SSD upgrade for a laptop: which drive fits, and how to switch

If your laptop still has a spinning hard drive, an SSD upgrade is usually the single biggest speed improvement you can make. The hard part is buying the right drive: check whether your laptop takes a 2.5-inch SATA drive, an M.2 SATA drive or an M.2 NVMe drive before you order anything.

Last updated October 25, 2026 · Facts checked against manufacturer documentation from Dell, HP, Samsung, Western Digital and Microsoft

The short version

SSDs have no moving parts, so a PC boots and opens apps faster than it does on a hard drive.
Laptops take one of three main drive types: 2.5-inch SATA, M.2 SATA or M.2 NVMe. They aren’t interchangeable.
Find your exact model in the manufacturer’s spec sheet or service manual, or in our Can It Run? database.
Back up first. Then either clone your old drive or do a clean install on the new one.

Why an SSD is the biggest upgrade for an old PC

A hard drive (HDD) stores data on spinning platters. A solid-state drive (SSD) uses flash memory with no moving parts. Western Digital, which makes both, says SSDs deliver much faster boot times and application loading.

HP’s upgrade guide singles out switching from a hard drive to an SSD as an upgrade that adds speed as well as space.

If your laptop already has an SSD, a new one mostly gets you more space. In that case, check whether more RAM would help more.

The three drive types laptops use

Type	What it looks like	Notes
2.5-inch SATA	A small, flat rectangular box	The easiest swap if your laptop has a 2.5-inch hard drive now.
M.2 SATA	A bare stick, like a stick of gum	Uses the same SATA connection as a 2.5-inch drive, in the M.2 shape. Dell says SATA M.2 drives tend to use the B key.
M.2 NVMe	Looks almost identical to M.2 SATA	Connects over PCIe and is the faster option, but only works in a slot that supports NVMe.

Watch out: M.2 SATA and M.2 NVMe drives can look the same and may even fit the same slot. Fitting isn’t the same as working. Dell advises comparing the drive’s specifications with the system’s to make sure the type, length and key all match.

M.2 lengths: 2280, 2242 and others

The four or five digits in an M.2 size are its width and length in millimeters. According to Dell, the first two digits are the width and the rest are the length. A 2280 drive is 22 mm wide and 80 mm long, and a 2242 drive is 22 mm wide and 42 mm long.

Buy the length your laptop’s slot supports. The spec sheet or service manual lists it.

M.2 keys: B and M

The notch in the drive’s connector is called the key. Samsung says a B-key slot supports SATA or NVMe drives using up to 2 PCIe lanes, while an M-key slot supports NVMe drives using up to 4 lanes. Samsung’s M-key NVMe drives can’t be inserted into a B-key slot. The key alone doesn’t tell you whether a slot is SATA or NVMe, so check the documentation as well.

How to find out what your laptop takes

Look it up in our database. Each Can It Run? device page lists the storage type. For example, the ThinkPad T470 takes either a 2.5-inch SATA drive or an M.2 2280 NVMe SSD, depending on how it was configured.
Read the manufacturer’s documentation. Lenovo publishes spec sheets in its PSREF (Product Specifications Reference). HP publishes a Maintenance and Service Guide for many models, and Dell has manuals on its support site. Search with your exact model number.
Check what’s installed now. If you’re comfortable opening the bottom cover, look at the current drive’s label. Follow the service manual, and unplug the charger first.

Samsung’s advice is the same: check the user manual or ask the system maker to confirm compatibility. Some computers have more than one drive slot, which lets you add an SSD and keep the old drive for storage. Our device pages note this where it applies.

Cloning vs a clean install

Before you start: Back up your files to an external drive or cloud storage. If Windows uses BitLocker or device encryption, note your recovery key. Microsoft keeps a copy at aka.ms/myrecoverykey if it’s backed up to your Microsoft account, and Windows can ask for it after a hardware change.

Cloning

Cloning copies your whole drive (Windows, apps, settings and files) onto the new SSD, so the laptop starts up just as it was, only faster. You need a way to connect both drives at once, such as a USB adapter or enclosure for the new SSD. Some SSD makers offer free migration software for their own drives. Samsung, for example, recommends its Data Migration software.

Clean install

A clean install puts a fresh operating system on the new SSD. Microsoft says a clean installation removes personal files, apps, manufacturer customizations and settings changes, so you restore your files from the backup afterward. It’s also a chance to leave years of clutter behind.

To reactivate Windows after a clean install, Microsoft says your Microsoft account must be linked to the device’s digital license, and you must install the same edition (Home or Pro) you had before. Check this in Settings before you remove the old drive.

If your laptop can’t run Windows 11, a new SSD is also a natural time to switch to Linux Mint or ChromeOS Flex.

What to look for when you buy

The right type, length and key. This is the one thing you can’t get wrong.
Enough capacity. Windows 11 needs at least 64 GB of storage. Linux Mint needs 20 GB but recommends 100 GB, and ChromeOS Flex needs 16 GB. Buy well above the minimum, because updates and apps grow over time.
DRAM or HMB. Many SSDs have their own DRAM to hold the map of where data is stored. Some NVMe drives, called DRAM-less, leave it out and borrow a little of the computer’s RAM instead, using a feature called Host Memory Buffer (HMB), added in NVMe 1.2. A 2020 study in PLoS One found that DRAM-less SSDs performed worse than SSDs with DRAM, and that using HMB improves their performance.
For 2.5-inch drives, the height. Make sure the drive fits your laptop’s bay. Seagate notes notebook SSDs come in a 7 mm height.

Frequently asked questions

Will an SSD speed up my old laptop?

If it has a spinning hard drive, yes. Booting, opening apps and loading files should all be faster, because SSDs have no moving parts. An SSD won’t fix a slow processor or too little RAM, so see our guide to speeding up an old laptop for the other causes.

Can I upgrade the SSD in my laptop?

Usually, if the laptop has a 2.5-inch bay or an M.2 slot. Check your model’s spec sheet or service manual first. Some laptops use proprietary drives. For example, our database lists the 2017 MacBook Air as using an Apple proprietary PCIe SSD.

How much does an SSD upgrade for a laptop cost?

It depends mostly on the capacity and type you need, and prices change often. Doing it yourself costs only the drive, plus an adapter if you want to clone. A repair shop also charges for labor and data transfer.