This $23 gadget is all you need to reuse an old NVMe SSD

One of the biggest upgrades I’ve made to my PC in recent years has been adding M.2 NVMe SSDs. NVMe SSDs are much faster than SATA SSDs, which makes booting into Windows and launching games much quicker. Although the prices of NVMe SSDs have fluctuated lately, I was able to buy enough during a Prime Day sale last year to fill all the NVMe slots on my PC’s motherboard relatively affordably.

However, I recently disassembled an old PC build and ended up with a spare 2TB NVMe SSD. I didn’t want to sell it because it’s a valuable backup in case one of my other NVMe SSDs fails unexpectedly — which has fortunately never happened. So I was left with 2TB of high-speed SSD storage that I couldn’t use on my current PC, since all the slots were full.

Fortunately, I discovered an affordable fix — a convenient device called an NVMe SSD enclosure. I purchased one from UGREEN on Amazon for $23, which allows me to connect my NVMe SSD to my PC via a USB-C port. This gadget has enabled me to transform my old NVMe SSD into fast external storage, giving it a second life.

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A reliable way to manage your NVMe SSD

I used it for reformatting my SSD, turning it into an external storage device

I’ve been using the UGREEN NVMe SSD Enclosure I purchased for a few months now with my PC, and I’ve been impressed with its reliability. I can manage files on it, install games, and use it if it were connected internally to my PC. However, it is limited to 10Gbps of speed due to the limitations of USB 3.1 Gen 2, so you may not be able to utilize the full speed capabilities of your SSD. Nonetheless, I’m just using mine for additional storage and older games, so it’s been perfect, and it’s better than the SSD sitting around doing nothing.

The enclosure is simple to set up and took me less than a minute. Just slide the cover off of it, and inside, you’ll find an NVMe SSD slot where you can insert your SSD. Simply slot it in as you would on your motherboard and rotate the rubber plug at the end to keep it in place. From there, place the thermal pad that comes with it on top of the SSD, which will help with heat dissipation.

Then, simply connect the enclosure to your PC using the included USB-C cable, and your NVMe SSD should appear and be available for use in Windows. I had old files on mine from my old Windows installation, so I was able to back up anything I needed and reformat the drive. Without this enclosure, I would have had to open up my PC and swap it in to do this, which would have been a hassle. This device saved me a ton of time and lets me use my old SSD whenever I want — truly a win-win.

If you’re interested in one of these, make sure to buy one that matches the size of your SSD. I have a 2TB Samsung 980 Pro SSD, which has a 2280 size code. Usually, the most common size for NVMe SSDs in desktops is 2280. However, if you have a smaller M.2 SSD (like one from a laptop), it may have a different size code, such as 2242 or 2230. The UGREEN model I’m highlighting in this story is compatible with 2230, 2242, 2260, and 2280 NVMe SSDs.

If you want to repurpose an old NVMe SSD or quickly manage files on one without installing it inside your PC, an SSD enclosure is a handy gadget to have. It’s fast and reliable, and at $23 for the UGREEN enclosure I bought, it doesn’t break the bank either.

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