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Change a drive letter

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Applies To: Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2016

If you want to change a drive letter assigned to a drive, or you have a drive that doesn't yet have a drive letter, use Disk Management to change it. You can also mount the drive in an empty folder so that it appears as a folder. For more information, see Mount a drive in a folder .

If you change the drive letter of a drive that already contains Windows or apps, apps might have trouble running or finding the drive. We suggest not changing the drive letter of a drive that already contains Windows or apps.

The following steps show how to change the drive letter.

Open Disk Management with administrator permissions.

In Disk Management, select and hold (or right-click) the volume on which you want to change or add a drive letter and select Change Drive Letter and Paths .

Screenshot showing the Disk Management window with the Change Drive Letter and Paths feature selected.

If you don't see the Change Drive Letter and Paths option or it's grayed out, the volume either isn't ready to receive a drive letter or it's unallocated and needs to be initialized . It might also be that the drive isn't accessible, which is the case with EFI system partitions and recovery partitions. If you've confirmed that your volume is formatted with a drive letter that you can access but you're still unable to change it, that's beyond the scope of this article. We suggest contacting Microsoft Support or the manufacturer of your PC for more help.

To change the drive letter, select Change . To add a drive letter if the drive doesn't already have one, select Add .

Screenshot of the Change Drive Letter and Paths dialog.

Select the new drive letter and choose OK . Then select Yes when prompted about how programs that rely on the drive letter might not run correctly.

Screenshot of the Change Drive Letter or Path dialog that shows how to assign a new drive letter.

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How to Change a Drive Letter

Don't like the letters assigned to your drives in Windows? Change them!

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What to Know

  • Open Disk Management. Locate the drive you want to change. Right-click and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths > Change .
  • Select the drive letter you want to assign from Assign the following drive letter . Then select OK and choose Yes .

The letters assigned to your hard drives, optical drives, and USB drives in Windows are not fixed. Use the Disk Management tool in Windows to change drive letters. These steps apply to Windows XP and newer versions of Windows .

How to Change Drive Letters in Windows

Follow these steps to change the driver letters in any version of Windows.

You can't change the drive letter of the partition that Windows is installed onto. On most computers, this is usually the C drive.

Open Disk Management , the tool in Windows that lets you manage drive letters, among [many] other things.

In Windows 11/10/8, Disk Management is also available from the Power User Menu ( WIN + X  keyboard shortcut) and is probably the quickest way to open it. You can also start Disk Management from the Command Prompt in any version of Windows, but starting it via Computer Management is probably best for most of you.

Locate from the list at the top, or from the map at the bottom, the drive you want to change the drive letter of.

If you're not sure that the drive you're looking at is really the one you want to change the drive letter for, you can right-click or tap-and-hold the drive and then choose Explore . If you need to, look through the folders to see if that's the right drive.

Right-click or tap-and-hold the drive and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths .

Select Change .

If you've selected the primary drive by accident, some versions of Windows will display a message that reads Windows cannot modify the drive letter of your system volume or boot volume.

Choose the drive letter you want Windows to assign to this storage device by selecting it from the Assign the following drive letter drop-down box.

You don't need to worry if the drive letter is already being used by another drive because Windows hides any letters you can't use.

Select OK .

Choose Yes to the Some programs that rely on drive letters might not run correctly. Do you want to continue? question.

If you have software installed to this drive, it might stop working properly after changing the drive letter. See details on this in the section below.

Once the drive letter change is complete, which usually only takes a second or two, you're welcome to close any open Disk Management or other windows.

The drive letter is different from the volume label. You can change the volume label using similar steps .

If You Have Programs Not on the Main Drive

Changing drive letter assignments for drives that have software installed to them may cause the software to stop working. This isn't quite as common with newer programs and apps but if you have an old program, especially if you're still using Windows XP or Windows Vista, this is likely to be a problem.

Fortunately, most of us don't have software installed to drives other than the primary drive (typically the C drive), but if you do, consider this your warning that you might need to reinstall the software after changing the drive letter.

No Changes for the Operating System Drive

You cannot change the drive letter of the drive that the Windows operating system is installed on. If you'd like Windows to exist on a drive other than C , or whatever it happens to be now, you can make that happen but you'll have to complete a clean install of Windows to do it. Unless you have a pressing need to have Windows exist on a different drive letter, we don't recommend going through all that trouble.

Change, Don't Switch

There's no built-in way to switch drive letters between two drives in Windows. Instead, use a drive letter that you don't plan on using as a temporary "holding" letter during the drive letter change process.

For example, let's say you'd like to swap Drive A for Drive B . Start by changing Drive A's letter to one that you don't plan on using (like X ), then Drive B's letter to Drive A's original one, and finally Drive A's letter to Drive B's original one.

Using the Command Prompt

You can also change the drive letter from Command Prompt . It's not as easy as using Disk Management and you can't see right away which letters are available to choose, but it is completely doable with the diskpart command.

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Three Easy Ways to Change USB Drive Letter in Windows 11, 10, 8 or 7

Top three ways about how to change USB drive letter are listed in this post. You can pick the one that you like.

Bryce

By Bryce / Updated on May 12, 2023

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The reasons for changing drive letter for USB device

You may want to change USB drive letter in Windows 11, 10, 8, or 7 under the following conditions:

☞ The USB device, like external hard drive is not recognized in Window Explorer out of drive letter conflict. To resolve the problem, you can reassign drive ☞ letter to the USB drive. ☞ T he USB drive letter keeps changing every time it was connected to your PC. You can assign a permanent drive letter to the USB drive . ☞ You just don’t like the drive letter that has been assigned automatically to the USB drive and want to change it .

