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I'm familiar with questions like Lifespan of an SSD (NAND Flash) for minimal write use archive purposes: Write once, toss in (proverbial or literal) storage closet and various media articles stating similar (in general, data retention is expected up to about a year), but they all concern how long an SSD can retain data. And unfortunately, my searches are only returning answers for that question.

My question is this: how long can an SSD remain unpowered before it can't be reformatted or otherwise reused? And, near that limit, do I need to take additional steps before I can reformat?

Context: I have an SSD that's been without power for well over a year. Obviously, I don't expect the stored data to survive, but I'd be reformatting it anyways even if it did, and it doesn't itself contain any sensitive data. However, it's been in temperature-controlled storage in a very dry place the whole time.

Claudia
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It's iffy -- depends on the make and model of SSD, temperature, exposure to radiation... Even within one model, there might be an SSD where data survives many years, and one that loses some of it sooner. As Bob Newhart states, "Some of 'em go down like a rock. And, I don't know, for some reason or other, others'll stay up for two, three minutes."

That said, SSD's could not be stocked on shelves, unconnected for years, and then sold if the basic firmware and file system did not survive.

In summary, you might lose some data on SSD more quickly than on magnetic media -- or not. However, it is unlikely an SSD would become unusable, i.e., impossible to format, just sitting on a shelf for a few years.

DrMoishe Pippik
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In terms of reformatting and reuse, SSDs are typically still functional after being unpowered for over a year. The concern with unpowered storage usually relates more to data retention rather than the ability to reformat or reuse the drive.

Carima
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