The Best External Hard Drives for 2026

Drive type and performance: The My Passport, Works with USB-C is a compact, portable hard drive. Its slate gray (officially, Silicon Gray) case, the only color available for this particular model at this capacity, snugly fits the 2.5-inch platter-based hard drive within. Its sequential speeds of 122Mbps read and 119Mbps write are at the lower end of a narrow range of values typical of HDDs with a 5,200rpm drive mechanism, and its PCMark 10 Overall Storage result was the best in our comparison group. These and its other test results are typical of platter-based hard drives, which are far slower than even the slowest USB 3.2 external hard drives.

Capacity options: You get a choice of four capacities with the My Passport, Works with USB-C: 2TB, 4TB, 5TB, and 6TB. The 6TB model that we tested (along with several other WD hard drives released at the same time) is one of the first portable hard drives to be available at that capacity, which sets it apart from offerings from other major vendors. It also helps that it sells at a very reasonable 3.2 cents per gigabyte, in an age where many vendors sell their higher-capacity products at a premium.

Port type and interface: You would think that a hard drive with its name would have a USB-C port, but no—this one has a USB Micro-B port and comes with a foot-long USB-Micro-B-to-USB-A cable plus a USB-A-to-USB-C adapter. This allows you to connect to either a computer's USB-A or USB-C port. Just don’t lose the cable and adapter; USB Micro-B cables have become less common than they were just a few years ago, though USB Micro-B ports are still frequently found on external hard drives.

Durability, encryption, and backup software: As for protecting the physical drive and its data, WD My Passport portable drives do not have an ingress protection (IP) rating, which quantifies water and dust resistance. The company advertises them as being shock- and vibration-resistant and drop-proof. The company also provides protection from hackers with the gold-standard 256-bit AES hardware-based encryption, activated through the WD Security app included on the drive, and data preservation with Acronis True Image backup software.

Casual travelers: The WD My Passport, Works with USB-C is good for occasional travel; its AES 256-bit encryption should keep your data safe if the drive is lost or stolen. It is shock- and vibration-resistant, and drop-resistant up to 6.5 feet. But without an ingress protection rating, you may not want to take it on a wilderness trip.

Bargain hunters: The My Passport is one of the first 6TB portable spinning hard drives, and especially at its highest capacity, it comes in at a very low cost per gigabyte, so you can get a lot of storage, cheap.

Outdoors enthusiasts and adventurers: If you work outdoors or spend a lot of time in the wilderness, the My Passport may not be your best choice for portable storage. As a spinning hard drive, it is more vulnerable to being dropped or mishandled than an SSD, which has no moving parts. WD does not provide an ingress protection (IP) rating (which denotes a product's degree of impermeability to water, dirt, and dust) for the My Passport.

Drive type and performance: The My Book, shaped like a rather thick book, is strictly for sitting on a desk: hefty (weighing about 2.2 pounds), with a large footprint and requiring an included 12V power adapter. The My Book we reviewed had a 5,400rpm drive, and tallied impressive Blackmagic scores relative to portable spinning hard drives, though still well below even SATA SSDs. At some of the higher capacities, the My Book uses a 7,200rpm drive, though we haven’t had a chance to test it as such.

Capacity options: The My Book is available in a wide range of capacities, ranging from 4TB up to 26TB. (The My Book Duo, a dual-drive solution, offers up to 46TB in its default RAID 0 configuration.) Seagate offers similar capacities, from 4TB up to 28TB, in its Expansion Desktop Hard Drive.

Port type and interface: The My Book has a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port. In the model we tested, the port was USB Type-A, though some recent My Books use USB-C (but may include USB-A downstream ports for connecting peripherals as well).

Durability, encryption, and backup software: The My Book lacks an IP rating (which indicates a drive’s degree of protection from water and sand or dust). As it’s for desktop use, it does not require protection from the elements. WD makes no claim for drop protection; as spinning hard drives are susceptible to damage from tumbles than SSDs, be sure not to position a My Book too close to the edge of your desk. The My Book includes WD Backup software and provides 256-bit AES encryption enabled through the WD Security app.

Office workers: The My Book is a good fit for employees (or businesses) that have to archive and/or back up large amounts of data; the included WD Backup software simplifies this task. The My Book also supports backups through Apple’s Time Machine. My Books are generally formatted as exFAT for cross-platform compatibility, but can be reformatted as needed.

Gamers: Although gamers will want to load and run games from a faster drive, the My Book is great for archiving a game collection. With a growing number of AAA games taking up in excess of 100GB of drive space, one’s internal storage can fill up quickly, so it’s good to have terabytes to spare for a growing library.