How to: Change USB drive letter in Windows 11/10/8/7 easily

Next, there are three ways about how to change drive letter for USB flash drive, USB external hard drive, etc. will be displayed. Pick up one way as you like.

Method 1. Change USB drive letter via Disk Management

Method 2. change usb drive letter using cmd, method 3. change usb drive letter with a free 3rd party gui tool.

Disk Management is a Windows built-in tool, allowing you to manage disk and partitions conveniently. Follow the steps given below to change drive letter of USB drive in Disk Management.

Step 1. Press Windows + R in Windows 11/10/8/7, input “ d iskmgmt.msc ” and hit Enter key to open Disk Management.

Step 2. Right-click the USB partition that you want to change the drive letter and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths... .

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

Step 3. In the pop-up window, click Change… . If your USB drive is not showing up in drive out of drive letter missing, you can click Add to assign a drive letter to it.

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

Step 4. Choose a new drive letter from the list and click OK .

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

Note: If the USB drive is formatted with a file system incompatible with Windows OS, like Ext4 or is write-protected, you can find that “ Change Drive Letter and Paths ” option greyed out.

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

To resolve the problem, you can format your USB drive with a file system recognized by Windows 10 /11 or remove write protection at first. Or you can try Method 2 or Method 3 to change the drive letter for your USB drive.

You can also change drive letter for USB drive from Command Prompt through the following steps:

Step 1. Pres s Windows + R simultaneously, input cmd, and click OK .

Step 2 . Type diskpart and hit Enter .

Step 3. Run commands listed below in order.

▪ list volume ▪ select volume n ▪ assign letter= m ▪ exit ▪ exit

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

If you find out Change Drive Letter and Paths greyed out and are unfamiliar with Command Prompt, you can try a 3 rd party partition manager for Windows PC, AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. It can change drive letter for USB drive even when it is write-protected or not formatted with NTFS or FAT file system. Now, free download it and take a closer look at how it works.

Step 1. Install and run the partition manager. In the home interface, right-click the partition whose drive letter needs to be changed and go to Advanced > Change Drive Letter .

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

Step 2. In the pop-up window, choose a new drive letter for your USB drive and click OK .

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

Step 3. You’ll go back to the main interface automatically. Click Apply and Proceed to commit the operation.

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

✍ Notes: ✌ You can get more functions, like quick partition, partition recovery, etc., if you upgrade to AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional . ✌ To more easily identify USB drive, like external hard drive, you can also choose to change name of USB drive.

Bryce

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How to assign a drive letter in Windows 10

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When you connect a new drive to your PC, Windows automatically assigns the next available letter after C, which is normally used for your system drive. So an external hard drive or USB thumb drive could end up as D, E, F, or whatever, depending on how many drive letters are already being used.

This is all well and good, but what if you want to assign the drive a letter? Maybe you want to use M for your music files or X for your top-secret X-Files. Here’s how in Windows 10.

  • Ensure that the drive you’re relettering isn’t in use and that no files from that drive are open.
  • Right-click on the Start button.
  • Click Disk Management to open the Disk Management console.
  • Right-click the volume that has the drive letter you want to change.
  • Click Change Drive Letter And Paths.
  • Click the Change button.
  • Choose from a list of available drive letters. (Don’t use A or B, which have historically been reserved for floppy drives and can sometime confuse older software.)
  • Click Yes if a popup windows appears asking if you really want to do this.
  • Close the Disk Management console.

You may need to restart your machine for the change to take effect, but once you do the drive will use the new letter.

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Steps to change a drive letter in windows.

Windows will automatically assign a drive letter. Drive letters can be changed using Disk Management.

Windows 11 and 10

  • Right-click the Start button.

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Disk Management will display a warning Some programs that rely on drive letters might not run correctly. Check other programs and change the drive letter to the new one.. View the Use of Third-Party Software or Websites disclaimer. Western Digital Support cannot help with third-party software or hardware.

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How to Change a Drive Letter in Windows

Sometimes when you plug in a USB device, it doesn't show up

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A task you will most likely have to perform a few times in Windows is changing the drive letter for an external hard drive, mapped network drive , or DVD drive. Sometimes when you plug in a USB flash drive, it doesn’t automatically get a drive letter assigned to it and it may not show up on your computer.

In those types of cases, you have to change the drive letter for the device and it will normally pop right up. In this article, I’ll show you how to change the drive letter for these devices using the GUI and also via the command prompt.

Change Drive Letter via Disk Management

You can open disk management on a Windows PC by either right-clicking on the Computer or This PC icon on the desktop and choosing Manage or by clicking on Start and typing in diskmgmt.msc .

How to Change a Drive Letter in Windows image 1

You’ll see a list of volumes at the top and the disks and partitions at the bottom. Any partition that has a drive letter will be shown in the white area. If you connected a USB drive and you see it listed, but it doesn’t have a drive letter, you can now assign one.

To assign or change the drive letter for a disk or partition, simply right-click on it and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths .

How to Change a Drive Letter in Windows image 2

A window will pop up with the current drive letter, if there is one, and a couple of options. Here you want to click on Change .

How to Change a Drive Letter in Windows image 3

Next, you will choose the new drive letter from the dropdown list. You can pick from the letters A to Z.

How to Change a Drive Letter in Windows image 4

That’s about it. Click OK to close out all the dialogs and the drive should now show up in Windows with the new drive letter. If you’re having issues using the GUI interface or you simply feel more comfortable using the command prompt, read the instructions below on how to use diskpart.

Use DiskPart to Assign Drive Letter

If you need to change or assign a drive letter via the command prompt, you have to use the diskpart command. I’ve written a bit on how to use diskpart , which is really useful for many disk management tasks.

To get started, open an administrator command prompt in Windows by clicking on Start, typing in CMD and then right-clicking and choosing Run as Administrator .

