The WD Elements 6TB Desktop HDD is the no-fuss backup drive I’d plug into a home PC

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Now, it may not be the cheapest per TB – and I still recommend grabbing the Seagate Expansion 16TB HDD at $460 (was $550) at Newegg if you want the best bang for your buck. But for a reliable, streamlined backup drive for home or home office storage, this is an easy recommendation.

• Best for: Home users and remote workers who want a straightforward backup hard drive.

• Why we like it: We’ve had good experiences with WD’s range of storage. The 6TB of space for backups and media is ideal for those who don’t need a massive capacity drive. What really stands out here is the plug-and-play setup on Windows, and a two-year warranty.

• What you need to know: This is plug-and-play on Windows, but you’ll need to reformat it to work on macOS devices. It also comes with a USB-A cable, so if your machine only has USB-C/Thunderbolt ports, you’ll need an adapter. As a 3.5-inch desktop drive, it runs off wall power from the supplied power lead.

A 6TB desktop external hard drive that connects via USB 3.0 with a Micro-B cable and is backward-compatible with USB 2.0. It comes formatted NTFS for Windows and can be reformatted for Mac. It runs on an included AC adapter and comes with a two-year warranty.

At roughly $52 per terabyte, it’s not the cheapest drive around, since bigger desktop drives currently work out far cheaper per terabyte, and Newegg has the Seagate Expansion 16TB HDD for $460.

But it seems to be the going rate for this drive right now, with Amazon also pricing it at $315 (and Best Buy sticking to the $334 list price).

Hard drive prices have climbed over the past year, so buy this if 6TB is all you need now. But bigger drives are better value.

✅ Buy the WD Elements 6TB if… you want a simple, plug-and-play backup drive for a Windows PC, 6TB covers your photos and documents, or you value a two-year warranty from a major storage brand.

❌ Skip the WD Elements 6TB if… you want the best price per terabyte, since larger drives cost much less per terabyte right now, you need a portable drive that doesn’t require wall power, or you’d prefer a modern USB-C connection over Micro-B.

This 16TB desktop external hard drive connects over USB 3.0 and works with Windows 10 or later and macOS 10.12 or later (you may need to reformat it for Time Machine). It includes Seagate’s Rescue data recovery services and a one-year warranty.

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Bryan M Wolfe Bryan M. Wolfe is a staff writer at TechRadar, iMore, and wherever Future can use him. Though his passion is Apple-based products, he doesn’t have a problem using Windows and Android. Bryan’s a single father of a 15-year-old daughter and a puppy, Isabelle. Thanks for reading!

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