WD 2TB Elements Portable External Hard Drive for Windows, USB 3.2 Gen 1/USB 3.0 for PC & Mac, Plug and Play Ready – WDBU6Y0020BBK-WESN by WD

Dependable, High-Capacity Storage That Just Works

I’ve used the Western Digital 8TB Elements Desktop Drive for several years now, and it’s been one of the most reliable pieces of hardware in my setup. It’s the classic “plug-and-play” device—connect the USB cable, power it on, and it’s ready to use. I primarily use it for long-term file backups, media storage, and archiving older projects, and it’s handled everything from large video files to entire system images without complaint.

Transfer speeds over USB 3.0 are solid for a mechanical hard drive—around 150 MB/s in real-world use—and it stays stable during long copy sessions. It does require an AC adapter, so it’s not meant to be portable, but for a desktop-based system or home server it’s perfect. Noise is minimal, just a soft hum when spinning, and the case runs only slightly warm after hours of use.

The 8TB capacity offers plenty of room to consolidate multiple smaller drives, and the cost per terabyte remains one of the best values on the market. The drive came pre-formatted for Windows (NTFS) but can easily be reformatted for macOS or Linux if needed. WD’s build quality still holds up—mine has survived more than four years of continuous operation without any hiccups.

A few small notes: this is a mechanical HDD, so it’s not SSD-fast, and it needs external power. If you want a travel drive or instant-access performance, a portable SSD is better. But for dependable, affordable mass storage, this is tough to beat.

Bottom line: a workhorse external drive that delivers excellent reliability, quiet operation, and tremendous storage capacity at a great price. Perfect for backups, media libraries, or anyone who just wants a lot of space that “just works.”

o hdd é muito bom, silencioso e rápido

Gran capacidad y calidad 100% recomendado

I do hobby photography and added in family sessions and grad photos. I wanted a place to store all of my photos I do and purchased this. I figured I’d keep all of my family photos as well as all the others I do on it.

Absolutely amazing! I add photos to it all the time and it has thousands! Years later and I’m still adding. Never any issues. Speed is great, super easy to format.

I came back to get another as I want to keep some files saved but separate from photos so will buy another.

I recently upgraded my MAC and needed a larger drive for my TIME MACHINE backups. Since my past experience with WD drives has always been good, I got this one. I cannot speak for future reliability, but based on my experience with the other WD drives, some I still use a few years later, I am not anticipating any issues. It is not a huge drive, so easy to hide away near your computer, if you’re on desktop. I would not want to carry this around, but it i snot so big that you could’t if you wanted to.

However, this drive is NOT plug and play for MAC (hence my four stars). But formatting it for MAC is very easy. The main thing is: DO NOT — and I repeat DO NOT — install the software that comes with the drive. As others have stated, it creates nothing but issues and you do not really need it. To this day, I have never used it with any of my WD drives. Here is what you do:

1) Plug the drive. Your MAC will recognize it as ‘Elements.’
2) Go to your Applications folder and open UTILITIES, then DISK UTILITIES.
3) Find the ‘Elements’ drive on the left side of the window and select it. Then, on top of the window click ERASE.
4) Another dropdown window will open, asking you to choose a format. For newer MACS choose the first item on the list: APFS. It will also ask you to NAME your drive. Do so. Then, proceed to erase. Your MAC will do the rest.

If you’re setting this up for TIME MACHINE, another window will open after your drive is formatted and mounted, asking if you want to use this drive for that purpose. Proceed from there. Otherwise, your drive will already be mounted on your desktop and ready for your use. That’s it. Takes less than 5 minutes.

My only gripe about this drive is it needs to be plugged in. The rest is fine.