How to Change a Drive Letter in Windows image 5

Now type in the following commands, each followed by the Enter key.

Above, you’ll replace x with the volume number in the list that corresponds to the drive you want to change and with the letter you want to assign to the drive. Here are the commands I ran for an external USB drive:

How to Change a Drive Letter in Windows image 6

You’ll also notice that under the Type column, external drives will show up as Removable . That’s a good way to check before you select a volume. You can also figure out which drive is correct by looking at the size and also looking at the Info column. Volume 0 in my case is the system partition, so I wouldn’t want to mess with that by accident.

Overall, it’s a fairly simple process and hopefully you won’t run into any problems. There are times, however, when things don’t work properly. Below are some possible reasons.

Troubleshoot Can’t Change Drive Letter in Windows

One problem that I have seen is that the Change Drive Letter option is simply greyed out. This can occur for a few reasons. One of the main reasons is the volume is not formatted in FAT or NTFS format. For example, if you are attaching a disk from a Mac computer, you will not be able to change the drive letter unless you format the drive into a compatible format.

Another reason is if the drive is set to read-only. If so, you’ll have to Google the steps to change the drive to allow read/write access.

How to Change a Drive Letter in Windows image 7

Also, if you don’t need any of the data on the volume in question, a simple solution is to delete the volume, which is normally never greyed out. Once you delete the volume, you can right-click again and create a new simple volume. Now you will be able to change the drive letter.

Make sure to read my other tips on how to hide drive in Windows and how to map a folder to a drive letter in Windows. If you have any questions, feel free to comment. Enjoy!

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How to change drive letter using Settings on Windows 10

You can now change the drive letter for a partition using the “Manage Disks and Volumes” tools in Settings, and here's how on Windows 10.

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On Windows 10, each drive you connect to the computer gets assigned a letter automatically to identify the device and make it accessible. However, sometimes, you may need to change the drive letter manually for many reasons.

For example, if you connect a drive (USB flash drive, external hard drive, or secondary hard drive) that was formatted on another device, the drive letter may conflict with another storage device on your computer. You prefer using a specific letter for a drive. Or you’re trying to organize the letters in a specific order.

Whatever the reason it might be, starting with build 20175 (Dev Channel) , Windows 10 introduces a new experience to manage disks and volumes from within the Settings app, which also includes the ability to change the letter of a drive. (Technically, the partition inside the drive receives the letter, not the device. Since if the drive doesn’t have a formatted partition, no letter will be assigned and won’t be accessible.)

In this guide , you’ll learn the steps to change the drive letter using the “Manage Disks and Volumes” tools available on Windows 10 .

Change drive letter on Windows 10

To change the drive letter with Manage Disks and Volumes in the Settings app, use these steps:

Open Settings on Windows 10.

Click on System .

Click on Storage .

Under the “More storage settings” section, click the Manage Disks and Volumes option.

Manage Disks and Volumes

Select the drive with the partition you want to change the letter.

Select the partition.

Click the Properties button.

Partition properties option

Click the Change drive letter button.

Change drive letter on Windows 10

Use the drop-down menu and select the new letter.

Select new drive letter

Click the OK button.

Once you complete the steps, the drive’s partition will now start using the new letter.

Just remember that you can’t change the letter of the partition where Windows 10 is installed, which is usually labeled as “C”, and you shouldn’t try to assign a letter to the system reserved partitions. 

If the settings are not available, it’s because you are not running the version of the operating system that includes the tool. The Manage Disks and Volumes settings are available starting with  Windows 10 build 20175 or higher releases.

In the case that you’re using an older version or an older release, such as Windows 8.1 or Windows 10, then you’ll need to use the Disk Management console, or Command Prompt or PowerShell to change the drive letter.

Avatar for Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is a Windows expert and the Editor-in-Chief who started Pureinfotech in 2010 as an independent online publication. He is also been a Windows Central contributor for nearly a decade. Mauro has over 12 years of experience writing comprehensive guides and creating professional videos about Windows, software, and related technologies, including Android and Linux. Before becoming a technology writer, he was an IT administrator for seven years. In total, Mauro has over 20 years of combined experience in technology. Throughout his career, he achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft (MSCA), Cisco (CCNP), VMware (VCP), and CompTIA (A+ and Network+), and he has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years. You can follow him on X (Twitter) , YouTube , LinkedIn and About.me .

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How to assign permanent letters to drives on Windows 10

You can assign drive letters manually, and in this guide, we show you how on Windows 10.

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

On Windows 10, when connecting a removable storage device or an internal hard drive, the system detects and assigns a drive letter automatically to make it usable. However, when reconnecting an external drive (such as a USB flash drive or SD or microSD cards), the system can end up assigning a different letter, which can be annoying.

If you want to see the same drive letter on a particular device, you can manually assign a permanent letter to any drive connected to your computer, and on Windows 10 , you can do this in at least three different ways, using Disk Management, Command Prompt, or PowerShell.

Using this approach will prevent Windows 10 from assigning a new letter or trying to set a letter already in use, which can cause conflicts. Also, it helps to select a drive letter that makes more sense to you.

In this Windows 10 guide, we walk you through several methods to manually assign a permanent letter to a drive, as long as you're connecting the drive to the same device and the letter isn't already in use.

How to assign a drive letter using Disk Management

How to assign a drive letter using command prompt, how to assign a drive letter using powershell.

To manage drive letters with the Disk Management tool, use these steps:

  • Open Start .
  • Search for Create and format hard disk partitions and click the top result to open the Disk Management experience.
  • Right-click the drive and select the Change Drive Letter and Paths option.
  • Click the Change button.
  • Select the Assign the following drive letter option.
  • Use the drop-down menu to assign a new drive letter. Quick tip: To avoid the system trying to assign the same letter to another drive, it's a good idea to start adding letters in backward order. For instance, instead of using D, E or F, it better to start with Z, Y or X when assigning a new letter.
  • Click the OK button.
  • Click the OK button again.

