Don't throw away your laptop's old SSDs — do this instead

Get some extra life out of your unused SSDs by converting them into external storage devices.

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If you just upgraded your laptop with a higher capacity storage option or have an old device sitting around collecting dust, you can squeeze some remaining use out of that idle solid state drive. If you remove the SSD from an unused laptop, you can then convert it into a high-speed external storage option. It may be a little bulkier than your typical USB drive, but it'll offer much faster read and write speeds while also cutting down on the growing e-waste problem.

If you're planning to extract the SSD out of your older laptop, it's worth checking if it's even possible since some ultra-thin laptop makers, like Apple and its MacBooks, solder storage directly onto their logic boards. If your SSD can be removed, you just need to pair it with an external shell. There are fairly affordable enclosures on Amazon, but make sure you have the right one to match your SSD's form factor, whether it's the larger 2.5-inch SATA or the much faster and compact M.2 NVMe.

Before you get started

It's important to check if your old SSD has any important files on it before you set it up as an external storage option. While you're giving it a final once-over, it's also worth checking the SSD's health, which can be done on macOS via its Disk Utility app or through Windows' Drive Management tool. If your SSD is getting towards the end of its life, it's recommended to only store things that you wouldn't mind losing. For example, you're better off using an older SSD as a digital repository for any bulky files you want to offload, like AAA games.

Once you've done all that, you can format the SSD to wipe all the data from it and then install it into your recently-acquired enclosure. Most of these SSD shells connect via USB-C so you can just plug it into any device and it will act like a typical external storage drive. Once it's all set up, you no longer have to stress about running out of storage space on your main devices.