Creative pros: The My Book’s voluminous capacity makes it a good choice for photographers, videographers, and other content creators to back up their media files.

Outdoor enthusiasts: The WD My Book is a classic desktop hard drive, best for use in an office or at a fixed location. It's light enough to be toted in a bag or backpack, but unlike its bus-powered cousins, which draw power from their host computer, it must be used in reach of a power outlet.

The Seagate One Touch combines a desktop hard drive's massive capacities—we reviewed the 8TB model—with an interface that draws power from its host computer over the same USB Type-C connection used for data exchange. This eliminates the need for an AC adapter or a spare electrical outlet, letting you use the One Touch with multiple computers and take it on the go. Its per-gigabyte cost is only about a third that of an SSD of similar capacity. One caveat: The computer you pair it with must provide at least 15W of power delivery.

Drive type and performance: The One Touch is a spinning hard drive with a 3.5-inch form factor. Based on the drive's sequential read and write speeds, faster than the portable bus-powered hard drives we have reviewed, it presumably has a 7,200rpm mechanism. Its benchmark results were very good for a hard drive, comparable to Seagate's FireCuda X.

Capacity options: You get a choice of three capacities with the One Touch: 8TB, 16TB, and 24TB. Even the 8TB model that we reviewed exceeds the capacity of all previous bus-powered hard drives we had encountered. Its cost per gigabyte, modest at all its capacities, is lowest in the 16GB and 24GB versions, at 3.2 cents.

Port type and interface: Connectivity is via USB-C, and the drive includes a USB-C-to-USB-C cable. One caveat: the One Touch requires at least 15W of power delivery from its host computer to run.

Durability, encryption, and backup software: The One Touch includes Seagate Toolkit software, which lets you set up incremental backups and password protection for the drive, though it lacks hardware-based encryption. Also included is a two-year subscription to Rescue Data Recovery Services. It has no ruggedness certifications.

Gamers, photographers, and videographers needing bulk near-line storage: The One Touch is a good place to park a library of games, photos, videos, and other files that don't require frequent or rapid access. The drive is available in capacities up to 24TB.

Budget-minded users: If your computing needs are light, there's no compelling reason to invest in a zippy yet exorbitant solid-state drive when the One Touch can be had for about a third of the cost per gigabyte of a typical external SSD. Households and offices can greatly expand their external storage without breaking the bank.

Speed-first photographers, videographers, game designers, or animators: The One Touch's slow transfer speeds make it a poor choice for high-touch tasks such as working with 4K or 8K video, loading or running graphics-heavy games, or serving as a scratch disk for programs such as Photoshop. That said, it's a great choice to serve as a cost-effective media library or project archive.

Drive type and performance: The ADATA HD710M Pro is a highly ruggedized external hard drive, although relatively lightweight and compact for its kind. Its performance is typical of a 5,400rpm portable platter-based hard drive.

Capacity options: The HD710M Pro comes in capacities ranging from 500GB to 5TB. Capacity for external portable drives from any maker currently maxes out at 6TB.

Port type and interface: The HD710M has a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port that fits a USB Micro-B connector. The drive includes a USB-Micro-B-to-USB-C cable.

Durability, encryption, and backup software: For a spinning hard drive, the HD710M Pro is as rugged as they come. Its IP68 ingress-protection rating denotes imperviousness to even the finest dust and, aided by a waterproof cover, its water-fastness even exceeds that rating, able to withstand an hour’s immersion at 2 meters. It can survive drops of up to 1.5 meters. The drive’s Backup ToGo software includes a cloud backup option.

Travelers: With unusually strong protection against drops, water, and dust for a spinning hard drive, the HD710M Pro is a good choice for frequent travelers, especially those who venture off the beaten path. It can withstand most anything the elements can dish out.

Creative professionals: The HD710M is a good choice for photographers, videographers, photojournalists, film crews, and other creative types whose work often requires them to be away from the studio. It provides a high degree of protection from drops, dusty and dirty conditions, and inclement weather.

Aesthetes: The HD710M Pro has a funky, offbeat design that's heavy on plastic and rubber, and may not appeal to folks looking for elegance from their gear.

Drive type and performance: The moderately ruggedized SanDisk ArmorATD comes formatted in HFS+, which can be used only on a Mac. (It can be reformatted for Windows use; the process is only a mild hassle if you don’t have a Mac.)

Capacity options: The ArmorATD Pro comes in capacities ranging from 1TB up to 6TB. The latter is the highest capacity now available on a portable hard drive. Several other WD/SanDisk drives also come in a 6TB version; you pay a bit of a premium for the ArmorATD over them, presumably due to its ruggedness.

