Cloning copies one drive straight to another. Imaging is different and often more useful: Clonezilla saves your entire disk as a compressed image file onto an external drive, so you can restore the whole system — exactly as it was — after a crash, a bad update, ransomware, or a hardware swap. Think of it as a full-system undo button.
What you'll need
A Clonezilla boot USB, and an external drive large enough to hold the image (roughly the size of your used data, since Clonezilla compresses and skips empty space).
Part 1 — Create the backup image
- Connect the external drive, insert the Clonezilla USB, and boot from it.
- Choose Clonezilla live, then Start_Clonezilla, then device-image (disk ↔ image file).
- Select local_dev and pick your external drive as the place to store the image. Choose the folder (or the top level).
- Pick Beginner mode, then savedisk to image the whole disk.
- Give the image a name (for example
win11-2026-07), select the source disk, confirm, and let it run.
Label your images
Include the date and machine in the image name. When you have several backups, clear names make choosing the right restore point painless.
Part 2 — Restore the image later
- Boot Clonezilla on the same or replacement PC with the external drive connected.
- Choose device-image → local_dev → your external drive.
- Pick Beginner mode, then restoredisk.
- Select the image you saved, then the destination disk to restore onto.
Restoring erases the target disk
restoredisk overwrites the destination completely with the image’s contents. Make sure the target is the drive you intend to restore, and that it holds nothing you still need.
How often should you image?
Take a fresh image before any big change — a major Windows update, a new driver, or a disk upgrade — and keep a routine monthly image of a healthy system. With a recent image on hand, recovering from almost any disaster takes minutes, not days.
How our RecoveryUSB handles this
Our Clonezilla recovery USB is ready to boot out of the box, so you can create and restore full-disk backups without building the tool yourself. Pair it with any external drive and you have a complete, professional-grade backup and disaster-recovery kit — with a step-by-step guide included.
Get a RecoveryUSBSkip the trial and error — use a ready-made RecoveryUSB
Every RecoveryUSB ships pre-built and tested, with a step-by-step guide. Free fast worldwide shipping.
Shop Recovery USBsFrequently asked questions
What's the difference between Clonezilla cloning and imaging?
Cloning copies one disk directly onto another. Imaging saves the disk as a compressed file you can store and restore later. Imaging is better for backups; cloning is better for immediate drive-to-drive upgrades.
How much space does a Clonezilla image need?
Roughly the size of your used data, not the whole disk — Clonezilla skips empty space and compresses the rest. A drive with as much free space as your used data is a safe minimum.
Can I restore a Clonezilla image to a different computer?
You can restore to different hardware, but the restored Windows may need driver adjustments to boot properly. Restoring to the same or identical hardware is the most reliable.