hence, if you're looking for a capable but easy-to-use OS migration software, think EaseUS Partition Master as a dependable and convenient choice. It can transfer OS from HDD/SSD to SSD without reinstalling Windows on your own.

Before we start officially, let's check some preparatory works. After getting ready with all the mentioned points, just begin right away with the procedure.

1. Connect or Install New SSD to PC

If you're using a desktop, you got many ways to connect a second solid-state drive to your computer.

• Install the SSD alongside your old hard drive in the same machine.
• Connect the SSD via a SATA-to-USB cable to your computer.
• Use an external hard drive enclosure for a connection.

Normally, laptop users prefer to use the two latter ways.

2. Clean Useless Large Files on Hard Drive

SSD is generally smaller than HDD, it's a great idea to release some disk space or clear up some system junk files before migrating OS to a new hard drive. You can tidy up your current hard drive by using the EaseUS CleanGenius.

It's easy and light to cleaning computer junk files & large files with the following steps:

Step 1. Download and install EaseUS Partition Master Suite.

Step 2. Click PC Cleaner and install EaseUS CleanGinus. Then, click "Cleanup" and click "Scan" to start cleaning up the system and make your PC as good as new.

Step 3. The software will scanning all over your computer to find idle data files that take a huge amount of disk space, you can select useless large files, system junk files and Windows invalid entries and click "Clean" to start system cleanup process.

Step 4. When the scan is complete, click "Done" to finish cleaning system junk files.

3. Back Up C Drive Data

It's a wise option to back up C drive data before OS migration. We can't expect everything goes safe and sound all the time, but we can arm ourselves with a complete backup. 

A simple Ctrl C + V or Windows backup software can both work for C drive data backup.

4. Download OS Migration Tool

This is the key step. Simply click the download button here and it only takes a few seconds to download the OS migration tool - EaseUS Partition Master.

After this, you may move the next part and learn how to transfer OS from HDD to SSD

ProcedureHow to Migrate/Transfer OS from HDD to SSD

Three tips on using EaseUS Partition Master in the right way:

• Select new SSD as the destination disk.
• All data on the SSD will be erased while moving the OS from HDD to SSD.
• The SSD can be smaller than the OS drive, but it must contain equal to or larger space than the used space in system C drive.

Now, let's have a look at how to migrate your Windows OS from HDD to SSD without reinstallation:

Note: The operation of migrating OS to SSD or HDD will delete and remove existing partitions and data on your target disk when there is not enough unallocated space on the target disk. If you saved important data there, back up them to an external hard drive in advance.

Step 1. Select "Clone" from the left menu. Select the "Migrate OS" and click "Next" to continue..

Step 2.  Select the target disk you want to clone. Click "Next".

Step 3. Click "Yes" after checking the warning message. The data and partitions on the target disk will be deleted. Make sure that you've backed up important data in advance. If not, do it now.

Step 4. Preview the layout of your target disk. You can also click the disk layout options to customize the layout of your target disk as you want. Then click "Start" to start migrating your OS to a new disk

Besides, you can also use EaseUS Partition Master to resize/move partition on SSD.

EaseUS Partition Master supports clone a disk in the sector by sector and file by file disk level. You can also use it to clone and upgrade MBR or GPT disk.

Follow UpBoot PC on SSD after OS Migration

IMPORTANT: Once you complete the OS migration process, remember to set new SSD as the boot drive.

There are two ways to handle the SSD after the OS transfer.

1. Remove Old OS HDD, Use SSD as Boot Drive on PC

This is an easy case. After migrating OS from the old drive to the new, this time take out the HDD and leave the cloned SSD as the boot disk. 

2. Set SSD as Boot Drive

Most PC and laptops all contain two disk slots - one hard drive slot and one SSD slot. Therefore, you can choose to use the SSD as a boot drive on your computer. 

Step 1. Restart PC and press F2/F8 or Del to enter BIOS.

Step 2. Move to the Boot section, set the new SSD as the boot drive.

Step 3. Save the changes and restart PC.

After this, your OS will automatically run from the new SSD and you'll experience a faster computer with better performance then.

Conclusion

On this page, we covered the whole process of how to migrate or transfer Windows OS from HDD to SSD without reinstalling Windows OS. EaseUS Partition Master with its Migrate OS to SSD feature makes everything easy for OS migration.

And don't forget to set the new SSD as the boot drive after moving OS. If you have further disk management needs, turn to EaseUS Partition Master for help. 

FAQs About Transfer OS from HDD to SSD

If you have further more questions on how to transfer OS from HDD to SSD, follow and find answers to these listed questions here:

1. Can I transfer Windows from HDD to SSD?

Yes, sure. You can transfer Windows from HDD to SSD with the help of reliable OS migration software such as EaseUS Partition Master. For a step-by-step guide, you can refer to the tutorial guide on this page for help.

2. How do I move my Windows 10 OS from HDD to SSD?

• Install SSD to Windows 10 and initialize SSD to the same disk type as the Windows 10 HDD - MBR or GPT.
• Launch EaseUS Partition Master, go to the "Clone" section and select "Migrate OS".
• Select the SSD as the destination disk and click "Next".
• Click "Yes" and "Execute Task".
• Once done, reboot PC and set the new SSD as boot drive in BIOS.
• Reboot PC to boot Windows 10 from the new SSD.

3. How to transfer OS from HDD to SSD free？

• Install the new SSD to the PC and initialize it to the same disk type as the source OS disk.
• Create at least two volumes on the SSD, and make sure the volume size is equal to or larger than the used space on the OS and system partitions.
• Launch EaseUS Partition Free, go to the Clone section and select "Copy partition".
• Select the System partition, select the new SSD as a destination, and start cloning.
• Select the OS partition and select another volume on SSD as the destination and clone.
• Then, set the new SSD as the boot drive.

4. Is it good to migrate OS from HDD to SSD?

Yes, sure. As we know, SSD is faster in reading and writing data than HDD. And SSD is also lighter and more quite. Migrating the OS from HDD to SSD will help to improve the OS and the installed programs' performance greatly on Windows computers.