Once you complete these steps, the drive will permanently retain the assigned letter, even after reconnecting it. However, if you connect the drive to another device, it may receive a different letter.

While the easiest way to assign a new drive letter is to use Disk Management, you can also use DiskPart in Command Prompt to perform the same task.

To assign a drive letter using Command Prompt, use these steps:

  • Search for Command Prompt , right-click the result, and then select the Run as administrator option.
  • Type the following command to start DiskPart and press Enter : diskpart
  • Type the following command to list all the available volumes and press Enter : list volume
  • Type the following command to select the volume (drive) to assign a new letter and press Enter: select volume 3 In the command, make sure to change "3" to the number that represents the drive on your device.
  • Type the following command to assign a new drive letter, and press Enter : assign letter=Z The command assigns the letter "Z" to the drive assuming it's available. However, you need to make sure to change the letter for the one that you want to use.

After completing these steps, similar to Disk Management, every time you reconnect the storage to the same device, Windows 10 should assign the same letter automatically.

Alternatively, you can also use PowerShell to change a drive letter on Windows 10 using these steps:

  • Search for PowerShell , right-click the result, and then select the Run as administrator option.
  • Type the following command to list the available drives and press Enter : Get-Disk
  • Type the following command to assign a permanent letter to the drive and press Enter : Get-Partition -DiskNumber 1 | Set-Partition -NewDriveLetter Z In the command, make sure to change "1" to the number that represents the drive that you want to modify, and change "Z" for the new letter that you want to use.

Once you complete the steps, the drive will be accessible through File Explorer using the letter that you assigned, and Windows 10 won't try to change it.

Updated March 7, 2019: We revised this guide to make sure it's current with the latest version of Windows 10.

More Windows 10 resources

For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

  • Windows 10 on Windows Central – All you need to know
  • Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks
  • Windows 10 forums on Windows Central

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Mauro Huculak

Mauro Huculak is technical writer for WindowsCentral.com. His primary focus is to write comprehensive how-tos to help users get the most out of Windows 10 and its many related technologies. He has an IT background with professional certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, and CompTIA, and he's a recognized member of the Microsoft MVP community.

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Home PC Windows Windows 10 How To Change the Drive Letter in Windows 10

How To Change the Drive Letter in Windows 10

How To Change the Drive Letter in Windows 10

“I would love to keep my drives organized. Perhaps labeling my new drive as ‘M’ for music and the other ‘V’ for videos. So How do I go about doing it?”

Changing the drive letter in Windows 10 works the same as it does for Windows versions 8, 7, Vista, and XP. No drive letter (save for C:) is set in stone. Even C is technically changeable but definitely not recommended. You’d have to repartition your PC in order to do so and that’s a whole new can of worms better left unopened.

The Disk Management Tool found in Windows makes altering drive letters a breeze, even for individuals who are not familiar with drive editing. You can have everything completed in just a few minutes. Follow the guide below for instruction on how to change your drive letters.

Changing The Drive Letters in Windows 10

When first connecting a new drive to your PC, be it optical, hard drive, or USB, Windows will automatically assign it the next available drive letter following C. Which letter is assigned is determined by how many other drives you already have connected.

In order to change the letter to something you believe to be more suitable to your taste or needs, you’ll have to open up Disk Management .

  • First, ensure that the letter you want to assign to the drive is not currently in use.

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

  • You can look through the available folders to see if the correct drive has been chosen.

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

  • You should avoid A and B as these particular letters have been historically reserved for floppy drives and could confuse older software by being altered.

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

  • Any software that is currently installed to this drive may stop working properly once the letter has been changed. If this is the case, you’ll need to reinstall the software onto the new drive. This issue is more common in older programs and apps, especially if using Windows XP or Vista.
  • To change your system drive from C: (or whatever you currently have it set as) to another letter will require a clean install of the Windows OS. As stated earlier, this is not something that I can recommend.
  • Swapping drive letters can get a bit tricky. There isn’t any built-in way to do so in Windows. You would need to create a temporary drive letter for the drive letter you don’t intend on using. An example would be changing the D drive to the E drive. Begin by changing the D drive to something you don’t plan on using like ‘X’. Now you have an X drive and E drive. Next, change the E drive to ‘D’ and then finish up by changing X into ‘E’.
  • It’s possible that you may need to restart your machine for the change to take effect. Once rebooted, the drive will display the newly assigned letter.

How To Turn Windows 10 into a Hotspot

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Windows: Changing an External Hard Drive's Drive Letter

I'm trying to resolve a file path error problem with TortoiseSVN in this question on Stack Overflow. One of the answers suggested trying to change the drive letter of my external hard drive. How can I change the drive letter for a USB device?

  • usb-flash-drive
  • external-hard-drive
  • drive-letter

Community's user avatar

3 Answers 3

I actually put this on SO for you :)

But here goes again: You can use Window's Disk Management Utility. Just right-click the drive and change Drive Letter IIRC.

mrduclaw's user avatar

  • Oh, whoops, didn't notice. Thanks! Going to trying it now. –  Maxim Zaslavsky Nov 27, 2009 at 22:15
  • No worries. Hope it works. :) –  mrduclaw Nov 27, 2009 at 22:16

Go to computer management (Right click Computer / My Computer), then click "Manage"

"Expand Storage" > "Disk Management", and right click on the drive you wish to change.

