5 Useful PC Hard Drive Accessories You Can Buy On Amazon

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

External HDDs are becoming less common for storing files that you need to access regularly, such as bootable operating systems, virtual machines, high-resolution media files, design files, and games. These days that job is better served by solid-state drives (SSDs), because they offer blazing-fast speeds. They're also much safer to carry around since they have no moving parts. Depending on the enclosure, they can even be more portable. Still, HDDs are storage devices worth adding to your kit. Having the right accessories is also necessary for a smooth experience, whether you're buying them new or repurposing an old hard drive.

While SSDs are reliable in the short term, hard drives are better and more affordable for long-term storage. This is especially true for files you're not going to access for a while (cold files). These include family photos, Blu-ray collections you've backed up, completed projects with large files (e.g., 4K video and CAD files), or PC backups.

You can even use one daily, provided you're okay with the slower speeds and can keep it safe. This can come down to the accessories you use, including enclosures, cables, and cases. The good news is that Amazon has some great picks that aren't expensive (and also SSD-compatible).

You actually don't need an enclosure to connect a hard drive to a computer externally. One solution is to use a SATA to USB cable. However, it leaves the bare hard drive exposed, making it vulnerable to damage from drops, impacts, overheating, and electrostatic discharge (ESD). An enclosure like the Ugreen 2.5-inch Hard Drive Enclosure can mitigate these risks. You can get it for $29.99 on Amazon and it comes with a USB-C to USB-A cable.

This hard drive enclosure has a SATA interface and can achieve speeds of up to 6Gbps. It also supports the USB 3.1 protocol via a USB-C port, and uses USB Attached SCSI Protocol (UASP). USB 3.1 is one of the fastest USB ports, and can reach speeds of up to 10Gbps. The enclosure isn't rated for speeds that high, though. However, it's still enough for high-speed transfers for your backups.

UASP is a high-speed protocol that allows for faster transmission of data between a computer and external storage using USB. To prevent the disk drive from constantly spinning, increasing its wear and tear and generating excessive heat, the enclosure puts it in a low-power sleep state after three minutes of inactivity. The biggest trade-off is that it'll take a moment to start spinning again.

As you saw with the Ugreen 2.5-inch Hard Drive Enclosure, it comes with a USB-C to USB-A cable. This means that you can't use it immediately on something like a MacBook. The same goes for several ultrabooks like the Dell XPS 13, HP OmniBook Ultra (2026), and Lenovo Yoga Slim 7x.

One of the solutions is to get a USB-C hub instead of an expensive dock, but an even cheaper and easier solution is to get the Ugreen USB-C to USB-C cable. It costs $17.99 for a 3ft cable, which is a good length for placing the hard drive behind something like a laptop or getting it out of the way of your immediate workspace. For $19.99, you can increase that length to 6ft to really get it out of the way when you need to.

The cable supports the USB 3.2 Gen 2 protocol, which is functionally the same as USB 3.1 (speeds up to 10Gbps). Since USB cables tend to fray, Ugreen has made it more resistant to bending, pulling, and twisting using durable nylon braiding with reinforced strain relief at the joints. On top of fast data transfer speeds, it's a great USB cable for charging. It can deliver up to 240W of super-fast USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) charging, so you can safely use it to power a compatible phone and laptop.

One scenario that can lead to a hard fall is if you connect a hard drive to a laptop and forget it's there. Upon quickly picking up the computer, you drag the hard drive by the cable, sending it crashing to the ground. Since a hard drive has mechanical parts, including the spinning platters, motor, read/write head, and arm, there are several things that can break inside of it, leading to costly data loss.

That can be prevented if you purchase the Slipdrive Portable Hard Drive Sleeve for Laptop. You can get it for $16.99 and attach it to the back of your laptop. It'll allow you to keep your hard drive within reach without worrying that you'll accidentally knock it off the table.

The sleeve is elastic and stretchable enough to secure a large hard drive. On the back is strong adhesive that can stick it to various devices, including the back of tablets or the side of desktops. The adhesive remains reusable, allowing you to detach and attach it many times without leaving any sticky residue. Just be aware that the sleeve can add noticeable bulk to your laptop. But it's a small price to pay rather than having your hard drive die before its time. 

Having a hard drive enclosure to connect your drive to a computer and offer protection is fine, but sometimes you might have several bare hard drives that you need to swap between. As long as you can store them safely when not connected to the dock and you don't mind losing the portability that an enclosure provides, the Sabrent Hard Drive Docking Station will serve you well.

It supports 2.5-inch and 3.5-inch SATA hard drives and solid-state drives up to 22TB, making it ideal for using with high-capacity storage drives. You also get fast speeds of up to 5Gbps, since it supports USB 3.0 with UASP.

The box includes a USB 3.0 cable, which has a USB-B to USB-A connector. It comes with a 12V power adapter to power the unit. While it's true that 2.5-inch drives can run on USB power, including with the Ugreen 2.5-inch Hard Drive Enclosure, using a power adapter to power them as well leads to better stability. The docking station has no offline cloning function, but it does have software you can use called Acronis True Image for Sabrent. 

The ProCase External Hard Drive Travel Case is another accessory that's essential for protecting your hard drive and you from expensive data loss. As mentioned earlier, the mechanical components of the hard drive, not to mention the case, can get damaged if not handled properly. When moving around without a travel case, you can end up just throwing the external HDD in your bag, where it shifts around, banging against other items and getting scratched. 

This travel case, which costs $14.99, can prevent that. It's got a water-resistant leather exterior and a soft velvet interior. In between, there's a  layer of hard EVA foam material. It's known for its shock-absorbing capabilities, because when an impact occurs, it distributes its force over a wider area instead of a single point, dissipating it more efficiently.

The travel case can fit most 2.5-inch external hard drives, and they're held securely with an elastic band. There's also a mesh pocket where you can store other accessories, including a USB cable, USB adapters, earbuds, and flash drives. Between the hard drive and other accessories, there's a pad that protects the hard drive from shock and prevents it from being compressed. The other side of the pad features two small pockets for safely storing SD, microSD, or SIM cards. It also comes with a lanyard and carabiner so you can attach it to the outside of your bag in case there isn't enough space inside.

When choosing these accessories for your PC hard drive, we looked at what can help with things like connectivity, data transfers, and protection. All products had to be available on Amazon. Furthermore, we looked at the star rating of the accessories, because we were looking to pick those with a minimum of four stars.

The lowest-rated product on this list has a minimum of 4.4 stars. We also avoided accessories with only a few dozen or hundred ratings, sticking to those rated by more than a thousand people to get a good sample size.