Disk cloning software can be used to create an exact copy of your disk, and copy all data from the source disk to the target disk, including files, disk layout, configurations, etc. This post will introduce 12 free disk cloning software that helps you clone any type of hard drive to another hard disk without losing any data in 3 steps.
In short, free disk cloning software is software applications that migrate the contents of an entire storage drive to another drive, making a 1-to-1 copy of the original drive. It's the quickest and easiest approach to replace a hard drive along with its data. By cloning a disk to a new one, you can escape the tedious work of transferring data and programs to the new drive. Since disk cloning has so many benefits, what's the most popular disk cloning software on Windows Devices? Should you trust free hard drive cloning software?
To find the best free disk cloning software, we tested more than 20 tools on the market for a month, including those open source cloning software. Below are our testing statistics that you may be interested in.
| 🔢 Software Quantity we tested | 24 |
| ⏳ Time duration | 1 month |
| ✅Compatible System | Windows, macOS, Linux |
| ⚒Demand Scenarios for Disk Cloning | Hard drive upgrading, data transferring, saving disk data as a backup, |
| 🚩Free limits | Unlimited free, limited data that can be cloned |
| 👍 Easy of Use | Interface, operation |
| 🕦Disk Cloning Time | From 5min-1hour |
After an in-depth review, we found that the winners typically offer 24x7 tech support, a stable cloning process, lighting-fast cloning speed, and no chance of making mistakes and receiving cloning errors. Let's dive in.
Tags: with 4.7 Positive Ratings, free trial
With 10 years of market domination in providing the most secure and feasible cloning plans for computers and enterprises, EaseUS Disk Copy is recognized as a user-friendly and efficient HDD and SSD cloning tool. Lately, it published the 6.0 version that has employed class-rate techniques in calculating disk parameters, and the average cloning speed was greatly improved by 20-30s per GB; that's a huge leap that made the EaseUS cloning option distinguish it from its competitors for many years.
EaseUS Disk Copy 6.0.0 Update Elevates HDD/SSD Cloning Experience to New Heights
Tags: now called Acronis Cyber Protect Home, widely used by commercial users for backup purposes
Acronis True Image Ofiice(https://www.acronis.com/en-us/personal/computer-backup/) is a fast and powerful cloud disk cloning tool and imaging application. It also features advanced artificial intelligence technology and blockchain data notarization, providing real-time protection against encryption and ransomware. This high-quality disk cloning software is an excellent choice for personal users to back up and protect their systems. You can start the 30-day free trial.
Acronis True Image helps the user to clone the WD drive to a Samsung 970 Evo Plus successfully, and it supports disk cloning between different types and brands of hard drives.
Let’s upgrade some NVMe storage! ? Replaced the 128gb WD with a 512gb Samsung 970 Evo Plus. Using @Acronis True Image to clone the disk, and Acronis Disk Director to rearrange and expand the partitions. pic.twitter.com/u0JaqerFe3
— Glitch IT (@GlitchITLimited) January 25, 2023
Tags: best open source disk cloning software, free, no support available
Clonezilla (https://clonezilla.org/) is one of the top free disk cloning, disk imaging, and data recovery programs. Three versions of Clonezilla are available to download: Clonezilla Live, Clonezilla Lite Server, and Clonezilla SE. The Clonezilla SE version or server edition of the program can clone over 40 computers at the same time. It is a great open-source disk cloning and imaging software.
Clonezilla ensures free and complete hard drive cloning, but the process is more complex compared to some third-party software, like EaseUS Disk Copy.
All-night, 3tb disk clone#clonezilla pic.twitter.com/G6vAhmuysU
— Moonclang's House of Ecstatic Disco (@moonclang_music) May 1, 2021
Tags: no longer free, free limit
Macrium Reflect Free Edition (https://www.macrium.com/reflectfree) is a very popular hard drive cloning solution for both personal (especially the free version) and commercial/enterprise use. It is compatible with the Windows operating system, enables you to do disk imaging and disk cloning, allows you to access images from the file manager, and creates a Linux rescue CD. You can fully restore non-booting systems with the free version, as well as schedule backups or create live images of your OS.
Note: Its company has recently announced that the Macrium Reflect Free version will be retired as of 1st January 2024.
Macrium Reflect Free edition is a great way to clone various types of disks, and it can deal with SSDs, GPT, MBR, UEFI, and resizing partitions. It works fine on computers.
Computer seems stable. I have concluded that the correct (and possibly only) free way to clone a Windows installation drive is Macrium Reflect Free, which handles SSDs, GPT, UEFI, partition resizing, and OS booting. Skip Acronis Disk Director.
— Ben Hutchison (@Aldaviva) October 21, 2022
Tags: backup available, few user feedback
Paragon Backup & Recovery Free (https://www.paragon-software.com/free/br-free/) is a free disk cloning software that can create backups and partitions. You can use this complex drive cloning tool to back up the operating system and migrate it to a new computer. You can also choose to copy the entire hard disk or partition. Its quick recovery allows you to return to normal operations after a system problem occurs.