Click on "Change Drive Letter and Paths" then first remove the existing map followed by adding a new one.

alt text

you can use the USB Drive Letter Manager for Windows

USBDLM is a Windows service that gives you control over Window's drive letter assignment for USB drives. Running as service makes it independent of user privileges, so there is no need to give the users the privilege to change drive letters. It automatically solves conflicts between USB drives and network or subst drives of the currently logged on user. Furthermore you can define new default letters for USB drives and much more.

USBDLM is freeware.

p.s.: USBDLM is a REAL blessing if you have a lot of USB drives to manage!

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how to change drive letter on external hard drive

How-To Geek

How to assign a persistent drive letter to a usb drive in windows.

If you use multiple USB drives, you've probably noticed that the drive letter can be different each time you plug one in.

If you use multiple USB drives, you've probably noticed that the drive letter can be different each time you plug one in. If you'd like to assign a static letter to a drive that's the same every time you plug it in, read on.

Windows assigns drive letters to whatever type of drive is available---floppies, internal hard disks, optical drives, SD cards, and external USB drives. This can be annoying---especially if you use backup tools  or portable apps that prefer to have the same drive letter every time.

Related: What Is a "Portable" App, and Why Does It Matter?

To work with drive letters, you'll use the Disk Management tool built into Windows. In Windows 7, 8, or 10, click Start, type "create and format," and then click "Create and format hard disk partitions." Don't worry. You're not going to be formatting or creating anything. That's just the Start menu entry for the Disk Management tool. This procedure works the same in pretty much any version of Windows (though in Windows XP and Vista, you'd need to launch Disk Management through the Administrative Tools item in the Control Panel).

sud_1

Windows will scan and then display all the drives connected to your PC in the Disk Management window. Right-click the USB drive to which you want to assign a persistent drive letter and then click "Change Drive Letter and Paths."

sud_2

The "Change Drive Letter and Paths" window the selected drive's current drive letter. To change the drive letter, click "Change."

sud_3

In the "Change Drive Letter or Path" window that opens, make sure the "Assign the following drive letter" option is selected and then use the drop-down menu to select a new drive letter. When you're done, click "OK."

NOTE: We suggest picking a drive letter between M and Z, because earlier drive letters may still get assigned to drives that don't always show up in File Explorer---like optical and removable card drives. M through Z are almost never used on most Windows systems.

sud_4

Windows will display a warning letting you know that some apps might rely on drive letters to run properly. For the most part, you won't have to worry about this. But if you do have any apps in which you've specified another drive letter for this drive, you may need to change them. Click "Yes" to continue.

sud_5

Back in the main Disk Management window, you should see the new drive letter assigned to the drive. You can now close the Disk Management window.

sud_6

From now on, when you disconnect and reconnect the drive, that new drive letter should persist. You can also now use fixed paths for that drive in apps---such as back up apps---that may require them.

how to change drive letter on external hard drive

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How to assign drive letter to external hard drive in Windows 10

I've read other posts regarding this, the last being to start Disk Management, click on the external hard drive and select new simple volume and assign letter.  When I click on the external hard drive (which obviously does show up in disk management, but not in "My Computer"), I do not have the option to "select new simple volume and assign letter".  When I click on the volume tab, and then populate, I get all the information related to the drive, but no option to assign a letter.  Under the General tab, it says the device is working properly.

I previously used this drive on this computer, but needed to use it to download Dishnet DVR recordings from a receiver that was being replaced.  I did that and then transferred those recordings to the new receiver.  The external hard drive is now empty.

I'm sure the problem is that a letter needs to be assigned.  I just can't figure out how to do it.  Any help would be appreciated.

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Replies (6) .

MightyMiro_WD

Hi @littleangelbsb1!

I'm sorry to hear about your issues, I know this could be very frustrating experience.

Since there is no data left on the drive and you want to reformat it as well (since you've wanted to go with "select new simple volume and assign letter") you can try to do that via CMD rather than do this in Disk Management. Just follow these steps:

1. Press 'Win + X', and click/tap on Command Prompt, or Command Prompt (Admin) to open it in Administrator mode.

2. After that type 'list disk', press Enter.

3. Type 'select disk X (where X is the number your drive shows up as)', press Enter and type 'clean', press Enter.

4. After that type 'create partition primary', press Enter, type 'format quick fs=ntfs', press Enter, type 'assign letter=F (or the letter you want to assign to the drive)', press Enter and lastly - type 'exit'.

Hope this helps and let me know how it went. :)

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Normally, when you plug in an external HDD, if it is detected, it MUST be displayed both in the My computer and disk management also. As you say that the external hard drive is not detected in the My Computer, there is a good chance that either you are selecting the wrong disk in the device manager or Simply the disk does not gets read properly.

Hence, as of now, please re-connect your external hard drive to a different USB port and check if it helps. Or, you can also use a different cable and connect the hard drive to the computer and check if it helps. Also, you may plug in the Hard drive to a different computer and check if you are able to rename the same in that computer.

Please let us know if the issue is resolved or you need any further assistance.

Have a good day!

Thank you for your response; however, after pressing Win + X, choosing command prompt (admin) and typing "list disk", I get a message "list is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file.  Same with choosing command prompt (not as admin).

I did see "Disk Management" in the list after pressing WIN + X, and found the drive in that list, but again, it has no letter assigned to it.  Is there something I can do here?

2 people found this reply helpful

Thanks for your reply; however, I did choose the correct disk.  It is definitely the one I see in disk management - probably need to format it, but can't find an option to do that.  Any ideas?

1 person found this reply helpful

MightyMiro_WD,  I tried your step by step instructions and everything was good until I typed "assign letter"; at that point it said I had to select a volume.  I know the volume of the partition on which I want to assign a letter, however, I do not know the correct command to put it in.

Can anyone help me out with the command for "select volume"?

