A clamping apparatus for being disposed in an optical disk drive and carrying a disk is provided. The clamping apparatus includes a base, a spindle assembly, a pawl and a buffer element. The spindle assembly is disposed on the base and rotating about an axis. The pawl is assembled to the spindle assembly. The disk is configured to be locked to the pawl, such that the spindle assembly drives the pawl and the disk to rotate about the axis. The buffer element is assembled to the spindle assembly, and the buffer element is located above the pawl. The buffer element interferes with the disk when the disk is separated from the pawl.