Can Acronis Clone GPT Disk? Stepwise Guide & Alternative

Can Acronis Disk Director clone GPT?

Acronis Disk Director’s main functions are disk cloning, volume recovery, and partition management.Its disk cloning capability allows you to seamlessly transfer all data—including your OS, installed programs, and configurations—from one drive to another.

However, the disk cloning feature is currently limited to MBR (Master Boot Record) disks using the standard BIOS partition table. That is to say, you cannot use Acronis Disk Director to clone a GPT disk.

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How to use Acronis to clone GPT disk

Although Acronis Disk Director doesn’t support GPT disk clone, there is another Acronis tool that can help you with this task – Acronis True Image. Learn how to use Acronis True Image for GPT clone below:

Step 1. Install the target drive inside your computer or connect it externally via an enclosure.

Step 2. Download, install and open Acronis True Image. Click on Tools > Clone Disk.

Step 3. Choose Automatic (Recommended) for most users, unless you need to manually adjust partition sizes.

Step 4. Choose the GPT disk you want to clone as Source Disk. Acronis will recognize GPT partitions automatically.

Step 5. Select your new SSD or HDD as Destination Disk. Be aware: all data on the destination will be overwritten.

Step 6. Select a disk usage type according to your situation. Here I choose To replace a disk on this machine.

Step 7. Review the cloning layout. If everything looks good, click Proceed to begin.

💡 Note: If cloning the system disk, Acronis may prompt you to restart your computer into a pre-boot environment to complete the operation safely.

Step 8. Boot from the cloned GPT disk (if applicable).

If you cloned a bootable GPT system disk:

• Enter your BIOS/UEFI settings after reboot.
• Set the new drive as the primary boot device.
• Save and exit. Your system should now boot from the cloned GPT disk.

Best cloning software for GPT disk clone

Although the operation of Acronis GPT clone is not difficult, you may encounter errors sometimes, such as Acronis clone failed, Acronis does not recognize Crucial SSD, etc. If you want a more powerful cloning tool for GPT disks, AOMEI Cloner deserves a try.

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• Flexible Clone Modes: Choose between system clone, disk clone, or partition clone based on your specific needs.
• Live System Cloning: Clone your running OS without the need to reboot into pre-boot environments.
• SSD Alignment: Automatically optimize partitions for SSD performance during cloning.
• MBR & GPT Disks Support: You can clone MBR to MBR, GPT to GPT, or clone MBR to GPT with simple steps.

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Download AOMEI Cloner and follow the steps below to clone a GPT disk:

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Cloner. Then navigate to Clone > Disk Clone.

Step 2. Choose your GPT disk as the source drive and select your newly connected disk as the target.

Step 3. On the Operation Summary page, check the information of the source and destination disks.

• If the destination disk is labeled as MBR, click Edit Partitions > Convert the destination disk from MBR to GPT. This ensures compatibility and prevents boot errors from BIOS/UEFI conflicts.
• If the destination disk is larger than the source disk, click Edit Partitions and choose Add unused space to all partitions or Manually adjust partition size to make full use of disk capacity.

Step 4. If the destination disk is an SSD, enable SSD Alignment for peak SSD performance. Finally, click Start Clone and wait for the cloning process to complete.

FAQs about cloning a GPT disk

1. Can I clone a GPT disk to an MBR disk?

Technically, yes—but it’s not recommended. Cloning a GPT disk to an MBR disk may cause boot issues. You have to change boot mode from UEFI to Legacy to make your computer boot from an MBR disk after cloning.

2. Do I need to format the target drive before cloning a GPT disk?

No, you don’t need to manually format the target disk. Most cloning software will overwrite the destination drive, including file system. Just ensure it has enough space to hold the data from the source GPT disk.

3. How long does it take to clone a GPT disk?

It depends on disk size (larger = longer), disk type (SSD is faster than HDD) and connection speed (SATA vs USB 3.0 vs NVMe).

Conclusion

Now you know how to use Acronis to clone GPT disk. While Acronis Disk Director doesn’t support GPT disk clone, you can use Acronis True Image for the task. In case that Acronis True Image clone fails, there’s another reliable cloning tool to help you out – AOMEI Cloner. It supports different partition styles (MBR & GPT) and disk brands (Samsung, Western Digital, Transcend, etc.). Don’t hesitate to try it out!