5 people found this reply helpful

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How to Change Drive Letter/Name on Windows 11? Here Are 4 Methods

Windows 11 is the latest operating system released by Microsoft recently. It comes with a quite different outlook. In this post from the MiniTool Partition Wizard website, you can learn about how to change drive letter on Windows 11. 4 methods are introduced and you can choose the one you prefer.

What Is Drive Letter

Drive letter, also referred to as device letter, is an alphabetic character that is assigned to a drive or partition of the storage device on a computer. Usually, the drive letter varies from A to Z and the system partition will be assigned to C by default on Windows.

Once a local drive is given a drive letter, it won’t change automatically when there is only a single operating system. However, the drive letter for a movable storage device such as a USB flash drive or an external hard drive might be different on different computers.

Some partitions won’t be given a drive letter automatically, such as the boot drive, system reserved and recovery partition, and the partitions that cannot be recognized by Windows. Without a drive letter, the drive will be unable to display in File Explorer and users cannot access it.

On Windows 11, the latest operating system offered by Microsoft, users can view the drive letters in File Explorer. If you don’t like the assigned drive letter or the drive letter is missing for some reason, you can change it manually.

In the following content, some common ways to change drive letter on Windows 11 are listed. And you can choose the one you prefer to have a try when it is needed.

Editor’s choice : Change Drive Letter via MiniTool Partition Wizard

MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Click to Download 100% Clean & Safe

  • Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard.
  • Right-click the target partition and select the Change Letter
  • Select a letter and click OK .
  • Click Apply .

Method 1: Change Drive Letter Windows 11 Using Settings

If you have upgraded to Windows 11, you might have noticed that Windows 11 is designed with a new outlook as well as many new features, but the basic user interface is similar to Windows 10.

Here, I’d like to introduce how to change drive letter in Windows 11 via a built-in tool, Windows 11 Settings.

Step 1 : Press Win + I to open Windows Settings quickly.

Step 2 : In the left pane, select System . In the right pane, click Storage > Advanced storage settings > Disks & volumes .

go to Disks & volumes

Step 3 : In the Disks & volumes window, click the drive for which you want to change drive letter and select Properties .

click Properties

Step 4 : Under the Volume data section, click the Change drive letter button.

click Change drive letter

Step 5 : In the pop-up window, select a letter and click OK to keep the changes.

change drive letter

If you don’t like this method, you can continue with the next method. It is also easy to operate.

Method 2: Change Drive Letter Windows 11 Using Disk Management

Disk Management is a preinstalled tool in Windows 11 that can be used to manage connected disks. You can also use it to change drive letter on Windows 11, and you just need to perform a few clicks.

Step 1 : Right-click the Start button and select Disk Management to access Disk Management quickly.

open Disk Management

Step 2 : In Disk Management, right-click the partition where you want to change drive letter and then select the option Change Drive Letter and Paths .

change drive letter and paths

Step 3 : In the pop-up window, click the Change button. On the next page, select a drive letter and click OK to save the changes you have made.

assign drive letter

Step 4 : Click OK when you go back to the window “ Change Drive Letter and Paths for ”.

After the 4 steps, you will get a new drive letter for the selected partition.

Method 3: Change Drive Letter Windows 11 Using Command Prompt

Command Prompt is the command-line interpreter in Windows operating systems and it is kept in Windows 11. With Command Prompt, you can input certain commands and your computer will take corresponding actions. It can activate many features that are not available in the graphical user interface, such as write protecting a drive .

It sounds cool to use Command Prompt. However, you should be careful if you are not familiar with this tool, as you might delete important data or even do harm to the operating system by mistake.

Don’t worry too much. This tool is commonly used to manage disks. It might be a little difficult for new hands, but you can change drive letter on Windows 11 successfully with the following guide.

Step 1 : Press Win + R to invoke the Run window. Then type cmd and press Enter to access Command Prompt .

Step 2 : In Command Prompt, input diskpart and press Enter to launch diskpart.exe, which is used to manage disks and partitions.

input diskpart

Step 3 : Now you can select the target partition and change drive letter for it. And here are two ways you can choose.

Way 1. You can type the following commands one by one in diskpart.exe to select the partition and assign drive letter:

  • Select disk * (replace * with the number of the disk that contains the target partition)
  • List partition
  • Select partition # (replace # with the number of the target partition)
  • Assign letter=k (replace k with the drive letter you want to use)

assign drive letter windows 11

Way 2. Alternatively, you can type the following commands one by one. This way is relatively easier than the first way.

  • List volume
  • Select volume ^ (replace ^ with the number of the target partition and you can identify the number through the label, size, or drive letter)
  • Assign letter=k

assign letter

Step 4 : Input exit and press Enter . You can also click the Close button from the upper right corner to exit Command Prompt.

As you can see, it might take you more time to change drive letter on Windows 11 via Command Prompt. If you haven’t used this tool, you’d better try other ways if you want to save time.

Method 4: Change Drive Letter Windows 11 Using MiniTool Partition Wizard

The last method to change drive letter on Windows 11 is to use a reliable third-party tool and here I recommend MiniTool Partition Wizard. It is a professional disk manager that can be used to create, move, resize, delete, format partitions, recover lost files , check and repair hard drive errors , etc. A huge number of its features are free to use, including Change Letter.

Now, let’s see how to change drive letter on Windows 11 with MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Step 1 : Download MiniTool Partition Wizard by clicking the following button or visiting its official website. Then install and launch it.

Step 2 : When you get the main interface of MiniTool Partition Wizard, right-click the partition where you need to change drive letter. In the pop-up menu, select Change Letter .

click Change letter

Step 3 : In the pop-up window, select a letter and click OK .

change drive letter

Step 4 : When you go back to the main interface, click Apply to execute the pending changes.

Then you can open File Explorer and view the new drive letter.