Port type and interface: The ArmorATD has a USB-C port with a USB 3.1 Gen 1 interface. The port also works with the Thunderbolt ports on recent Macs. The ArmorATD comes with a pair of 2-foot cables, one USB-C-to-USB-C and the other USB-C-to-USB-A.

Durability, encryption, and backup software: The ArmorATD—the acronym stands for "all-terrain drive"— has an IP54 ingress protection rating, which denotes some security against sand and rain, though it's still potentially vulnerable to fine dust. You can splash water on (but not immerse) the unit with no ill effects. With a rubber bumper cushioning its aluminum frame and internal shock mounts, it's rated to survive up to 1,000 pounds of pressure or a drop from 3.3 feet. The ArmorATD lacks software, encryption, and backup features.

Mac users: The G-Drive line has traditionally been geared toward Mac users, and that remains the case now that G-Drive is a premium SanDisk Professional offering. The ArmorATD comes formatted in the Mac-only HFS+ file system, though it can be converted to Windows or dual-platform use if you desire.

Reasonably adventurous travelers: The ArmorATD provides basic protection from dust, sand, and water, so it’s a good choice for people—whether workers or campers—who spend time in the outdoors but don’t go on extreme wilderness treks.

Windows users: The G-Drive ArmorATD comes formatted in the Mac-friendly HFS+, one of two formats (along with APFS) compatible with the macOS backup system Time Machine. It can easily be reformatted on a Mac, but the process is a little more complicated on a Windows computer. It's doable, but if you don't own a Mac at all, consider a drive that comes formatted in NTFS or exFAT from the start.

Drive type and performance: The FireCuda X is a desktop platter-based hard drive, designed with a gamer aesthetic and offering programmable RGB lighting. It is bus-powered, drawing power from its host computer over the same USB-C cable used for data, and does not require a power adapter to operate. Although Seagate declined to provide details on the X Vault's innards, it presumably uses a 3.5-inch drive mechanism. At its size and weight, it is suitable for carrying in a travel bag or backpack. Its performance in our testing suggests that it spins at up to 7,200rpm.

Capacity options: The FireCuda X is available in 8TB (which we tested) and 20TB capacities. Based on its list price, the 8TB version goes for 3.7 cents per gigabyte. That drops to 2.6 cents per gig for the 20TB model.

Port type and interface: The FireCuda X has a USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-C interface and comes with a USB-C-to-USB-C cable. The drive is bus-powered, meaning that it draws its power over the USB cable and doesn't require an adapter or outlet. The X's host computer must be capable of delivering at least 15W of power over the relevant USB-C port for it to operate.

Durability, encryption, and backup software: The FireCuda X includes Seagate Toolkit, which supports scheduled and incremental backups, as well as real-time folder mirroring. The drive includes Seagate Rescue Data Recovery Services for data protection. The drive lacks hardware-based encryption; you can set up password protection using Seagate's bundled Toolkit utility. The X lacks an IP rating and any ruggedness certifications.

Gamers: The FireCuda X is styled with gamers in mind, and has the requisite RGB bling. It offers massive capacity for hosting a game library. As a spinning hard drive, however, it lacks the speed for smooth loading of AAA titles or gameplay, but it's a great place to store your collection of less-played and less-demanding titles at a comparatively low cost.

Bargain hunters: Despite a design that evokes gaming, the FireCuda X works just as well as a universal archive. It will hold photos, videos, or any other files you please, at a cost per gigabyte about a third of that of a comparable external SSD. Just keep in mind that the trade-off for its low price in today's market is slower throughput, so it's best for file transfer and storage rather than for loading or running programs.

Gamers who need speedy storage: Although the FireCuda X is an economical solution for hosting a large gaming library, it's far slower than internal or external SSDs. It's not ideal for loading or running AAA games, particularly recent, graphics-heavy ones. If your computer's M.2 SSD is already filled to capacity, to get the best performance, you'll want to clear up enough space on that drive and then transfer the files for the game you want to play from the FireCuda X.

Drive type and performance: The WD Black P10 is a compact, portable external spinning hard drive, available in high capacities. The P10’s poky performance, typical of a 5,400rpm spinning hard drive, makes it best suited for cold storage of games for eventual transfer to an SSD or other internal drive on your PC to play.

Capacity options: The P10 is available in 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, 5TB, and 6TB capacities. The 6TB version, introduced after we reviewed the P10, represents the highest capacity now available on a portable platter-based hard drive.

