If you have a Lenovo Legion Go or you're thinking of picking one up, then you've probably been considering how to get the most amount of storage. There's an official 1TB option that isn't too expensive, but if you want to save money now and get the 512GB model, or you want more than 1TB of storage after you already it, you can actually upgrade it yourself.

Because the Legion Go uses a 2242 M.2 SSD, you'll need a couple of things to get started, and your replacement SSD will need to be the right size, so any of the others for the Asus ROG Ally or other Steam Deck alternatives won't suffice. However, you can get up to 2TB of storage internally or even get an external SSD instead for even more storage. The only downside of that is that you then need to carry an extra piece of hardware with you.

What you need to know about replacing the Legion Go's SSD

If you're replacing the SSD in the Legion Go, you'll need the following:

• A new replacement SSD
• A PH00 screwdriver and a PH0 screwdriver
• A plastic spudger to separate the backplate
• An SSD enclosure to clone the drive

For the SSD enclosure, we recommend getting two of them if you can, as you can then use a tool like Macrium Reflect to clone from the old drive to the new one. From there, you can enable it to extend the drive size to fill the entire SSD, and when it finishes, you can just put it in your Legion Go and boot it up as normal.

If you really didn't want to buy a new SSD enclosure, you could try to mount the smaller Legion Go SSD inside your computer, but we don't recommend doing that, While it's a shorter length, it will still work in a regular NVMe slot on a motherboard if you can find a way to hold it in place. It's definitely easier to use an enclosure, though, so you should use one if you can. You also need to be careful about the type of enclosure that you use, as an M2 2230 enclosure is too small.

Step 1: Turn off the Legion Go, remove the controllers and the backplate

The easiest step

To start off, you'll need to do the following to replace your SSD in the Legion Go:

1. Power off the Lenovo Legion Go.
2. Turn the device onto its front and remove the controllers.
3. Lift the kickstand to expose the area underneath.
4. Unscrew the back screws using your PH00 screwdriver.
5. Use your plastic separating tool to get between the plastic backplate and the shell of the Lenovo Legion Go, starting at the lip of the backplate underneath where the kickstand is.

When removing the backplate, be careful, as there are a lot of plastic clips that hold it to the rest of the device. We recommend separating it from the left or the right of the lip of the backplate underneath where the kickstand was. Be slow and careful when removing it, and you should be good to go.

Step 2: Lift the tape and disconnect the battery

Be careful with this

You'll next need to lift the tape covering the battery connector on the right-hand side of the Lenovo Legion Go. Remove it by pulling it downwards away from the connector, though be careful not to damage the connector while doing so.

Step 3: Lift the tape covering the SSD and unscrew it

Make sure the metal foil is intact

Once the battery is disconnected (it doesn't need to be pulled far away to be disconnected), you can remove the SSD.

1. Remove the black tape covering the SSD.
2. Unscrew the SSD from the device using your PH0 screwdriver.
3. Wiggle the SSD out from the connector, keeping the metal foil intact.

Once disconnected, you can then copy your data over using Macrium Reflect or any other software of your choice. Keep the metal foil intact, as it helps to prevent interference from other components affecting the SSD.

Step 4: Once your data is copied, put the SSD back in and put the Legion Go back together

Putting it all back together

You can now put the SSD back in, making sure to put the metal foil that was on the old SSD over the new one. This foil is to prevent electrical interference.

1. Wrap the foil around the new SSD.
2. Plug the SSD back in and screw it back in place.
3. Plug the battery back in.
4. Put the backplate back on, ensuring all clips are in place.
5. Screw it back in place.
6. Turn on the Lenovo Legion Go.

If all goes well, you'll have a new SSD installed and working in your Lenovo Legion Go!

What to do with your Lenovo Legion Go now

With the money that you've saved from upgrading the SSD yourself, you can use that to buy yourself a new case or even pick up some more games! The SSD replacement in the Lenovo Legion Go is one of the harder ones to replace in the current set of gaming handhelds, but it's still perfectly doable by anyone who has the right tools and some time.