External hard drive
Also known as: external drive, portable hard drive, external storage drive
An external hard drive is a storage drive in its own case that connects over USB to add space outside your computer or phone. It is a cheap way to offload large photo and video libraries and keep backups, freeing room on the device’s built-in storage.
- A drive in an enclosure that connects over USB
- Cheap way to offload media and store backups
- HDD versions hold more; SSD versions are faster
What an external drive is for
An external drive is simply an internal drive — usually a high-capacity HDD, sometimes a faster SSD — housed in an enclosure with a USB port. You plug it in, it appears as another drive, and you can drag files onto it to move them off your main device.
This makes external drives the go-to for two jobs: archiving media you want to keep but do not need on hand (years of photos and videos), and storing backups so your files survive if the device fails or is lost.
Choosing and using one
External HDDs give the most space per dollar and suit bulk archives and backups; external SSDs cost more but are faster, smaller, and tougher, which is better for working files and travel. Many connect over standard USB, so they work with laptops and, with the right adapter, with phones and tablets.
Offloading large videos and old photo libraries to an external drive is one of the most effective ways to reclaim space on a full laptop or phone — just keep at least one extra copy of anything important, since a single drive can fail.