But for best results, upgrade your drive
If you need more storage on your laptop, an internal storage upgrade gives you the fastest possible storage speed. Modern laptops generally use NVMe M.2 SSDs, capable of hitting 3,500 MB/s with a PCIe 3.0 drive and 7,000 MB/s with a PCIe 4.0 drive.
By comparison, the fastest USB 3.0 external drives top out around 500 MB/s and the latest USB4 or Thunderbolt 4 external SSDs can almost reach 2,800 MB/s. Meanwhile, typical SD cards and USB flash drives usually deliver speeds below 200 MB/s.
If you’re gaming, editing 4K video, or otherwise dealing with large files, you’re going to want to switch out your existing drive for a large-capacity high-end SSD. It’s not for everyone, though. Even if you’re comfortable opening up your laptop, it may not be designed for easy SSD upgrades, especially if it’s a thin-and-light “ultrabook” laptops. (Gaming laptops and business-oriented machines are often easier to upgrade.)
Chris Hoffman / Foundry
To see if your laptop’s internal storage can be upgraded, check the manufacturer’s website for a specification sheet or service manual. It’ll often say if the drive is replaceable or if it’s soldered on — even if the laptop is easily openable, the drive itself may be soldered to the motherboard and not removable.
Alternatively, you can run a quick web search for “[laptop model] SSD upgrade.” That’s a good way to find resources like forum posts and teardown videos on YouTube that show you everything you need to know about taking it out and replacing it with something better.
Ready to buy a laptop SSD? Check out our top SSD recommendations. But be sure you’re ready for the upgrade process, which could mean cloning your existing drive or reinstalling Windows. Not sure how big of an SSD you should get? We break it down for you in our explainer on how much SSD space you need on a laptop.
