SSDs (solid-state drives) are popular storage devices thanks to their speed and energy efficiency. However, like all electronic devices, they have a limited lifespan. Several factors affect how long an SSD lasts, such as the number of write cycles its memory can take, temperature and storage conditions. Keeping these factors in mind helps you make your SSD last as long as possible.
If your SSD already shows signs of wear and holds important files, back it up now. If that is no longer possible, see Bot’s SSD recovery.
There are also some simple steps you can take to extend its life, such as keeping the drive at a moderate temperature and avoiding physical shocks. In this article, we look at these topics in more detail and share tips to help you get the most out of your SSD.
What is an SSD?
An SSD is a storage device that performs much better than a hard drive. The main difference between the two is that an SSD has no moving parts, which greatly reduces the risk of mechanical failure.
Most SSDs are built around two main components, flash memory and a controller, which work as follows:
The flash memory stores all your files and data; that is its main job. Because it works electronically, with no mechanical parts, reading and writing are much faster, and the drive is more resistant to vibration and drops.
The controller sits between the flash memory and the computer. It manages the flow of data, which ensures the SSD’s performance and spreads writes evenly to prolong the life of the flash memory.
How long does an SSD last?
Lifespan is one of the things that makes many people hesitate before buying an SSD. The first SSDs appeared around the early 1990s, so the technology is only about 30 years old, and any claim about drives lasting longer than that is an estimate.
Even so, even if you are a heavy user, your SSD should keep working for many years. An endurance test by The Tech Report showed that the lifespan stated by manufacturers is far shorter than what the drives can actually withstand.
For example, Intel rated one of its SSDs for 3 years with an average of 20 GB written per day, which adds up to only about 22 TB of data. That is roughly 3% of what the SSD actually managed in The Tech Report’s test.
According to that test, even with extremely heavy use, writing and deleting 256 GB of data every day, an SSD could keep working for around 22 years.
In other words, you will most likely replace your SSD with newer technology long before it wears out.
An interesting point is that reading files hardly wears out an SSD; what wears it out is writing.
How do I calculate my SSD’s lifespan?
To estimate how long your SSD will last, you need to know its endurance. Each memory block can only be written and erased a limited number of times (program/erase or P/E cycles), typically a few thousand for the TLC memory used in most consumer SSDs. Manufacturers translate this into the TBW (terabytes written) rating, which you will find on the SSD’s datasheet. For example, a drive rated at 100 TBW is designed to handle about 100 TB of data written over its lifetime.
The other factor is how much data you write to the drive each day. The more you write, the faster you use up its endurance and the shorter its life; the less you write, the longer it lasts.
To get a rough idea of how long your SSD should last, use this formula:
Endurance (TBW converted to GB) / data written per day (in GB) = lifespan in days (divide by 365 to get years).
For example, an SSD rated at 100 TBW (100,000 GB) with 50 GB written every day would last roughly 2,000 days (100,000 / 50), or about 5.5 years.
Keep in mind that this is only an estimate: your SSD’s real lifespan may be longer or shorter depending on other factors, such as temperature and storage conditions.
What damages an SSD?
You can help extend your SSD’s life by avoiding certain habits. Watch out for these:
- Defragmenting: defragmenting an SSD brings no benefit. On top of that, it moves data around, causing unnecessary writes that shorten the drive’s life;
- Filling up all the available space: leave at least 25% of your SSD free. The fuller it gets, the slower it becomes;
- Using your SSD with a very old operating system: older systems were designed for hard drives (some do not support TRIM, for example). This can hurt performance and even shorten the SSD’s lifespan.
How can I make my SSD last longer?
Besides avoiding the habits above, there are other things you can do to extend your SSD’s life. Here they are, so you can put them into practice!
Don’t wipe free space
Wiping free space was common practice with older hard drives. On SSDs with TRIM enabled, however, deleted data is cleared by the drive itself, so wiping free space is not only pointless but also wears out the SSD with unnecessary writes.
Enable TRIM
Make sure the TRIM command is enabled. It is essential for an SSD: it tells the drive which blocks are no longer in use, which keeps performance high, reduces unnecessary erase cycles and extends the SSD’s lifespan.
To check whether TRIM is enabled, follow these steps:
- Press Windows + X and click “Command Prompt (Admin)” (or “Terminal (Admin)” in Windows 11), then confirm when Windows asks for permission;
- In the window that opens, type
fsutil behavior query DisableDeleteNotifyand press Enter; - If the result is DisableDeleteNotify = 0, TRIM is enabled. If it is 1, TRIM is disabled.
If TRIM is disabled, you can enable it with fsutil behavior set DisableDeleteNotify 0. If it still does not work, the SSD may not support the feature: check the manufacturer’s website for a firmware update that adds TRIM support.
Leave some free space
The SSD needs free space to write new files and manage its memory efficiently, so don’t fill it to capacity. As mentioned above, leave at least 25% free to preserve your SSD’s life.
Avoid constant writing
Reducing writes is a good way to extend your SSD’s life. If you also have a hard drive, keep the operating system, programs, games and files you use often on the SSD, where fast access makes a difference, and store large files that change frequently or that you rarely open on the hard drive.
Don’t defragment your SSD
It bears repeating. On a hard drive, defragmentation improves performance because the read/write heads have to move less to reach a file. An SSD has no mechanical parts and reaches any memory location just as quickly, so defragmenting it brings no benefit and only adds unnecessary writes.
Advantages of SSDs
SSDs (solid-state drives) have several advantages over traditional hard drives. Here are three of the main ones:
- Speed: SSDs read and write data much faster than traditional hard drives, which makes them ideal for demanding tasks such as loading games or programs.
- Silence: SSDs have no moving parts, so they make no noise at all, which is a plus in both desktops and laptops.
- Compact size: SSDs are much smaller than traditional hard drives, which makes them ideal for portable devices such as laptops and tablets. They are also less vulnerable to physical shocks, which suits devices that are carried around a lot.
Disadvantages of SSDs
SSDs also have some drawbacks worth considering. Here are two of the main ones:
- Cost: SSDs are generally more expensive than traditional hard drives per gigabyte, which can be a problem if you need a lot of storage. That said, as SSDs have become more popular, prices have fallen sharply in recent years, and there are now affordable options in a wide range of capacities.
- Storage capacity: although SSDs come in many capacities, they still do not match the largest hard drives, which remain the cheapest way to store large amounts of data. Because SSDs are so much faster, many people use an SSD as their main drive and a hard drive for long-term storage.
My SSD has reached the end of its life. What should I do?
If your SSD has stopped working, don’t despair: Bot can help! We are a team of data recovery specialists, and we work in a Class 100 (ISO 5) cleanroom under ISO 14644-1 so that your device is handled in a safe environment.
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We hope these tips help you get the most out of your SSD. And if you ever need help, now you know where to find it!
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