2024 Full-guide: Install Windows 11 on SSD (OS on HDD)

After Windows 11 was officially released, some people have already upgraded and some others choose to keep Windows 10 because the hardware requirements of Windows 11 are not easily accessible for some old devices. Now Windows 11 22H2 will come with new features but the basic system requirements are the same.

Can I install Windows 11 on SSD?

In fact, compared with HDD, SSD is a better choice to be set as your Windows 11 system disk.

▶ Advantages to setting an SSD as the system disk

• Faster speed: Due to the different work ways from HDD, SSD offers faster system boot speed and faster speed of reading & writing data.
• Outstanding performance: No matter physical security like reliability, size, etc., or run performance such as heat, power consumption, and noise, SSD has more excellent performance than HDD.

Preparation- Get a new SSD for installing Windows 11

So far so good, M.2 NVMe SSD might be the most popular and the best choice for many users as the boot disk, for its bandwidth can reach 10GB/S while M.2 SATA SSD only reaches 600 MB/S. You can select an appropriate SSD based on the situation of your device.

Is UEFI Required for Windows 11 Installation? Yes, it is. Because of the requirements of system firmware of Windows 11, the OS only supports UEFI with Secure Boot, users need to initialize a new SSD in the GPT partition table.

Step 1. Shut down the computer, open the computer case. Then, connect and insert the new SSD into the SSD slot and fasten it with screws. 

Step 2. Boot your computer, press “Windows” + “R” and type “diskmgmt. msc” to open Disk Management.

Step 3. Right-click the SSD, select “Initialize Disk”, and choose “GPT (GUID Partition Table)”, then click “OK” to save your choices.

How to install Windows 11 on SSD?

After you set up your SSD, let’s see how to install Windows 11 on your new SSD. We have two methods to introduce you to.

Method 1. Migrate Windows 11 to SSD

This way is for people who may have Windows 11 on another device and wish to move it to an SSD or system update failed. For instance, you’ve installed Windows 11 on HDD or a small SSD but you wish to only transfer OS to your new/larger SSD to make it Windows 11 bootable.

Migrating OS and making sure it can boot successfully are not easy for many people. There are many things you need to pay attention to. Thus, we suggest you choose a professional third-party tool to help you. AOMEI Partition Assistant is a nice one to do this mission for you. Its “Migrate OS to SSD” can only move all OS files and the OS-related partitions to the target disk and ensure it can boot smoothly without any worry of reinstalling.

If you want to clone Windows 11 to SSD with everything, you can choose the "Clone Disk" below the "Migrate OS" option.

Step 1. Install SSD on your machine. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Click "Clone" and “Migrate OS” in the top menu. Click “Next” in the pop-up window.

Step 2. Choose SSD as the destination disk space.

Step 3. Resize the partition you plan to store the OS.

You can drag the double-head arrow, or type the amount in the box directly.

Step 4. Check the note.

You’ll see a Note on how to boot OS from SSD that you need to pay attention to.

Step 5. Confirm and apply the operation.

Click “Apply” to execute the pending operations.

Then, you can shut down your computer, reboot it and enter BIOS to change boot settings.

Note: If you want to change all data from the old SSD or HDD, including installed programs, downloaded videos/pictures, stored files, etc., you can run AOMEI's Clone Disk feature to clone everything to new SSD without any data loss. This function even allows you to clone HDD to SSD of different sizes.

Method 2. Clean install Windows 11 on SSD from a USB drive

Step 1. Boot your PC via USB and enter BIOS.

Boot your computer and enter BIOS to set this USB as the boot drive.

Step 2. Enter setting window.

Follow the orders to install OS, and set the language, time, and keyboard, click “Next” to continue.

Step 3. Click “Install now”.

Step 4. Choose “I don’t have a product key”.

Step 5. Select an OS edition.

You can choose a suitable OS to install and click “Next”.

Step 6. Choose type of installation.

Accept the License Term and click “Next”, click “Custom: Install Windows only (advanced)” in the next window.

Step 7. Choose OS installation location.

Choose the SSD as the system disk, then click “Next”.

Now please wait for the process and your PC will reboot.

Step 8. Enter BIOS to set this SSD as the boot drive.

Click “Boot”, and set “UEFI Hard Disk” as the boot drive.

After you save the changes and exit, your PC will restart and boot in Windows 11 system.

Ending words

With this detailed full guide, hope you can successfully install Windows 11 on SSD and enjoy the new OS.

AOMEI Partition Assistant can not only migrate OS and create bootable media, as a multifunctional disk manager, it can also convert MBR system disk to GPT, clone disk/partition, and move installed programs to another drive/disk to release free space… Its Server edition can perfectly help Server users easily manage their disks.

FAQs about how to install Windows 11 on SSD

Should I format SSD before installing Windows 11?
Yes, before installing the operating system, you must format the disk or partition. You have the option of formatting the SSD now or later during the Windows installation process. Before formatting the SSD, make sure you've backed up any vital files.

Do I need to initialize SSD before installing Windows?
Before you can use your new SSD you have to initialize and partition it. If you are performing a clean installation of your operating system, or cloning to your SSD, it is not neccessary to follow these steps. A clean installation of your operating system or cloning to an SSD will initialize and partition the new SSD.

Why is my cloned SSD not booting Windows 11?
After cloning, you need to go into BIOS and set the Boot Order to Make SSD Bootable as the Boot Disk. Your machine will not start from the cloned SSD if it is not specified to be the first boot option in BIOS. As a result, you must enter BIOS and alter the boot order to make the SSD the boot drive.