Notebooks and tablets have really exciting performances, but often present great flaws from the point of view of internal memory, which in recent years has become a discriminating factor widely used to raise or lower the price. Having an increasingly low amount of disk space, we need to find ways to expand this fixed memory of the laptop or device, trying to add new disk space by spending little and without too many technical steps (everyone must be able to make this type of changes without the help of a computer technician). If your notebook or tablet has a NAND memory or an SSD disk with a capacity of less than 500 GB, in this guide we will show you how to add memory and disk space quickly and easily, without having to necessarily change the internal components or buy a new laptop or tablet.
How to add memory and disk space to laptops or tablets
To increase the internal memory or disk space of a laptop or tablet we have various methods, it is up to us to choose the one that best suits our purposes and our pockets (some are very cheap or even free, others still require an expense) .SD or MicroSD card
Most Windows laptops and Android tablets have a slot to insert SD or Micro SD cards . When you insert the card into the device, it is immediately recognized by the device as external memory and can be immediately used as additional memory to save our files.
If we have an SD slot on the notebook, we recommend purchasing one of the following memory cards:
- 128 GB TF Memory Card, Ultra Class 10 UHS-I (€ 23)
- Lexar Professional Cards 633x 256GB SDXC UHS-I (42 €)
- Transcend TS256GSDC300S 256GB SDXC Memory Card (€ 46)
- Sandisk Extreme Pro 256 Gb Memory Card (99 €)
- SanDisk Extreme PRO 256 GB, SDXC Memory Card (100 €)
If, on the other hand, we want to increase the memory on a tablet, we can use one of the following microSD memory cards equipped with an adapter (the latter to be used if necessary on notebooks):
- Kingston SDCS / 128GB Canvas Select 128 GB MicroSD Card (15 €)
- SanDisk Ultra 128 GB MicroSDXC Memory Card and Adapter (22 €)
- SanDisk Extreme Pro 64GB microSDXC Memory Card and SD Adapter (27 €)
- Samsung EVO Plus 256 GB microSD card with SD adapter (42 €)
- SanDisk Extreme Pro 128 GB microSDXC Memory Card and SD Adapter (43 €)
Before buying an SD card, we check the type of card and the dimensions supported by the device: usually the new models read up to 128 GB, but better check in the user manual or in the product data sheet. In this regard, we advise you to read our guide to buy the SD card and types of memory cards .
USB flash drive (with OTG on tablets)
If we don't want to take advantage of the SD or micro SD slot, we can buy a very common USB stick for the computer; it can also be used on tablets thanks to the use of USB OTG technology.
The best USB 3.0 sticks that we can buy at the moment are listed below:
- Verbatim Store'n'Go 128 GB USB Flash 3 (18 €)
- Kingston DT100G3 / 128 GB DataTraveler 100 G3, USB 3.0 (18 €)
- Sandisk Ultra Flair 128 GB, USB 3.0 flash drive (31 €)
- Verbatim 256GB USB 3 Flash (42 €)
- SanDisk Ultra 256 GB USB 3.0 flash drive (49 €)
- Aukru USB Type C to USB 3.0 Host OTG (5 €)
- Rankie OTG Cable, Micro USB Male to USB 2.0 Adapter (6 €)
- POSUGEAR OTG Cable, Micro USB Male to USB 2.0 Female OTG (7 €)
- UGREEN USB Type C OTG Cable USB C to USB 3.0 Adapter (8 €)
Make sure you buy the right USB adapter based on the type of socket on our tablet, that is USB Type-C (newer) or USB micro-B (classic socket).
Cloud Storage
To increase the internal memory of the computer or tablet without applying any type of hardware addition we will have to use Cloud Storage, i.e. online storage spaces that can be accessed from any PC or tablet connected to the Internet.
OneDrive, Dropbox, Google Drive and other clouds offer a free storage space that can be freely used to save personal files or to quickly exchange files or folders between different devices. The only limits are the capacity (it is often necessary to pay a subscription in order to benefit from a space greater than 15 GB) and the speed of file exchange (based on the speed of the Internet line currently used).
