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How to upgrade the storage on the Razer Blade 16 (2023)?
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How to upgrade the storage on the Razer Blade 16 (2023)?

August 17, 2023

If you need more storage for your favorite games or files, you can add a bigger SSD to your Razer Blade 16 (2023) in a few simple steps.

Angled front view of the Razer Blade 16 facing left over a pink and orange background

The Razer Blade 16 (2023) is one of Razer’s newest gaming laptops and a great laptop to consider buying in general. It’s up there with the best gaming laptops since you can max it out with up to an RTX 4090 GPU, 32GB RAM, and a 13th-generation Intel Core i9-13950HX CPU. You also can add up to two 1TB SSDs for 2TB of storage. Of course, buying storage upgrades through Razer is expensive, adding $1,600 more to an already costly laptop, so if you want to add your own storage and upgrade your SSD, you can in a few steps.

What you’ll need

Working inside the Razer Blade 16 (2023) requires you to purchase some tools and supplies. You’ll need to have a T5 Torx screwdriver to get inside your laptop and a pry tool to lift the cover off. Other than that, an anti-static wrist strap is also a good purchase, since using one helps avoid damage to your laptop caused by static electricity. Of course, a USB drive is needed to reinstall Windows on your new laptop. Keep in mind, the Razer Blade 16 (2023) uses the bigger 2280 M.2 SSD form factor. We included some materials for you to consider below.

  • iFIxit Pro Tech Toolkit
    iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit
  • samsung-990-pro-ssd-square-render-01
  • Untitled-removebg-preview
    iFixit Anti-Static Wrist Strap
  • New Project-7-5
    Kingston DataTraveler Kyson USB Drive

    $7 $12 Save $5

How to back up your data

As we mentioned to start, you’ll want to consider backing up your data before you restore your SSD. There are many popular solutions, and paid apps. We have some suggestions below.

  • Back up your files with Microsoft OneDrive. The app has a PC folder backup. Just open OneDrive, and go to the Sync and back up tab.
  • Clone your primary SSD using software like Samsung Data Migration, which is free if you purchased a Samsung drive like the one we’re recommending. In this process, you’ll need an external SSD enclosure for the secondary SSD, or to open the computer multiple times to copy data from the old SSD to the new one using the two SSD slots inside.

How to upgrade the storage on the Razer Blade 16 (2023)

Once you have all those supplies, you can get started with the process of upgrading the storage on the Razer Blade 16 (2023). You’ll need to carefully remove screws, take the bottom cover off, and follow the steps below.

Some configurations of the Razer Blade 16 (2023) have two SSD slots. There’s a secondary SSD (usually not slotted or loaded unless configured) you’ll see on the top when the casing is removed, and a primary SSD to the right side of that under a heat shield. If you want to remove the primary SSD, and a secondary SSD is already installed as extra storage, you’d have to remove the secondary SSD to get to the main SSD. But if you’re only replacing the secondary SSD, this won’t apply to you. We divided this guide up for you should you want to replace one, the other, or both.

To remove the bottom cover

  1. Turn off your laptop, and turn it around, so the hinge is away from you.
  2. Make sure your laptop is disconnected from the power supply, and USB drives and dongles or peripherals are disconnected.
  3. Loosen the eight T5 Torx screws at the bottom of your laptop.
  4. Using a pry tool near the front of the laptop, lift the cover off. There are clips near the vents holding it into place. Be careful to not break the clips.
  5. Attach your anti-static wrist strap to the casing.
  6. Disconnect the battery from the laptop, it’s on the right side. There’s a sticker that marks the battery clip that you’d need to lift to remove.
  7. Look on the left side of the laptop.
  8. There will be two SSD slots. A secondary slot toward your left, and a primary slot towards the right of it covered by a heat shield.

Removing the secondary SSD

  1. Remove the screw holding the primary SSD down.
  2. Slide the SSD out to your right.
  3. Slide the new SSD into place and replace the screw.

Removing the primary SSD

  1. Remove the screw holding the secondary SSD in place on the top first.
  2. Then, slide the secondary drive out. You should then see the heat shield under.
  3. Remove the screw holding the heat shield into place to lift it up and remove the heat shield.
  4. Remove the screw holding the primary SSD into place.
  5. Slide it out then slide the new primary SSD into that space, then screw it down.
  6. Put back the heat shield Put back the secondary SSD on top, and screw it down, too.

Replacing the bottom cover and closing

  1. Make sure all SSDs are in place.
  2. Plug the battery back into the motherboard, making sure you replace the sticker.
  3. Remove your anti-static wrist strap.
  4. Place the cover back on your laptop.
  5. Clip it into place.
  6. Replace the eight T5 Torx screws.

That’s it! Once you have replaced the bottom cover, make sure you plug your laptop into power. If you removed the primary SSD without cloning it, you’ll need to reinstall Windows from fresh and restore your files through OneDrive. Check out Windows 11 installation guide for steps on how to do that.

Front view of the Razer Blade 16
Razer Blade 16

The Razer Blade 16 is one of the most powerful laptops on the market, featuring a 24-core CPU and an Nvidia GPU that can use up to a whopping 175W of power.