Clone HDD to SSD of Different Size (Max 4 Steps)

Can I clone a large HDD to a smaller SSD in a different size? 

Cloning a hard drive is a very popular way to boost performance, replace old hard drive, or just make a copy of backup. But what if the two hard drives have different sizes?

Don't worry! A reliable cloning software can handle it well and help you clone hard drive of different sizes and boot it up successfully, either clone large HDD to smaller SSD (e.g., 1TB to 500GB) or clone hard drive to larger drive (e.g., 500GB to 1TB). 

Reliable cloning software to clone disk with different sizes

Whether you want to clone large HDD to smaller SSD, or clone hard drive to larger drive, you need reliable cloning software, such as AOMEI Backupper.

It's embedded with one Disk Clone feature that can help you clone hard drive of different sizes effortlessly and handle cloning issue well with its tiny but useful tools, such as Edit Partitions, SSD Alignment, etc.

AOMEI Backupper

Software to Clone Disk to Any Size

• Clone hard drives of different sector sizes, including cloning smaller SSD to larger SSD or vice versa, regardless of disk types (MBR or GPT) or brands like WD, Crucial, Samsung, etc.
• Intelligent Clone: Clone only used sectors to ensure the cloned drive is bootable.
• Edit Partitions: Resize partitions on the destination disk to utilize full capacity. 
• SSD Alignment: Optimize SSD performance with 4K alignment.
• System Clone (Premium Feature): Migrate only the OS to a smaller SSD.  

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7

100% Secure

(*The Clone feature in the trial version can only be demonstrated. To clone hard drive of different size and boot from it, please upgrade to get the full version of AOMEI Backupper Professional.)

How to clone hard drive of different sizes with secure boot

Here is quick navigation to clone and replace hard drive with hard drive cloning software - AOMEI Backupper Professional.

Step 1. Download and install disk clone software, we recommend you use AOMEI Backupper Professional, it's user-friendly and easy to operate. And then, launch this software, and click Disk Clone under the Clone tab.

Step 2. Select the source disk you want to clone, and click Next.

Step 3. Select the destination disk you plug in before, and click Next.

You will be told this software will delete files on the destination disk. If there are any important data, please backup files to avoid any data loss during the cloning process.

Step 4. Tick the "SSD Alignment" option to accelerate the reading and writing speed for SSD disks while cloning hard drive to SSD. Then, click Start Clone to clone different size drives.

If you are cloning smaller drive to larger one, you can manage the disk layout with the "Edit Partitions" feature in AOMEI Backupper Professional. It has 3 options in the following:

✘Copy without resizing partitions: If you select this option or just enable it without changing, the size of the partition on the destination disk remains unchanged by default.
✔ Add unused space to all partitions: It will reallocate the unallocated space automatically to each partition of the target disk, appropriate for the disk size.
✔Manually adjust partition size: It's more flexible, you can select the partition you want to extend disk size and drag to the left or right side.

In addition, it still provides users with another option to convert the disk type of the destination disk, from MBR to GPT, or GPT to MBR, and is only available when the source and destination disk have different disk types, one is MBR while the other is GPT, for example. 

🔗You may be interested in: Clone MBR to GPT Disk.

Potential issues when cloning HDD to SSD of different sizes

In general, your computer comes with a hard drive. However, with an increasing number of files added and programs installed, your disk may run out of space and the computer performance slows down dramatically. In this case, you may want to replace a hard drive, but the hard drive does not come with the same size. And then it may result in different issues after cloning hard drive with different size. 

😭 Cloned SSD won't boot: Usually, the SSD is smaller than HDD in most situations, and since HDD is far more space than SSD, it is not possible to free up the disk to the same size as the smaller SSD. However, the system requires the operating system, boot partition(s), system files, drivers etc to be present at the same time when booting. If any of the boot files are missing, your new SSD will not boot. 

😭 Cloned drive not showing full capacity: Since the cloning process will keep the same disk layout on the destination disk, it will be exactly the same as the old one and extra space will display as unallocated space at the end of the disk. You can choose to extend partition in disk management or resize disk size during the cloning process.

Frequently asked questions on cloning different size

Wrapping things up

AOMEI Backupper is a great choice for you to clone different size drives because it works well in disk cloning and can ensure a secure boot. You can use it to clone large HDD to smaller SSD if the used space is smaller than or equal to SSD disk or clone and resize hard drive to avoid cloned SSD not showing full capacity. 

In addition, the full version has more useful features. You are allowed to migrate operating system to smaller SSD with the "System Clone" feature, clone hard drive from 2TB to 3TB, and clone Windows 10 to NVMe SSD, etc.  Want to enjoy these features? Please download AOMEI Backupper Professional right now!