If you’ve looked into how much storage space to keep unused on an SSD, you likely came across recommendations ranging from 0 to 50 percent and may be frustrated about how to sort out the right number. When you have a 1TB or 2TB drive, keeping even 20 percent (200GB or 400GB) unused might seem both wasteful and costly.
For most consumer uses and even many professional ones, you can err on the low side of empty storage, down to even filling a drive up to what you might have thought was 100 percent full, depending on how you use the SSD now and plan to in the future. You may decide after reading this column not to worry about free space at all or opt to keep empty nearly 30 percent of your SSD.
Let’s start with the gory details. (If you want
