How to Know If You Have an SSD or HDD Hard Drive (2024)

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Use Device Manager or a PowerShell command to spot what type of hard drive you have in Windows. It's even easier on a Mac

Jennifer Allen

Writer

Swansea University, Staffordshire University

Jennifer Allen has been writing about technology since 2010. Her work has appeared in Mashable, TechRadar, and many more publications.

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Updated on March 14, 2024

Reviewed by

Jon Fisher

Reviewed byJon Fisher

Wichita Technical Institute

Jonathan Fisher is a CompTIA certified technologist with more than 6 years' experience writing for publications like TechNorms and Help Desk Geek.

lifewire's editorial guidelines

What to Know

Windows: Search for defrag to find the hard drive details. Or, expand Disk drives in Device Manager.
macOS: Go to Apple menu > About This Mac > Storage to view a Mac's hard drive type.
SSDs are much faster than conventional hard drives.

This article teaches you how to check if you have an SSD or HDD on your Mac or Windows PC.

Do I Have an SSD or HDD in Windows?

A few techniques can be used in Windows 11 to see which hard drive type you have:

Use the Defrag Tool

Windows 11 includes a disk defragmenter that makes it super easy to see if your drive is the traditional type or if it's an SSD. Here's how it works:

There are some key differences between SSD and HDD storage that are worth understanding.

Select the search bar at the bottom of the screen.
Type defrag.
Click Defragment and Optimize Drives.
Check what's listed under Media type for your hard drive to determine if it's a solid-state drive (SSD) or a hard disk drive (HDD).
See Also
SATA Cables and Speeds Compared | Eaton

Enter a PowerShell Command

Another method to check what type of hard drive you have is to use a PowerShell command. It's a little more involved but still fairly simple. Here's what to do:

Search your computer for Windows PowerShell, or open Terminal to get to PowerShell through that tool.
Type this command into the PowerShell window and press Enter:
```
 Get-PhysicalDisk|Format-Table-AutoSize
```
The kind of hard drive you have is shown in the MediaType column.

Check Device Manager

Device Manager is the place to be for all your hardware needs. One small bit of information it reveals is the drive type for all your connected hard drives. Here's where to find it:

This method is particularly useful if you need to know a bit more about the drive, like driver details.

Open Device Manager. One way is to search for it from the taskbar.
Double click Disk drives.
View the hard drives that are listed.

How Do I Know If I Have an SSD or HDD on macOS?

macOS is quite a bit different from Windows, but it's still possible to see if your hard drive is an SSD or not.

The vast majority of Macs use SSDs unless your device is very old.

Select the Apple menu in the top left corner of the desktop.
Choose About This Mac.
Select Storage.
Under the hard drive icon is a description of the hard drive type, such as Flash Storage, which means it has an SSD installed.

What Difference Does My Hard Drive Type Make?

SSD and HDD sound similar and both are used to store files, so what makes one better than the other? Here's a quick look at their biggest differences:

SSDs are faster. SSDs are a lot faster than conventional hard drives because they don't spin like HDDs.
HDDs can last longer. You'll probably buy a new computer before you exhaust the lifespan of an SSD, but it's still important to know that solid-state drives don't last as long as HDDs in the long run.
SSDs are smaller. Thanks to NVMe technology, SSDs are typically much, much smaller than HDDs which means they're well suited to increasingly small and lightweight laptops and other devices.

How to Choose an SSD, Hybrid, or Hard Disk Drive

FAQ

How do I tell if my Chromebook has an HDD or SSD?

Chromebooks have SSDs for limited local file storage. For an update on the amount of local storage you have, select the App Launcher > My Files > More (three-dot icon) and find the amount of available space listed at the bottom of the drop-down menu. To view all your Chromebook specs, open the Chrome browser and type chrome://system.
How do I check that my HDD or SSD is healthy?

On Windows 11, use the Windows Error Checking Tool; right-click your disk > select Properties > Tools > Check > Scan drive. On macOS, check the Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology (S.M.A.R.T.) status; go to About this Mac > System Report > Storage > S.M.A.R.T. Status and look for Verified. You can also use a free hard drive testing program or tools provided by your HDD or SSD manufacturer to look for issues.

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