Best Free Disk Cloning Software to Download

Cloning a drive is often desired in various situations, but certain common scenarios make it a necessity to ensure data safety. These include instances where one wants to create an exact copy of their drive for backup purposes, replace a failing drive, or upgrade to a larger storage capacity. Additionally, cloning can be useful when migrating to a new computer or operating system, or when trying to recover from a system crash or data loss. In all these cases, cloning the drive provides a safe and reliable way to preserve data and prevent loss.

Cloning a drive allows for upgrading a hard disk from an old, small volume to a new, higher-capacity one without reinstalling programs and applications.
The disk clone process makes it easy to migrate data from a hard drive to an SSD, allowing for a seamless transition.
Cloning helps in recovering data when the current hard disk is damaged, allowing for a backup of important files and information.
The requirement of transferring the operating system files
Cloning a disk is a crucial process for both professionals and home users who store important data, as it allows for a complete backup of the original disk, ensuring that all files and operating systems are preserved in case of hardware failure or other issues. This process is essential for maintaining data integrity and preventing loss of critical information.

Quick Navigation: Part 1. Best Freeware to Clone Disk; Part 2. Other 10 Free Disk Cloning Software

Part 1. Best Freeware to Clone Disk

Qiling Disk Master is the best free cloning software available, offering extensive options with a user-friendly interface that maximizes data and operating system protection with ease. It is fast and convenient to use, allowing users to perform all expected backup and cloning tasks with a single program.

What Makes the Software the Best?

Your Reliable & Free Disk Cloning Software

(Trust Score 4.8 by 257 Users)

The software offers customization options for the clone and backup modes, allowing you to choose from full image, incremental, or differential modes, and you can also set schedules for hard drive cloning with ease.
This tool creates a standalone backup file to clone a hard disk drive (HDD) to a solid state drive (SSD), a USB drive, or a bigger size hard disk.
This software can create an image of a file and backup a RAID array in Windows 11/10/8/7/XP.

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Step-by-Step Guide to Clone Disk in Windows 11/10/8/7/XP

The free cloning software is designed for users who want to perform data backup, including partition, drive, or operating system backup. It creates a copy of the data, protecting it from loss, and can clone a system HDD, external storage devices, flashcards, and more. To use it, download and install the disk clone tool from the official Qiling website.

To store the cloning file externally, a user can establish a connection between their computer and an external storage unit, such as a USB drive or external hard drive, and then select the option to save the cloning file to the external storage. If they prefer not to store the file externally, they can skip this step and proceed with the cloning process.
Clicking the icon on the desktop launches the best free cloning software, which displays several options in its primary window. To begin the cloning process, users must click the "Drive Backup" option, after which the window will show the partitions of the selected drive.

The user sets up the free hdd cloning software by specifying the storage location, backup name, and choosing whether to use the "Automatic Backup" feature or sector-by-sector cloning, which clones every file including hidden or lost data. After setup, the user presses the "Start" button to begin the cloning process, which takes time depending on the total size of the drive.

Part 2. Other 10 Free Disk Cloning Software

For those seeking the best free drive cloning software, the following list can be helpful in completing the job with ease, as disk cloning is an important task.

#1. Paragon Drive Copy

Paragon Drive Copy is a useful disk duplicator that helps users clone their hard drive in simple steps, making it a great free disk cloning software. It also enables users to store data, migrate data, manage partitions, and create backups of their data, making it a handy tool for those seeking to duplicate or manage their hard drives.

Features: It clones and migrates data regardless of environment and location; Helps in creating virtual clones of an entire PC; The tool helps in creating a copy of an existing HDD and restoring the same on a new HDD with a different sector size, which is useful for upgrading or replacing a hard drive with a newer model that has a different sector size.; The individual assists in migrating a Windows operating system to a new device, ensuring a smooth transition and organizing data in the process.

Pros: Full back up of computer; Supports all file systems; Migration of OS from HDD to SSD

Cons: Misses advanced features; One-person use

#2. Acronis True Image

Acronis True Image is a leading program for cloning hard drives, offering a user-friendly interface and numerous options. Its free disk cloning software is simple to use and provides a range of features, making it a valuable tool for users.

Features: The command helps in creating a mirror or full image of the system, allowing for easy backup and restoration of the system to its original state.; The cloning process promotes an exact replica of an operating system, files, and settings from an existing disk to a new one, creating a duplicate environment with the same configuration, applications, and data. This can be useful for setting up a new computer or replacing a failed disk with an identical one, minimizing the need for manual setup and configuration.; This tool helps in converting a full image backup into a virtual disk format, allowing users to test the same under different settings.; Uses artificial intelligence, ransomware protection, and machine learning technology

Pros: Super-easy user interface; Fast upload speeds during testing; Local and cloud backup features

Cons: Expensive; Slow web interface

#3. Macrium Reflect

Macrium Reflect is a free hard drive cloning software that is beneficial for those seeking a fast and dependable tool. Its primary features include a fast and reliable cloning process, making it ideal for those who need to quickly replicate their disk.

