3 Easiest Ways to Run USB Speed Test in Windows 10 in 2024

Tracy King updated on Jan 04, 2024 to Partition Master | How-to Articles

If you want to run a speed test of your USB drive on your Windows 10 PC but don't know how. Then this article is for you. Keep reading as we share everything about it, and we also share bonus tips to improve USB speeds.

Looking for freeware to test the quality and speed of flash drives. Also Micro SD cards. - Reddit
Goal Test USB Speed in Windows 10
Duration 3-5 minutes reading
Tools USB, Windows 10 computer, USB speed test tools - EaseUS Partition Master, CMD, Task Manager
Price $0

Knowing the read and write speeds of your USB speed drive is going to save you from unbelievable mental pain. Imagine yourself going on a trip, but you grab a random USB drive from an electronic store only to realize that it's unbelievably slow and the photos or files that you want to transfer are going to take hours. But you also have to leave in the next few minutes!

You could avoid this by making a conscious purchase, but what about the USB that you bought a long time ago? Is it fast? Or is it slow?

By performing a USB speed test Windows 10 PC, you could figure that out, and if you don't know how to check the USB's speed, don't worry! Continue reading this article from EaseUS, and we'll show you how!

3 Best Ways to Test USB Speed in Windows 10

Here we provide you with 3 methods. Continue reading, and you will see our step-by-step guide on using those tools to test the speed of your drive, but before that, here's a peek at how they stack up against each other.

USB Speed Test Methods Pros Cons

EaseUS Partition Master

Accurate & Reliable👍 -

CMD

Reliable Clunky

Task Manager

Live transfer speeds Not accurate

In our opinion, EaseUS Partition Master is the best tool to perform a speed test of your USB drive because it generates a detailed report. This can also be helpful in comparing multiple USB drives' speeds.

Way 1. Use EaseUS Partition Master to Run the USB Speed Test - Easiest & Professional

The EaseUS Partition Master offers a feature called "Disk Mark" that lets you accurately check your USB drive's speed. In fact, this is a free tool that is available for Windows 11/10/8/7. With this tool, you can run a speed test on any USB drive from any brand, as well as a disk performance test of your HDD or SSD.

Here are the steps.

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master. And click the download button to activate the "DiskMark" feature under the "Discovery" section.

Step 2. Click on the drop-down box to choose the target drive, test data, and block size.

Step 3. Once everything is configured, click "Start" to begin the disk test. Then, you can see the Sequential or Random read/write speed, I/O, and Delay data.

If you want an easy tool that gives accurate results, download EaseUS Partition Master!

If you find this method useful and easy, share it with your friends to let them know!

 

Way 2. Run the CMD Command to perform a USB Speed Test in Windows

The Command Prompt can also run a speed test for your USB drive. However, since using CMD could be risky for beginners, you should be careful when following this tutorial guide. Here's how to do that:

Step 1. Click "Start" and search for "Command Prompt."

Step 2. Select "Run as administrator."

Step 3. Type and enter the following command: winsat disk -drive X (In place of "X", write the letter that corresponds with the USB drive in "This PC.")

Step 4. Allow some time for the results to be generated and displayed.

Step 5. Then, you can check the USB speed results to determine if they are fast enough for you or not.

Way 3. Use Task Manager to Get USB Real-Time Speed Data

Task Manager is another great Windows tool with which you can check the write/read speeds of your USB drive. However, it isn't accurate because it is live and only shows the speed at which a file is copied to the USB.

As you know, during the transfer process, the transfer speed drops and increases multiple times for various reasons. This is not the appropriate tool for testing your USB drive's maximum performance.

But if you want to check the speed in real-time, here's the guide:

Step 1. Press "Ctrl+Shift+Esc" simultaneously.

Step 2. Open the "Performance" section.

Step 3. In the left menu, select your USB drive.

Step 4. You can check the read and write speed of your USB drive on the right-side window.

Compare USB Speed and Keep USB Speed At High Performance

Now you have the results of your USB drive's speed test, and you should compare the speed with the results of the industry standard. There is an issue with your USB drive if its speeds are slower than those same-spec USB drives from a different brand. You should find a way to fix the slow USB transfer speed to improve the performance.

Here are the average speeds for each USB generation. After this, I'll show how to optimize the drive's performance if it is slower than the average speed.

1. Compare USB Speed

Many factors can affect the average speed of your USB drives. For example, the generation (USB 3.1, USB 3.0, or USB 2.0). In addition, the PC and the manufacturer also play a role.

Here are the average write speeds of USB 3.1, 3.0, and 2.0:

USB 3.1 30-70 MB/s
USB 3.0 10-40 MB/s
USB 2.0 1-5 MB/s

Here are the average read speeds:

USB 3.1 30-90 MB/s
USB 3.0 50-60 MB/s
USB 2.0 1-10 MB/s

If you think your USB drive is running slower than it should be, read the following section, where we offer some suggestions for improving your USB drive.

2. Bonus Tips to Improve USB Speed

Here's what you can do if your USB drive speeds are slower than average:

  • Upgrade to USB 3.1 or USB 3.0 from USB 2.0 drives.
  • Connect the USB 3.1 drive to a USB 3.1 port for maximum speeds. Connecting it to 3.0 or 2.0 ports may get slower speeds.
  • Check and remove viruses if any are detected.
  • Format your USB drive to the NTFS file system. If you're a Mac user, format it for the exFAT file system.

After reading this informative article, you may want to share it on your social media.

 

Conclusion

If your USB drive is becoming slow or stuck when opening files, or you notice that the transfer speeds have slowed down, you should run a speed test. You may evaluate the speed of your USB drive using the above methods, but the recommended tool is EaseUS Partition Master, which is the most accurate and dependable tool.

It also offers other features, such as changing the file system of your USB drive from FAT32 to NTFS, checking for file system errors, and testing the health of the USB.

FAQs About Getting USB Speed in Windows 10

Here are some other frequently asked questions and answers about how to run speed tests for your USB drive on Windows 10.

1. How do I test my USB 3.0 drive speed?

You may use Task Manager to do a speed test on your USB 3.0 disk to determine the transfer speed.

  • Press "Ctrl+Shift+Esc" to open Task Manager and click on "Performance".
  • Select your disk.
  • You can check the read/write speeds on the right-side window.

2. How fast should my USB 3.0 be in Windows 11?

Your USB 3.0 should have a write speed of about 10-40 MB/s and a read speed of about 50-60 MB/s.

3. How do I know if my USB is using 3.0 or 2.0?

Here's how:

  • Right-click "Start" and select "Device Manager."
  • Expand "Universal Serial Bus."
  • Check if you have any USB 3.0 ports.
  • Then, connect your USB drive to the 9-pin USB port on your PC.

4. Can CrystalDiskMark test the USB speed?

Yes, you can use CrystalDiskMark to test the speed of your USB drive. CrystalDiskMark can test the speed of any storage device or memory card. After the test is complete, you can see the outcomes report. The report shows your drive's performance and how it compares against the results of other drives in the same class.