With Black Friday in the distance, and with supply chains reeling from COVID-related interruptions, retailers have started launching their Black Friday Deals earlier this year than ever; we’re weeks away from Thanksgiving and we’re already seeing some amazing opportunities to stock up on tech, appliances, and more. The good news for you is that this means you don’t have to wait to get discounts on Black Friday external hard drive deals, and take early advantage of deals on super portable 1 TB hard drives from WD or much more substantial 10 TB drives from Seagate or G-Technology. In fact, now is the very best time to buy; most of our favorite retailers, including Best Buy, have promised that any price difference between now and November 28, will be refunded to customers.
These Black Friday external hard drive deals will be joined by all sorts of other Black Friday deals on computing, gaming, and mobile tech. That said, you’ve got to be really on top of things (aka ready to hit that “add to cart” button) if you want items to arrive by Christmas or the holidays. Delivery dates for items purchased now are already stretching to the end of the month, so it’s only a matter of time until those delivery dates will be pushed until the end of December and into 2021. So make your plans for which external hard drive you want, and get on it!
Best Black Friday external hard drive deals
FOR PRIME MEMBERS
Expires soon
Seagate Backup Plus 4TB Portable External Hard Drive
$120 $130
If you need some more storage space than most portable HDDs can provide, this 4TB Seagate Backup Plus punches well above its weight in the storage department.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Western Digital Elements 12TB USB 3.0 External Hard Drive
$220 $250
The WD Elements hard drive with 12TB of storage capacity is an excellent option for all your file needs, packing an immense amount of space in one small package.
Buy at Newegg
Expires soon
Seagate Game Drive 2TB External Hard Drive for Xbox
$80 $110
If you’ve piled up one too many Xbox games (which is admittedly a nice problem to have), then this 2TB storage drive can help ease your console’s storage burden.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Western Digital My Passport Wireless Pro 3TB Portable External HDD
$180 $250
Wireless technology has even come to external hard drives, and the My Passport Wireless Pro takes portability to another level owing to its innovative design that’s perfect for when you’re on the go.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
WD 1TB My Passport External SSD
$160 $200
This portable SSD offers a high-speed storage that you can password-protect, a hard shell that can survive 6-feet drops, and a modern Type-C port.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Seagate Game Drive 4TB External Hard Drive for PS4
$112 $150
Can’t get rid of your favorite games from the past few years? The Seagate 4TB game drive lets you store all your files and saves, with enough room to let you make new memories with new games.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
SAMSUNG T7 Touch Portable 1TB SSD
$170 $230
Samsung T7 is the premium SSD to beat with a built-in fingerprint sensor that lets you secure your data, industry-leading transfer speeds, and a shock-resistant exterior.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Seagate Backup Plus Hub 10TB External Hard Drive
$198 $320
Need to store enough files to start your own archive? The Seagate Backup Plus Hub 10TB hard drive is immense and can work on both PC and Mac platforms for universal usability.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Seagate External Hard Drive 8TB HDD Expansion
$145 $162
Beef up your storage space so you can save as much files as you need. This 8TB hard drive is compatible with the PC, Xbox, and PS4.
Buy at Newegg
Expires soon
G-Technology G-DRIVE 4TB External Hard Drive
$140 $180
If you aren’t sure about the efficacy of WD or Seagate, G-Technology’s got you covered, with their G-DRIVE external hard drive offering 4TB of space that you can use to backup your files.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Seagate 8TB Game Drive Hub for Xbox
$159 $220
Give your Xbox the best storage upgrade available with the officially licensed Seagate Game Drive, offering an immense 8TB of capacity for all your games, DLC, and more.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Samsung T5 1TB Portable External SSD
$140 $250
About as long and wide as a credit card (although obviously thicker), the fast and super-compact Samsung T5 external SSD is our favorite external hard drive thanks to its speed and size.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
G-Technology G-DRIVE Mobile 4TB External Hard Drive
$140 $150
The G-Technology G-DRIVE Mobile hard drive is a great add-on to any desktop, compatible with both Macs and Windows, with this one having 4TB of space for all your important files.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Toshiba Canvio Advance 2TB Portable External Hard Drive USB 3.0, Black
$64 $70
Back up all your important files in this Toshiba Canvio 2TB external hard drive. It comes in a compact size so it’s easy to store.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Western Digital Easystore 1TB External Hard Drive
$48 $85
If you aren’t in the market for a pricey external hard drive, this 1TB Easystore from Western Digital is a great budget-friendly choice for that small boost in storage without breaking the bank.
Buy at Best Buy
Expires soon
Western Digital Easystore 5TB External Hard Drive
$105 $180
If you need a well-rounded hard drive that balances price and storage, the WD Easystore 5TB hard drive is definitely what you need, usable with both PCs and Macs alike.
Buy at Best Buy
Expires soon
Seagate Expansion Desktop 8TB External Hard Drive
$145 $162
When native storage isn’t enough, add the Seagate Expansion Desktop external hard drive to your PC build for a massive boost in storage capacity, with this one offering a whopping 8TB of space.
Buy at Walmart
Expires soon
Western Digital My Passport Ultra 5TB External Hard Drive for Macs
$130 $160
Apple is a top-tier tech titan, but when their storage options aren’t enough, this 5TB My Passport Ultra external hard drive by Western Digital, designed specifically for Macs, is a must-have.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
G-Technology G-DRIVE 10TB External Hard Drive
$320 $350
If you want an enormous amount of space in one compact package, the G-Technology 10TB G-DRIVE external hard drive is great at saving files, space, and — with this discount — cash too.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Seagate 2TB Portable External Hard Drive
$57 $72
Do you need extra space? This 2TB Seagate hard drive is compatible with PC, PS4, and Xbox. You can also bring this anywhere thanks to its compact size.