To find out more, we recommend reading our Free Cloud Drive comparison to save files online . If, on the other hand, we want to create a personal and unlimited cloud, we can read our guide on how to create a personal and free Cloud Server on your PC .
External USB disk
Another good method to add memory and disk space to laptops or tablets involves the use of an external USB disk, which boast a high capacity and excellent speed (especially on models with SSD).
The best external USB drives we can buy for a notebook are:
- Samsung Memories MU-PA250B 250 GB T5 Portable External SSD (79 €)
- Western Digital My Passport SSD 256 GB External Portable SSD (80 €)
- Samsung Memories MU-PA500B External SSD Portable T5 500 GB (88 €)
- SanDisk Extreme SSD Portable 500 GB (105 €)
- Samsung Memories MU-PA1T0B External SSD Portable T5 1 TB (169 €)
If, on the other hand, we already have a mechanical hard disk or a SATA SSD, we can convert it to an external USB disk using one of the following disk cases:
- EasyULT External Hard Drive Case 2.5 ", USB 3.0 (8 €)
- GeekerChip 2.5 inch USB 3.0 HDD SSD External Case for 7.5mm 2.5 "Hard Drive (€ 9)
- AUKEY External Hard Drive Case 2.5 "USB 3.0 (9 €)
In this regard, we invite you to read our guide on how to transform internal disk into portable external drive, where we will find all the tips and tricks to be able to convert an internal disk into an external USB drive.
Network disk (NAS or USB disk on router)
Another good method to add memory to a notebook or tablet is to install a network disk, i.e. a memory unit (usually a USB disk connected to a router or NAS) that allows you to access its space and to files saved directly from the LAN or Wi-Fi.
Devices connected to our home network will see the network disk or NAS as an additional memory unit, which we can use to move or store files and folders.
To connect an external USB disk to the router and configure it as a network drive, please read our guide on Connecting a disk to the router to share files on the network . If, on the other hand, we want to focus on a NAS-based solution, we advise you to read our article Buy a network NAS Storage: what it is used for and how much it costs .
We want to convert an old PC as a network server "> Use a PC as a NAS file server with FreeNAS, where we will find all the necessary information.
Replace internal disk (on notebooks)
As a last resort to add memory and disk space to laptops we will have to replace the internal mechanical disk and replace it with an SSD unit, much faster and with ever larger capacities.
The best SSDs we can use on a laptop are:
- Crucial MX500 Internal SSD, 500 GB (64 €)
- SanDisk 500GB Ultra 3D SSD, 2.5 '' Internal SSD (67 €)
- Samsung Memories 860 EVO 500 GB Internal SSD (77 €)
- Samsung Memories 860 QVO Internal SSD 1 TB (110 €)
- SanDisk 1TB Ultra 3D SSD, 2.5 '' Internal SSD (153 €)
If we already have an SSD mounted on our laptop in a laptop, we can remove the DVD player or burner and use the appropriate bay caddy, such as those available below:
- QUMOX Laptop Second Hard Drive Dvd bay Caddy 12.7 mm SATA (€ 8)
- CSL - SATA 3 Hard Disk Drive HDD SSD Case for Laptop (10 €)
- SALCAR - 2nd HDD / SSD SATA 3.0 HDD Hard Drive (11 €)
If we don't know how to replace an internal drive on laptops, just read our guide on How to replace the hard drive to upgrade your PC in an hour . If instead we want to use the caddy instead of the reader or the burner of the notebook, we can read the SSD guide on the Laptop, instead of the hard disk or DVD player .
Conclusions
In this guide we have shown you the different methods, more or less expensive, to add memory and disk space to laptops or tablets, without necessarily having to abandon the device or make strange changes: all the methods are within the reach of any user.If we also want to increase the RAM of our laptop, so that we can open a greater number of programs, we invite you to read the guide on How to increase RAM and add new memory to your PC . If instead the problem is the internal memory of Android, we can follow the suggestions proposed in the guide on How to increase the internal Android memory, in which we will also find the methods to control the space occupied and delete unnecessary or too large files.
