[Full Guide] How to Clone Windows 11 to New Computer

Can I clone my Windows 11 to a new computer?

In the ever-changing world of technology, the lifespan of computers and laptops seems to be getting shorter every year. However, adapting to the new system while maintaining familiarity with the old configuration can be time-consuming and laborious. Reinstalling apps, drivers and updates becomes a tedious chore, taking away from the excitement of upgrading to a new device.

If you are considering replacing your old laptop with a new one or struggling to set up a new computer without having to reinstall everything from scratch, don't worry. You are not the only one stuck in this dilemma. Many users face the same challenge in today's rapidly evolving technology environment.

Here comes the solution: Clone Windows 11 to your new computer. By taking this approach, you can directly migrate the Windows 11 settings, data, and productivity to a new device without a tedious reinstall, maintaining the familiarity and functionality you've become accustomed to.

How to clone Windows 11 to new computer

To clone hard drive to new computer can be a simple job. It may appear to be complicated, but it only takes a few minutes with the right assistance to complete the process. Before you clone Windows 11 to a new computer, you must take several preparatory steps to ensure a smooth and successful transition.

1. Back up important data and safeguard all crucial files on the new PC drive as data will be overwritten during the cloning process.
2. Make sure the new computer meets the minimum hardware requirements specified by Microsoft to run Windows 11.
3. Ensure that the destination disk on the new computer has enough storage capacity to accommodate the cloned data from the Windows 11 system.
4. Choose a reliable and reputable disk cloning software that supports cloning Windows 11 since there is no built-in cloning utility in Windows.

Section 1. Clone Windows 11 with the best cloning software

How to clone PC to another PC successfully, choosing the best disk cloning software is a crucial step. Our recommendation leans towards AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, a highly regarded tool that is especially beneficial for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 users. With its intuitive interface and comprehensive features, it ensures a seamless transition from one hard drive to another.

Rest assured, the "Clone Disk" feature can help you migrate your Windows 11 system to a new computer worry-free. Or, if your goal is simply to transfer only OS to a new PC, the "Migrate OS" feature provides a fast and secure migration process.

The software's user-friendly design with step-by-step instructions accelerates the achievement of your cloning goals.

Before you begin, you must prepare the new computer by disassembling it and removing the hard drive, then connecting it to the old computer. Please follow the steps below to start the cloning process:

Step 1. Install and start AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional Edition. Navigate to the Clone section in the top action bar and select Clone Disk.

Step 2. Select the disk cloning method according to your preference:

☻ "Clone Disk Quickly": Moves only used space to another disk, making it easy to clone larger drive to smaller drive. 

☻ "Sector-by-Sector Clone": Copies all sectors (regardless of usage) to the target disk. Make sure the size of the destination disk matches or exceeds the size of the source disk.

Step 3. Specify your drive that originally contained the Windows system as the source disk, and then proceed to the Next step.

Step 4. Select the new disk as the target disk, and if the target disk is an SSD, enable "Optimize SSD Performance" for 4K alignment.

Step 5. Resize the partition on the new drive as per your requirement and proceed to the next stage.

Step 6. Review the comments provided, click Finish, and then click Apply to act.

By strictly following these steps, you can effectively clone your Windows 11 system to the hard drive, ensuring a seamless transition of data and settings. Then you can install the hard drive back on your new computer.

Section 2. Boot Windows 11 on the new computer

Once you have installed the cloned hard drive to your new computer, follow these steps to make your new computer boot from the cloned disk successfully:

Step 1. Restart your computer and immediately press one of the designated keys (such as F2, F3, F4, F5, ESC, or other keys) to access BIOS setup.

Step 2. In the BIOS setup, use the arrow keys to navigate to find the Boot option. Here you will find the Boot Device Priority or similar option.

Step 3. Use the "+" or "-" keys to adjust the boot device priority to ensure the new drive gets the highest priority.

Step 4. Press F1 or the specified key to save and exit the BIOS interface, and then restart the system.

Step 5. After restarting, enter the license key to activate Windows 11 on the newly cloned system.

After completing these steps, your computer should boot seamlessly from the cloned drive.

FAQs on cloning Windows 11 to new computer

Q1: Does Windows 11 have built-in cloning software to clone windows 11 to SSD free?

A: No, Windows 11 does not have built-in cloning software. You need to rely on trustworthy third-party cloning tools to clone Windows 11. AOMEI Partition Assistant provides a safe and simple cloning program specifically for Windows 11.

Q2: Can I clone my entire PC to a new one?

A: Yes, it is possible to clone the Windows operating system from a PC to a new PC. This process requires reliable Windows cloning software such as AOMEI Partition Assistant. Using this tool, you can easily clone Windows from your old hard drive to your new device.

Q3: How long does it take to clone a PC?

A: The duration of PC cloning depends on several factors, such as cloning speed and the size of the hard drive being cloned. For reference, if your cloning speed is 100MB/s, cloning a 100GB drive will typically take about 17 minutes. You can estimate the time required for a specific scenario and monitor progress accordingly. If the clone is taking an unusually long time, or you are experiencing issues such as skipping bad sectors, you may need to troubleshoot.

Q4: How many times can you clone Windows?

A: There is no limit to the number of times if you want to clone Windows 10 to new computer or clone hard drive. Cloning a hard drive involves copying its contents onto another drive, so as long as the source drive is working properly and the destination drive has enough capacity, you can clone it as many times as you need.

Conclusion

To clone Windows 11 to new computer becomes effortless with the help of AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Compared to the tedious process of reinstalling Windows and software, utilizing disk cloning to transfer your system to another PC can significantly save time and effort.

In addition, AOMEI software shows excellent performance in managing disks and partitions. It offers partition deletion, hard drive formatting, MBR to GPT conversion, program and file moving, and more. Additionally, for Windows Server users, a dedicated Server Edition is available to meet specific needs and requirements.