Western Digital Elements 5 TB 2.5" USB 3.0 Black external hard drive

The WD Elements 5 TB is a Western Digital external hard drive in a black 2.5" case. USB 3.0 (USB 3.2 Gen 1, USB 2.0 compatible), powered from the USB port: one cable for both data and power.

5 TB is for people who keep their main archive on an external drive, not just a copy of a few folders: years of photos and video, a film library, full images of system drives. Inside is a 5400 rpm class 2.5" HDD. The first full backup at this size takes hours, so it is handy to run it overnight.

Who it is for

• Photographers and videographers with a large shoot archive.
• Full disk images of several computers for recovery.
• A large media library for a TV or home media server.

Do not move the drive while it is running: like any HDD, it is sensitive to shocks. In winter, let the drive sit at room temperature for a few hours after delivery before switching it on, so no condensation forms inside.

How to connect the drive to a Mac or TV and which file system to choose is explained in External hard drive: what it is and how to choose one. Other capacities are in the external hard drives section.