How to change drive letter on Windows 11? Here are the top 4 methods. And the last one is recommended. Click to Tweet

Bonus Tip: How to Change Drive Name in Windows 11

In addition to changing drive letter, the above tools can also be used to change drive name.

The name of a drive is used to help users to identify what is used for and categorize files. It is also called a volume label. For example, if I use a specific partition to store movies and other videos, I can set the volume label of the partition as videos. In this way, I can quickly find my videos when I need them.

There are multiple ways to rename a drive. The tools used to change drive letter can also be used to change drive name, and here is a simple guide.

Via Settings:

  • Open Windows 11 Settings and go to System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Disks & volumes .
  • Select the target partition and click Properties .
  • Click Change Label .
  • Type a name and click Apply .

change volume label

Via Disk Management:

  • Open Disk Management .
  • Right-click the partition and click Properties .
  • Type a name in the box and click Apply > OK .

volume properties

Via Command Prompt:

  • Run Command Prompt as administrator.
  • Input label f: music and press Enter (replace “f” with the drive letter of the target drive and replace “music” with the name you want to use).

change volume label

Via MiniTool Partition Wizard:

  • Right-click the target partition and select Label .
  • Type a name and click OK .

Via File Explorer:

  • Press Win + E to open File Explorer .
  • Click This PC .
  • Select the target partition and click its volume label after a few seconds.
  • Input a name and press Enter .

change drive name

Which one do you prefer? Choose one to have a try!

How to change drive letter and name on Windows 11? Here are multiple methods! Click to Tweet

Bottom Line

If you are wondering how to change drive letter on Windows 11, this post can help. Here four effective methods are listed. By the way, it also introduces some ways to change drive name. You can share your ideas with us in the following comment section. For any problems with MiniTool Partition Wizard, you can contact us via [email protected] .

About The Author

Position: Columnist

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Change Drive Letter in Windows for an External USB Device

Sadly, Windows does not always figure it out for itself

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This is a guide on how to change the drive letter in Windows for an external USB device like a hard drive or USB stick. Here’s a common problem that I have seen: You plug in a USB flash drive into your computer and it says ready to use, but for some reason nothing shows up in the list of drives. Take it out, plug it back in and still nothing shows up! What’s the problem? Well, it could be several things, but the most common issue is that the drive letter Windows is trying to assign to your device is already taken by another device or is mapped to a network drive.

Sadly, Windows does not always figure this out by itself (which is should) and your drive is basically lost in computer neverland. In order to fix it, we need to go to Computer Management and assign the drive letter manually. There are two ways to get to the Computer Management dialog in Windows, one through Control Panel and the second by right-clicking  Computer and choosing Manage.

computer manage

Click on Disk Management under the Storage section and the right side will show you all of the current drives and partitions on your drive. If you don’t know what that means, don’t worry, just find the drive you are looking for in the graphs at the bottom. They are usually named Disk 0, Disk 1, CD-ROM, CD-ROM1, etc. If you’re looking for a USB flash drive, you’ll see the word “ Removable ” underneath Disk X. In my case, it’s the I: drive that is removable. However, if you have a large USB hard drive connected, then it may show up as an additional hard disk like mine shown below (H:).

computer management drives

By default, Windows gave my portable USB drive the letter H. If your drive has no letter or you want to change it, then right-click in the white space to the right of the drive letter and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths .

change drive letter paths

Click the Change button in the dialog box and then pick a new letter from the drop-down list. Just for your info, the Mount in the following NTFS folder option is used if you had right clicked on an external hard drive and instead of giving it a drive letter, you wanted to just have it show up as a folder on your current hard drive. That means you could create a folder in My Documents called pictures that actually points to another hard drive instead of one where all of your My Documents are currently stored.

change drive letters

Click Ok twice and your drive should now have the new letter assigned. Usually, if the USB stick was not showing up before, once you change the letter, it will automatically pop up and ask you what you want to do. That’s about it! You can also use Disk Management to format disks, determine the type of File System and see the amount of free space available.

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  • TECHNOLOGY Q&A

How to change drive letters in Windows 10

Q. How difficult is it to change drive letters in Windows 10?

A. Changing a drive letter in Windows 10 is relatively easy, as follows. Right - click the Windows 10 Menu button and select Disk Management to display a list of all available hard drives. Right - click the specific hard drive letter you want to change, and select Change Drive Letter and Paths . Click the Add button, select a new drive letter, and then click the Change button, as pictured below.

techqa-6

  • Letters A and B are reserved for floppy drives.
  • The drive letter for the system volume or boot partition (usually drive C) cannot be modified or changed.
  • Any letter between C and Z can be assigned to a hard disk drive, CD drive, DVD drive, portable external hard disk drive, or USB flash memory key drive.
  • If you change the drive letter for drives where applications or programs are installed, those applications or programs may or may not function properly after the change because they might refer to the original path used to install those products. In this case, you would likely need to reinstall those applications or programs for them to work properly.

About the author

J. Carlton Collins ( [email protected] ) is a technology consultant, a conference presenter, and a JofA contributing editor.

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Do you have technology questions for this column? Or, after reading an answer, do you have a better solution? Send them to [email protected] . We regret being unable to individually answer all submitted questions.

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Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7

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How to Change Drive Letter on Windows 11(4 Ways)

How to change drive letter on Windows 11? Here are 4 ways for you with stepwise guide. Also, it’s recommended to create a backup for your computer.

Maggie

By Maggie Updated on December 28, 2023

Way 1. Change drive letter via Windows Settings

Way 2. change drive letter from disk management, way 3. change drive letter from command prompt, way 4. change drive letter from powershell, what is a drive letter.

