Here’s how I upgraded a base Mac mini with an external SSD to maximize storage without breaking the bank. In this detailed guide, I’ll show you how to set up an external SSD as your main drive, install applications, manage files, and even configure Time Machine backups. Plus, I’ll crash the drive on purpose to test recovery! This step-by-step tutorial is perfect for anyone looking to save money on storage while getting the most out of their Mac mini. Stick around for practical tips, compatibility checks, and a real-world use case for creatives, gamers, and everyday users.
💡 What You’ll Learn:
How to add external storage to your Mac mini
Running applications and files directly from an SSD
Formatting an SSD for macOS (APFS setup)
Setting up Time Machine backups
Recovering data after an SSD crash
Real-world performance with apps like DaVinci Resolve and games through Crossover
🔔 Don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more tech tips and DIY upgrades!
💻 Shot Out
💵 Product Links
M4 Mac Mini – https://amzn.to/3Or13I7
Crucial X10 Pro SSD – https://amzn.to/3Vc8E0S
OWC SSD Enclosure Only – https://amzn.to/4eT6pX8
OWC SSD Enclosure with 1TB Storage – https://amzn.to/3Z1Ja7u
Western Digital NVME 1TB SSD – https://amzn.to/3OtqdFR
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Disclaimer: Some of the above links are affiliate links, and I may receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) if you make a purchase.
Great tut, but what a nightmare of hoops to jump through to restore. Make one mistake and disaster. You get a power outage and you have to do all this again. Its a great tut on how to do it, but we shouldn't have to considering the money Apple charges consumers.
I think Apple should be fined heavily for making their product only upgradable by them. We had to force an industry standard for usb to stop manufacturers monopoly on buying specialised plugs that only fit their product. This is what needs enforcing on apple. Parts that are industry standard to upgrade, such as ssd's and memory and cpu. So that users can upgrade/replace and repair, and techs can source and fit replacement parts.
Encryption of the external SSD for the user directory is not possible, is it?
What the difference between “OWC SSD Enclosure Only” VS “OWC SSD Enclosure with 1TB Storage”
I see you linked 2 items. Do I need both? Do I need just one of so which one. I’m not a tech guy at all so what ever you think is the simplest/user friendly option. Thank you this is a great video
2:30 has it an EFI partition?
What if you can’t right click on the new added user to change the directory
THANKS SO MUCH FOR YOUR VID OH MY GOSH. WHY HAVENT MORE PEOPLE DONE STUFF LIKE THIS?
Quindi praticamente il sistema operativo parte sempre usando il disco integrato nel mac mini, non c'è un dual boot che fa scegliere il disco esterno per fare partire il sistema operativo. Il Mac Mini parte sempre dal disco principale solo che poi usa il disco esterno per installare le applicazioni, è corretto?
What a ball ache, i have never had an apple pc or anything apple simply because of their greed on upgrades.
The m4 mini is so tempting but only at the base model price, but 256gb ssd is a joke and if adding an external drive to install things on is this much trouble i won't bother and just stick with wndows.
With a new Mac mini M4, I have established all my files including the boot files on a Samsung 990Pro.
Everything appears to work correctly, but when trying a software update, I receive the following:
"User Interaction Required. An error occurred while installing the selected updates."
Do you have guidance as to what interaction is required?
I have full back up files and a bootable drive for emergencies on separate drives.
Can you make a partition on the drive and use that partition for both home folder and Time Machine?
clearest vid about using ext ssd!! nice man! thanks very much! 🔥🔥🔥
Nice
Hmm.., what could potentially go wrong with an external SSD setup for your $home, that is being actively accessed 24×7 to run your applications or retrieve your data?
1. Accidental pullout of the external SSD
2. Crashing of the external SSD including H/W faults
3. Power failure to the external SSD – power outages and surges
4. Overheating – High temperatures can cause the SSD's chips and controllers to fail
5. Corrupted data and bad blocks
6. Buggy applications freezing up and crashing, causing disk corruptions
If I was seeking adventure, i'd probably use Velcro to attach ext. SSD to mac mini and also connect it's power supply through surge protector. Further for long term archival (via time machine backups) i'd probably use a different type of secondary storage.
I'd also check if this could potentially void my Applecare+ coverage incase some unforseen event or hardware fault or disk error/corruption or inconsistencies were to develop via this approach in long term or if Apple disables the option of setting up an ejectable drive as $home in a furure software or firmware update.
idk what I did wrong but this is not working for me I'm noticing everything is still being installed into my internal, what did I do wrong??
Thank you Sean, this video made me a subscriber. These directions were clear and precise, I had no issue successfully adding my ext SSD like you instructed. The absolute BEST part is this fixed a long-standing issue I've had with OneDrive not allowing back up to my ext SSD since it's considered an "ejectable" drive. Setting up the drive using your instructions circumvented this issue and I can now back up my two OneDrive business accounts to my ext SSD. THANK YOU!
No wonder Apple sells storage for more. I wouldn’t be able to
Do this. I’m 32 and I get a headache. But I wouldn’t pay more would just avoid all this.
Hi Sean. Great video, I've done it and it work fine. But I'm not able to create an e-mail account now. As admin I can create one, but with my login for external drive it is not possible. Did I something wrong?
Nice hints
After I set up my enclosure with 4 TB card…..once set up….how do I migrate my old iMac stuff to new m4 Mac mini pro?
When adding a secondary admin account, you say makes sure it's an administrator user account. Yet when you've created it, it shows as a 'standard' user? 3:29
I'm currently using the base model of the Mac mini M4. If I follow all the steps and later decide to upgrade to the Mac mini M4 Pro, how can I reuse the same external drive and keep all my files intact?
You can save even more money by not using a mac.
What about Veeam Backup for Mac? Maybe it’s easier to restore. I’ll test it next week.
Why wouldn't TM let you restore it regulary? Are the problems connected to you manually copying the folders to the external drive?
hi Boss, I just bought mac mini m4, however I already have a mac mini m2 setup with external nmve ssd drive as my main drive. Do you have a video of how to move my external SSD main drive to the new mac mini m4 from a mac mini m2? tysm for your time and assistiance:)
Than what do you use the internal drive for?
It's actually a good idea which the youtuber I followed also told me…buy base variant instead of mid variant which costs 20000 rs more which only increase storage but not ram…we can buy a Monitor , keyboard , mouse, a type converter & a external SSD 1TB of SanDisk comes at 10k rupees…so totally we can have 1TB storage for 20k rupees along with other accessories
I really like the video, but one question keeps coming back to me: why not install macos directly?
I have brand new mac mini 256 and the OWC 1 TB external I want to connect. Can i use your steps to do the same to mine? do you have a written step by step tutorial ?
It is just impossible to use Apple without a dongle.