External drives · Speed, cables and hardware
How can I copy files to my external drive faster?
Short answer: Connect directly to a fast port with a good data cable, skip hubs and monitor ports, copy fewer larger files, delete rebuildable caches instead of copying them, and avoid running several big copies to the same drive at once.
Remove the bottlenecks: connect the drive directly to a fast port with a good data cable, avoid hubs and monitor ports, and copy fewer, larger files. Those three changes make the biggest difference.
More tips:
- Delete caches and build folders you can regenerate instead of copying them.
- Compress folders full of tiny files into one archive first.
- Don't run several big copies to the same drive at once.
- Let a hard disk finish one job before starting another; it slows sharply when asked to do two things.
- Keep some free space on the destination drive.
Check the speed your connection actually negotiated — see how to see a drive's connection speed.