What’s the most affordable way to add more storage to my PC?

You may not need an SSD for everything. A large hard drive is much cheaper and works well for photos, video files, project archives, and other bulk storage. Keep your operating system and frequently played games on the SSD, and move larger files to the HDD. An external USB hard drive is also easy to add if you don’t want to open the computer.

Look at several major computer retailers and used marketplaces instead of buying the first drive you see. Prices vary a lot, and smaller 500 GB or 1 TB SSDs sometimes go on sale. Just verify the seller, check the drive’s interface and size, and avoid assuming that every M.2 drive will work in every computer.

There isn’t a reliable way to get a large amount of storage without paying something for it. If your budget is tight, start with cleanup and consider an external HDD or internal HDD for less demanding files. To give you a precise recommendation, you’ll need to find out whether the computer is a laptop or desktop and provide its make and model.

First, check whether you actually have an available M.2 or SATA slot. Your PC’s exact make and model, or your motherboard model if it’s a desktop, will determine what upgrades are compatible. An extra NVMe SSD is usually the fastest option if there’s an open M.2 slot, while a SATA SSD is a good alternative.

Before buying anything, use a storage analyzer such as WinDirStat and Windows Disk Cleanup to see what is taking up space. Remove unused games, old installers, temporary files, and duplicate media. You can also archive or compress photos and videos that you don’t need to access regularly.