I use a macbook with only USB-C ports and wanted a direct cable to plug in my external USB-powered SSD drive. I took a chance that since this one would charge a phone it would send data and power to my drive but alas, it does not. Still a great cable and I'll hand on to it because I'm sure I'll find a use for it but I'll be using the Belkin USB to USB-C adapter for a USB cable for this drive. Belkin makes great hardware but it just for anyone else looking at this, it may not work on your USB powered external drive.