Buy at Newegg
Expires soon
Western Digital My Passport 4TB External Hard Drive
$100 $109
The Western Digital My Passport external hard drive is a powerful upgrade to any storage, and with 4TB to back you up, it’s a great add-on to your computer.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Seagate Game Drive 2TB External Hard Drive for PS4
$80 $110
Why delete old games when you could store them for a lifetime? With the Seagate 2TB Game Drive, you can hold onto your games and saves and revive them just in time for the PS5.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Western Digital Elements 5TB External Hard Drive
$110 $130
The Western Digital Elements is one of the top lightweight external hard drives, and with a 5TB capacity, this one doesn’t skimp on storage space like many portable HDDs.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Western Digital Easystore 8TB External Hard Drive
$130 $200
If you want a reliable hard drive option, the WD Easystore 8TB is a great and heavy-duty option if you’ve got more documents and files than you know what to do with.
Buy at Best Buy
Expires soon
Western Digital My Passport 4TB External Hard Drive for Macs
$120 $135
Your Mac not packed with enough space? Take the WD My Passport 4TB hard drive out for a spin, designed specifically for Apple computers, and store as many files as you could ever need.
Buy at Office Depot
Expires soon
LaCie Rugged Mini 4TB Portable External Hard Drive
$130 $150
With a rugged housing surrounding a nice big 4TB HDD, the LaCie mini portable hard drive lets you take your digital treasures anywhere without worry.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
WD Elements 12TB USB 3.0 Desktop Hard Drive
$220 $250
With 12TB capacity, keep important files and other media safe in this WD hard drive. You can also share the this with family or colleagues to free up space in your respective PCs.
Buy at Newegg
Expires soon
Seagate Expansion Desktop 16TB External Hard Drive
$309 $315
Augment your computer’s storage with the biggest hard drive Seagate has to offer, boasting an enormous 16TB worth of space for all your storing needs.
Buy at Newegg
Expires soon
WD Black 2TB P10 Game Drive Portable External Gaming Hard Drive
$80 $90
WD’s hard drives have always been known for their durability, and their 2TB Game Drive is no different. This hard drive can pack upwards of 20 games and saves with room left to spare.
Buy at Amazon
Expires soon
Western Digital My Passport 5TB External Hard Drive
$115 $150
The WD My Passport is a reliable hard drive in any situation, and with 5TB of storage, you can comfortably store all your important files without any problems.
Buy at Amazon
How to choose an external hard drive during Black Friday
There are a myriad of very appealing Black Friday External Hard Drive deals to choose from today, so many that the choice can be overwhelming. What you really need to ask yourself is which one is right for you, according to your needs. Are you suspicious of cloud computing, or often on-the-go without fast Wi-Fi, and want to bring all your files with you when traveling, even if that trip is just to a nearby cafe? Is this mainly for gaming? How much space do you actually need, and will that change over time? External Hard Drives range from 1TB pocket drives you can literally place in your pocket, to 12 TB backup monuments that are meant to sit under your desk and stay there. To help you decide, we’ve laid out the best external hard drives from which to choose.
Your first decision is the size of storage versus portability. For the latter, we love the Samsung T5 SSD, which packs a huge amount of storage into a tiny, portable design. If you’re dealing with some older machinery, and you want something that can handle USB A and B connections, we like the SanDisk Extreme Pro as a top of the line lightweight external drive. And if you’re more professional, and perhaps your needs include lightning-fast video storage, there’s the Western Digital My Book Duo, which can store up to 28TB. Ask yourself if you need to move data around a great deal, as in from one computer to another (home to work for example) or if you’re working with one primary machine.
Next, you need to ask yourself what you’ll be using this hard drive for. Is it just for storage? In this case, your decision is pretty simple, and you can go back to figuring out just what size is right for you. But if you have a job (or hobby) where you are regularly reading and writing to your external drive (many professionals, like architects, engineers, photographers, and video editors are doing this constantly), you have more to consider. For one, you’ll want something with high read and write speeds; essential. Part of this decision is SSD versus HDD (SDD tends to be more reliable, smaller, faster, sturdier, and more expensive). While a contemporary HDD can be pretty fast, with 7,200 rpm being the standard, some are still limping along at 5,400 rpm, so double-check which you’re getting. Regardless, SSD drives measure their random access times are in microseconds rather than milliseconds, so they tend to be much, much faster.
Additionally, you’ll want to consider the drive’s connectivity. If it doesn’t have the current USB 3.0 technology, you might want to give it a second look. An older connection can bottleneck speeds of even the faster SSD or HDDs, and you don’t want to cut your read and write speed off at the legs.
Where to find the best external hard drive sales
- Amazon Black Friday: At Amazon, you’ll find discounts on everything from monster 16TB external hard drives from Seagate to tiny flash drives and external 2TB drives that fit super easily into a bag or briefcase.
- Best Buy Black Friday: Best Buy has jumped in early this year but there are still tons of discounted items from the best brands in external hard drives, like WD, Seagate, and LaCie.
- Walmart Black Friday: Walmart refuses to be left out of the discount battle royal, offering deals on every kind of external hard drive from Samsung, Seagate, SanDisk, and more.
We strive to help our readers find the best deals on quality products and services, and we choose what we cover carefully and independently. The prices, details, and availability of the products and deals in this post may be subject to change at anytime. Be sure to check that they are still in effect before making a purchase.Digital Trends may earn commission on products purchased through our links, which supports the work we do for our readers.