Port type and interface: The P10 has a USB Micro-B port on the drive end, and it supports the USB 3.2 Gen 1 interface. A USB Micro-B-to-A cable is included.

Durability, encryption, and backup software: The P10 is not ruggedized, and it does not natively support encryption.

PC gamers: Although it lacks the speed to run games well compared with an external SSD, the P10 can store a decent gaming library—in its largest (6TB) capacity, it could house several dozen modern, huge AAA games, ready to transfer to your computer as needed.

Console gamers: The P10 is compatible with Xbox Series X/S (it can play and store Xbox One games, and archive Xbox Series X/S games) and PlayStation consoles (it can play and store PS4 games, and transfer games to an internal SSD placed in the PS5’s secondary M.2 slot).

Gamers in need of fast storage: Although a P10 is a good choice to park a substantial gaming library, it's still a slow, spinning hard drive. As such, it's not intended to load or run big, demanding games from—particularly today's massive, graphics-heavy AAA titles. (Casual titles will be fine.)

Drive type and performance: The DT2 is a platter-based desk-bound hard drive. With a 3.5-inch drive mechanism and a rated speed of up to 7,200rpm (iStorage says that the speed can range between 5,400rpm and 7,200rpm), the DT2 is among the faster external hard drives we've tested in recent years. Being a desktop drive, as opposed to a portable one based on a small mechanism, helps.

Capacity options: The DT2 comes in 11 capacities ranging from 1TB to 18TB.

Port type and interface: On one end are the power switch, a jack for the 12-volt AC adapter, a USB 3.0 Type-B port—the drive comes with a USB-B-to-USB-A cable—and a slot for a security lock. The last is because, while bad actors may not be able to access the contents of your drive, you don't want them walking off with it, either.

Durability, encryption, and backup software: With a flock of protective features and boasting an impressive set of certifications, this PIN-authenticated external drive is a cinch for authorized users to access but impervious to attempts by outsiders to break in. The drive incorporates a Common Criteria EAL5+ (hardware-certified) secure microprocessor, which enhances security through true random number generation and built-in cryptography. The drive's AES-XTS 256-bit full-disk encryption is entirely hardware-based, making it platform- and device-independent.

People who handle sensitive data: The DT2 is compliant with FIPS 140-3 Level 3—a set of federal standards that describe security protocols for use by US government contractors and vendors. It is also FIPS 140-2 Level 2/3 compliant and adds NCSC CPA (UK), NLNCSA BSPA (Netherlands), and NATO Restricted certifications.

People who need a lot of security and capacity: The iStorage DiskAshur DT2 is easily the highest-capacity ultra-secure hard drive we have reviewed, with our test unit holding 14TB and the largest model 18TB. It is cost-effective, particularly at higher capacities and especially when compared with similarly secure SSDs.

Mainstream users: Unless you need the massive range of security features that the DT2 provides, there's no sense in paying for them. You could get a desktop hard drive such as the WD My Book, which does provide AES encryption and has a much lower cost per gigabyte.

Drive type and performance: With a corrugated, silvery design, the 2022 edition of LaCie's Mobile Drive is a stylish portable hard drive that can store up to 5TB of data. But for all its good looks, the Mobile Drive performs like the 5,400rpm spinning hard drive that it is, much slower than a basic SATA SSD.

Capacity options: The Mobile Drive comes in 1TB, 2TB, 4TB, and 5TB capacities.

Port type and interface: The Mobile Drive has a USB-C port and includes a USB-C-to-USB-C cable.

Durability, encryption, and backup software: The Mobile Drive lacks any specific ruggedness credentials. The downloadable LaCie Toolkit includes backup, restore, and mirroring utilities. You can back up manually or choose set-and-forget operation, in which your content is constantly backed up whenever anything changes. The mirror function lets you sync files in a folder on your computer with one on the drive. (Whatever you put in or remove from one mirrored folder will be reflected in the other.) In addition to the three-year warranty, common among portable external hard drives, LaCie provides three years of access to Rescue Data Recovery Services.

Executives: If you spend a lot of time in meetings, particularly face-to-face ones, the Mobile Drive is a showy accessory that can help to burnish your image. Of course, it’s practical, too, and it can hold a lot of data at its higher capacities.

Public-facing employees: The Mobile Drive is a commonplace but uncommonly stylish product that, in addition to holding a lot of data, can act as a conversation piece and help you project an air of professionalism and style when dealing with others.

Users in outdoor or dusty environments: Although the Mobile Drive comes clad in sturdy aluminum, LaCie doesn't bill it as shockproof or drop-proof. It also doesn't have an IP rating, denoting protection from water, dirt, or dust.