We can hardly find any comments or user feedback on social websites. But the product we tried works perfectly on Windows 11 and Windows 10 computers. You can still have a try on your own.
Tags: a wonderful backup and restore tool with the disk cloning feature, compatible with Windows, free for personal use
EaseUS Todo Backup is a dependable and comprehensive backup program that provides a variety of powerful capabilities to assure your data's safety. The free disk cloning tool, which lets users generate a replica of their hard drive or SSD, is one of its standout features. Users can simply migrate their operating system, upgrade their storage devices, or back up their vital files and settings by using this feature.
EaseUS Todo Backup's user-friendly interface and advanced choices make disk cloning an easy and efficient procedure, giving customers peace of mind and the ability to quickly restore their system in the event of data loss or hardware failure.
Tags: a free and robust disk and partition manager
MiniTool Partition Wizard(https://www.partitionwizard.com/free-partition-manager.html) is a robust and dependable free partition manager with a plethora of options for managing and optimizing your hard disk or SSD. Among its amazing features is the free disk cloning feature, which allows customers to clone their entire drive or a select partition quickly and effortlessly.
MiniTool Partition Wizard makes disk cloning simple and painless, whether you want to update your storage device, transfer your operating system, or generate a backup of your data. With its simple interface and many options, customers may clone their disks in a matter of seconds, assuring the safety of their data and a smooth transition to a new storage device.
Tags: best known as a disk imaging tool
Active@ Disk Image (https://www.disk-image.com/index.html) is a disk cloning and imaging tool for Windows that can be used to make an exact copy of any PC disk. The disk images may be used for backups, PC upgrades, or disk duplication purposes. It is compatible with Windows XP, 7, 8, 8.1, Server 2003, Server 2008, Server 2012, Server 2016, Linux, FreeBSD, and Solaris.
The free version of this hard drive cloning program allows you to create and restore disk images, compress images, and mount images as virtual drives.
Tags: good for enterprise
Iperius Backup (https://www.iperiusbackup.com/index.aspx) is a complete Windows utility for data backup and hard disk cloning. The software supports cloud services such as Google Drive, OneDrive, Dropbox, Amazon S3, Azure Storage, and more. Cloud backups are secured with AES 256-bit encryption to ensure your data is safe.
Iperius Backup is a top HDD or SSD disk cloning and imaging tool for enterprise users that enables you to perform files, databases or VMs backup.
Tags: cross-platforms compatible
Symantec Ghost Solution Suite (https://www.broadcom.com/products/cyber-security/endpoint/management/ghost-solutions-suite) is one of the top hard disk imaging software that enables you to copy hard drives on Windows, Mac, and Linux operating systems. This hard drive cloning tool provides full solutions for imaging and deploying desktops, laptops, tablets, and servers.
Key features:
Tags: by imaging a disk
DriveImage XML (https://www.runtime.org/driveimage-xml.htm) is an easy-to-use and reliable program for imaging and backing up disks and partitions. It provides two versions: Private Edition allows users to use it without charge and Commercial Edition for commercial use. This disk copy tool enables you to create safe "hot images" from drives in use. Images are stored in XML files, allowing you to process them with 3rd party tools.
Tags: able to clone a disk, but best known as an easy disk managing solution
O&O Disk Image (https://www.oo-software.com/en/diskimage-backup-your-data) is a comprehensive disk management software with full features, including disk cloning, imaging, and remote scripting for Windows 7+ operating systems. With this hard drive cloning tool, you can back up an entire computer or single files whenever you want – even while the computer is being used. O&O DiskImage lets you carry out a system restore onto a computer whose hardware is different from the original machine.
With so many possibilities accessible, you must be perplexed as to which one to select. Don't worry, here is a quick rundown of what we discovered:
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The following are the top topics related to free disk cloning software and how to clone a disk. Check the brief answers to these problems.
Windows 10 doesn't come with hard drive cloning software. For cloning software for Windows 10, try EaseUS Disk Copy. It is a tool for cloning a hard drive. You can use this tool to make full copies, upgrade HDD to SSD, and replace the old disk without any data loss.
You can use the best disk cloning software - EaseUS Disk Copy, to clone Windows 10 to a smaller SSD with the steps below.
Step 1. Connect the new SSD to your PC. Run EaseUS Disk Copy for Windows 10 Clone.
Step 2. Select "System Clone". Choose the new SSD as your target disk to save the cloned Windows 10 system.
Step 3. Then click "Proceed" to start cloning Windows 10 to HDD/SSD now.
After this, insert your new SSD into your computer and, reboot the PC, change the boot order to set the computer to boot from the new SSD with the cloned Windows 10 system:
Clone is the process of duplicating the entire Windows 10 operating system from one hard drive to another. It will copy Windows 10, system updates, installed programs, profiles, etc., and save more time than a fresh install. So, it is the choice for most people when replacing a new hard drive. If you don't want to store the previous data, a fresh install is a good option.
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