Hard Drive

How to Get Files Off a Dead Laptop or Computer

Updated October 2, 2026 •7 min read

When a laptop or desktop dies, its files usually don’t die with it. If the motherboard, power circuit, or screen failed but the drive is healthy, you can get files off a dead laptop by taking the drive out and reading it from another computer with a USB-to-SATA adapter or a hard drive enclosure. It’s the same approach whether you need to move data from a dead computer to a new one or just rescue a few folders, and it’s inexpensive. The catch is knowing which drive you have, which adapter fits it, and when to stop because the drive itself is the problem.

Before you start: can this work on your computer?

This method only works if the storage is removable. Check before you buy anything:

Most older laptops and nearly all desktops: removable 2.5-inch or 3.5-inch drives, or an M.2 SSD. Good candidates.
Many current Windows laptops: a removable M.2 SSD under the bottom panel. Usually fine.
Thin laptops and Chromebooks with soldered storage (eMMC, UFS, or NVMe chips on the board): no drive to remove.
MacBooks with a T2 chip (most Intel models from 2018 to 2020) and all Apple silicon Macs: storage is soldered and encrypted by the chip. This method won’t work; see the Mac section below.

Search your exact model number plus “SSD replacement” or check the manufacturer’s service manual to see what’s inside.

Step 1: Identify your drive type

Once the panel is off, the drive will be one of these:

2.5-inch SATA drive: a rectangular drive about the size of a deck of cards, either a spinning hard drive or a SATA SSD. It uses the standard SATA data and power connector. If you want the background, see what is SATA.
3.5-inch SATA drive: the larger drive found in desktops. Same connector, but it needs more power than USB can supply.
M.2 SATA SSD: a stick-shaped SSD, usually with two notches in the connector (called B+M key).
M.2 NVMe SSD: a stick-shaped SSD, usually with one notch (called M key). This is the most common type in laptops made in the last several years.
Older or proprietary formats: mSATA, and Apple’s proprietary SSD connectors on some 2013 to 2017 MacBooks, need specific adapters.

The label on the drive usually says “NVMe” or “SATA.” Also note the length of an M.2 drive. It’s printed as a number like 2280 (22 mm wide, 80 mm long) or 2242 or 2230.

Step 2: Choose the right USB-to-SATA adapter or hard drive enclosure

2.5-inch SATA: a USB-to-SATA adapter cable or a 2.5-inch hard drive enclosure. These are bus-powered; one USB cable does it.
3.5-inch SATA: a USB-to-SATA adapter or enclosure that comes with its own power supply. A 3.5-inch drive won’t spin up on USB power alone.
M.2 NVMe: an M.2 NVMe enclosure. Make sure it supports your drive’s length.
M.2 SATA: an M.2 enclosure that explicitly supports SATA. An NVMe-only enclosure won’t read an M.2 SATA drive, even though the drive physically fits. Many enclosures support both; check the listing before you buy.

A USB 3 or USB-C adapter is worth it. Copying hundreds of gigabytes over USB 2.0 can take many hours.

Step 3: How to remove a laptop hard drive safely

Static and carelessness break more drives than people expect. A few basics:

Shut down and unplug the computer. Remove the battery if it’s external.
On laptops with an internal battery, disconnect the battery connector from the board if the service manual shows how. Don’t pry on the battery itself.
Ground yourself by touching bare metal on a desk lamp or a computer case before handling parts, and work on a hard surface rather than carpet.
Handle drives by the edges. Don’t touch the connector pins or the circuit board.
Keep track of screws. Laptop screws often differ in length, and the wrong one in the wrong hole can damage the board.

The exact steps vary by model, so follow the manufacturer’s service manual or a model-specific video. Spinning hard drives are sensitive to shock; never drop one or set it down hard.

Step 4: Connect it and copy your files

Connect the drive in its adapter or enclosure to a working computer. It should appear as an external drive.

On a Windows PC

The drive will show up in File Explorer with its own letter. Your old files are usually under:

D:\Users\<old user name>\Desktop
D:\Users\<old user name>\Documents
D:\Users\<old user name>\Pictures

(The letter depends on what Windows assigns.)

“You don’t currently have permission to access this folder.” That’s normal for a user folder from another Windows installation. Click Continue and Windows will usually grant your admin account access. If that doesn’t work:

Right-click the folder and choose Properties.
Go to Security → Advanced.
Next to Owner, click Change, type your user name, and click OK.
Check Replace owner on subcontainers and objects, then click OK.

Copy files to the working computer or another drive. Don’t save anything new onto the old drive.

BitLocker: if the drive was encrypted, Windows will ask for the 48-digit recovery key before you can see anything. See how to find your BitLocker recovery key. Without it, the data can’t be read.

On a Mac

A Windows drive (NTFS) will mount on a Mac as read-only. That’s fine for copying files off: open it in Finder, go to Users and your old user folder, and drag files to your Mac or another drive.

Mac users: Fusion Drives, T2, and Apple silicon

For Macs, pulling the drive often isn’t an option:

Fusion Drive iMacs and Mac minis split data across a small SSD and a hard drive. Removing just one gives you an incomplete set of data.
T2 and Apple silicon Macs encrypt their soldered storage with the chip on the board. The data can only be read through that board.

If the Mac still starts in some form, use the built-in transfer modes instead:

Target Disk Mode (Intel Macs): hold T at startup, and connect to another Mac with a Thunderbolt or USB-C cable. The Mac’s drive appears on the other computer.
Share Disk (Apple silicon Macs): start up into macOS Recovery, choose Utilities → Share Disk, and connect to another Mac with a USB-C or Thunderbolt cable. The disk appears as a network share in Finder on the other Mac.

If the Mac won’t start at all, see MacBook won’t turn on.

When the drive itself is dead: stop

Everything above assumes the computer failed and the drive is fine. If you’re trying to recover data from a dead hard drive, the situation is different: adapters won’t fix it, and repeated attempts can make things worse. Stop and power it down if:

The drive isn’t detected at all, or shows up with no size or as “uninitialized.”
A hard drive clicks, beeps, grinds, or spins up and down. See hard drive clicking: what to do.
An SSD doesn’t appear on any computer or adapter. See SSD not detected.
The drive disconnects mid-copy or copying slows to a crawl.

If it’s slow but readable, copy your most important files first, and consider whether cloning the drive is safer than browsing it. Don’t run chkdsk or recovery software on a drive that’s showing these symptoms.

The bottom line

To get files off a dead laptop or computer, identify the drive (2.5-inch SATA, M.2 SATA, or M.2 NVMe), get a USB-to-SATA adapter or the right M.2 enclosure, remove the drive carefully, and copy your files from another computer. Have your BitLocker key ready, and on newer Macs use Target Disk Mode or Share Disk instead. If the drive isn’t detected or makes noise, stop there.

If the drive itself has failed or your laptop has soldered storage, our laptop data recovery service recovers data from failed laptop drives and damaged laptops for one flat $1,200 price for a single device. Shipping is free and prepaid, and you pay nothing unless the recovery succeeds.