Features: Creates an accurate image file of HDD and partitions; The tool helps in creating whole partitions in a single compressed archive file that is mountable. This means it can create a compressed archive file that contains a complete partition, including all files and data, and can be easily mounted as a separate drive.; Supports both GPT and MBR; Possible to recover partitions in a few clicks; Rapid Delta Cloning is a technique used to clone a disk at a faster rate by only copying the changes made to the original disk, rather than cloning the entire disk. This approach reduces the time and resources required for the cloning process, making it a more efficient method for disk duplication.

Pros: High speed of cloning; Useful functions; Different versions available

Cons: Very expensive; Difficult for beginners

#4. Nova Backup PC

Nova Backup PC is a simple software that allows users to create an exact clone of a hard drive. It offers a straightforward and efficient way to back up and restore data, making it a reliable tool for users.

Features: Comes with various backup options; File-level or image-level backup; Protects the data through 256-AES encryption; Schedule backups in bit-level or incremental level; Cloud and local backup management

Pros: High security; Highly customizable; Fast backups

Cons: Cluttered interface; Lacks file explorer integration

#5. EaseUS ToDo Backup Home

EaseUS Todo Backup Home is a free cloning software that protects the system by creating backups in a few simple steps. Its essential features include.

Features: It enables storing backups on external devices, such as cloud storage, FTP servers, and Network-Attached Storage (NAS) devices.; You can browse the backup file using Windows Explorer.; The free cloning software is compatible with GPT and UEFI; It aids in recovering the OS from the boot menu in case of OS failure.; Possible to perform scheduling of backup; Flexible backup management

Pros: Friendly interface; Easy data recovery feature; Secured and encrypted data transfer

Cons: Disk partition knowledge missing; Requires multiple accounts to access different devices

#6. Hard Disk Manager 16

Hard Disk Manager 16 is a free, professional-grade HDD cloning software that enables both novices and professionals to create perfect backups of their hard disk, utilizing its essential features.

Features: This tool enables the transfer of system files in a matter of seconds, utilizing both physical and virtual devices as needed, making it efficient and convenient.; Cloning functioning operated in protected mode; Has basic partitioning features to keep the system organized; The system has a recovery option that allows it to restore itself to its previous state, effectively undoing any changes or updates made since the last backup. This feature can be useful in case of system failure or corruption, allowing the system to revert to a known good state.

Pros: Easy to use; Supports partition edits; Undo and redo changes

Cons: Free edition sees several features disabled; Large setup file

#7. Clonezilla

Clonezilla is a free program that can clone a hard drive and its entire contents with ease, making it a useful tool for backing up and duplicating data.

Features: It is possible to access and retrieve image files from various storage locations, including the local disk, a Samba server, an FTP server, and potentially other sources.; Supports both MBR and GPT partition formats; Supports Unattended mode; This tool helps in restoring one image file to more than one local location.

Pros: Open-source; Supports various file systems; Offers LVM2 support

Cons: The user interface is a big let down; Absence of differential and incremental backup

#8. Drive Image XML

Drive Image XML is a cloning software that allows users to create an image file of a computer's hard disk and partitions. Its essential features include the ability to create a precise clone of the original system, including all settings and configurations, and to restore the image to a new or existing system, making it a useful tool for backing up and restoring data.

Features: Creates a backup and restores the same; Schedule a backup; It uses Microsoft's Volume Shadow Services during cloning

Pros: Restore individual files from images; Ability to restore images to different drives; Drive-to-drive image copy

Cons: No differential or incremental backup; The backup process is slow

#9. MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard is a free drive cloning software that allows for easy cloning of a hard disk while safeguarding data and optimizing disk space. Its primary features include.

Features: a. Resizes partition; b. Copy a disk partition; c. Use the tool to merge partitions; d. Migrate OS to new HDD or SSD

Pros: Several useful feature; Helpful support

Cons: Requires time to learn the options

#10. Daemon Tools Pro 8

The software is robust and helps in cloning the hard disk with ease, featuring essential tools that make the process straightforward.

Features: TrueCrypt container to store confidential data; The system emulates 32 HD, DT, and SCSI drivers simultaneously, while supporting 4 IDE drivers.; It converts, compresses, and protects image files

Pros: Virtual disc burning process; Good choices for imaging tools

Cons: The annual subscription is expensive