Is Using An External Hard Drive a Good Way to Back Up My Data?
I plan to back up and save a copy of all the data on my Windows 11 laptop. However I am still struggling with what to use to store backups. Is external hard drives a good choice? What do you guys use?
Best Answered by
Larissa· Answered on Jan 21, 2026
Of course, it is. External hard drives are definitely a great way to back up and store your data. Here are the reasons why most people recommend external hard drive:
- Portable and lightweight. External hard drives are portable and simple to carry around, making them an ideal backup solution. You can quickly link them to various computers or devices for backup purposes.
- Simple accessibility. You have direct access to your backed-up files when you use an external hard disk. You can rapidly access individual files or folders without requiring an internet connection or cloud storage services.
- Physically separate. Saving backups on an external hard drive will physically separate the backup and original digital data, which protects the safety of the backups well, even if your computer is destroyed or can’t boot successfully.
- Wide compatibility. Almost all hard drives are compatible with each operating system, and you can use them on Windows OS, macOS, and Linux OS.
- Cost-effective. External hard drives are much more cost-effective than cloud services and NAS. Once you buy it, you can use it any time you want, and generally, a normal hard drive has a service life of 10-15 years.
EaseUS Todo Backup is one of the most popular tools to back up computer data to an external hard drive. It allows you to back up multiple sources, including files, folders, disks, and APP data, and you can even use it to create a system image.
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Backing up data to an external hard drive only requires several simple clicks with EaseUS Todo Backup:
Step 1. Connect the external hard drive to your computer.
Step 2. Launch EaseUS Todo Backup, and click Create Backup.
Step 3. Select the content you want to back up, File, OS, Disk, and APP data four options are available.
Step 4. Select the external hard drive as the target location, and click Backup Now to start the process.
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