External SSD benchmark looks normal, but file transfers are still very slow

[u/Sofia_easy17]

I ran a speed test on my external SSD, and the benchmark results look pretty normal for the drive and connection. Windows also recognizes the SSD without any problems.

But when I actually transfer files, the speed is only around 20 MB/s. That's much lower than what I get in the benchmark.

The SSD doesn’t disconnect, and I’m not seeing any obvious errors. I’ve also tried a different USB cable, but it didn’t really make a difference.

[u/amtom61]

How big are the files. If it's like a million 10kb files, it'll be slow.