On Windows 11, every storage device gets a letter like C:, D:, or E: to help you find it in File Explorer. But guess what? You can change these letters if you want. Maybe you want a special letter or the system picked one that's already taken. No worries! On Windows 11, you can switch it up using the Settings app, Disk Management, Command Prompt, or PowerShell. Just remember, you can't mess with the "C:" because that's for the main storage. Also, "A:" and "B:" are off-limits—they used to be for floppy drives. Let's dive into how to give your drive a new letter on Windows 11.

4 Ways to assign drive letter in Windows 11

As for Windows 11 how to change drive letter, here are 4 ways for you:

Here's how you can change a drive letter on Windows 11:

Step 1. Press the  Windows key + I  to open the Settings  app and go to System > Storage .

Step 2. In the Storage management  section, click Advanced storage settings .

Step 3. Click on Disks & volumes .

Step 4. Choose the drive with the letter you want to change.

Step 5. Select the volume and click the Properties  button.

Step 6. Click Change drive letter .

Step 7. Pick a new letter for the device and click OK .

That's it! Your drive's letter on Windows 11 will be changed.

Here's how to change a drive letter using Disk Management:

Step 1. Press Windows + X  at the same time and select Disk Management  from the result list.

Step 2. Search for Create and format disk partition s and click to open the Disk Management  tool.

Step 3. Right-click on the volume and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths .

Step 4. Click the Change  button.

Step 5. Choose Assign the following drive letter . Pick a new letter for the drive.

Step 6. Click OK . And click OK  again.

Now, your drive will show up in File Explorer with the new letter.

To add a new drive letter using Command Prompt, follow these steps:

Step 1. Open Start, and search for Command Prompt , right-click the result, and choose Run as administrator .

Step 2. Type the command ` diskpart ` and press Enter .

Step 3. Type the command ` list volume ` and press Enter  to see a list of volumes.

Step 4. Type the command ` select volume 2 ` (replace " 2 " with the volume number you want to change).

Step 5. Type the command ` assign letter=H ` (replace " H " with the letter you want to use).

Step 6. Press Enter to execute the command.

After completing these steps, Command Prompt will assign the new letter to the storage.

To change a drive letter in Windows 11 using PowerShell, do the following:

Step 1. Open Start and search for PowerShell , right-click the result, and choose Run as administrator .

Step 2. Type the command ` Get-Dis k` and press Enter  to identify the hard drive.

Step 3. Type the command ` Get-Partition -DiskNumber 0 | Set-Partition -NewDriveLetter F ` (replace "0" with the disk number and "F" with the desired letter).

Step 4. Press Enter  to execute the command.

By following these steps, PowerShell will assign or change the drive letter for the specified internal or external storage.

Suggestion: backup your disk to prevent mistaken operation

Changing drive letter on Windows 11 is usually a relatively safe operation, but care still needs to be taken as it can have some impact on the system and applications. Here are some of the possible risks and considerations:

▪ Application associations : Some applications and system services may depend on specific drive letters. If you change the drive letter that a system or application expects, it may cause those applications to not work properly. ▪ System File Paths : If a system file path contains a drive letter, changing it may cause the system file not to be referenced correctly, which could cause problems. ▪ Boot problems : If the drive letter of the system partition is changed, it may cause boot problems. Make sure you know how to fix boot problems in case you need to.

Before getting Windows 11 change drive letter, it is recommended to perform a system backup so that you can restore the system to a previous state if a problem occurs. Also, make sure you know how to undo or restore drive letter changes if needed. AOMEI Backupper Standard  is the best free backup and restore software  which supports all Windows PC, including Windows 11/10/8/8.1/Vista and XP. For Server users, it has AOMEI Backupper Server .

▪ Create a disk backup automatically : You can backup the disk daily, weekly, or monthly to keep all the changes on it. ▪   Backup only changed files : By default, it utilizes Incremental Backup  as default backup method to backup only changed files, which saves much disk space. Also, Differential Backup is supported in the Professional version . ▪  Diversified backup devices : It allows you to create full disk backup in Windows 11 and save it to an external hard drive, USB flash drive, NAS, network drive, etc. ▪  Perform offline disk restore : It is capable of creating bootable rescue media  with USB or CD/DVD to boot the computer from it and then restore disk backup without booting into Windows 11.

Download this software and install it on your PC.

Best free Windows backup software for personal use.

Then open it, go to Backup > System Backup , and follow the on-screen prompt to complete the whole backup process.

In this post we discussed 4 efficient and simple ways to change drive letter in Windows 11. However, every operation comes with potential data loss risks. Then create a backup before you do any operation is suggested. You can use AOMEI Backupper to create a bootable media on any normally working computer, and then use it to boot the problematic computer into WinPE for further backup or troubleshooting.

If you want to protect unlimited computers within your company, you can pick AOMEI Backupper Technician . With the inbuilt AOMEI Image Deploy tool, you are also allowed to deploy/restore system image file on server-side computer to multiple client-side computers over network.

Maggie

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how to change drive letter on external hard drive

In today’s digital world, data storage has become increasingly important. Whether you need to back up important files, store your media collection, or simply free up space on your computer, external hard drives are a cost-effective solution. While there are numerous pre-built external hard drives available on the market, building one yourself can be both rewarding and cost-efficient. In this article, we will take you through the process of building an external hard drive step by step.

Materials You’ll Need

1. Internal hard drive (HDD or SSD)

2. External hard drive enclosure

3. Screwdriver

4. USB cable (usually provided with the enclosure)

Step 1: Choose the Right Internal Hard Drive

Before you begin building your external hard drive, you need to decide which type of internal hard drive (HDD or SSD) will best suit your needs. Both options have their pros and cons; HDDs are more affordable and can offer larger storage capacities, while SSDs are faster and more durable but come with a higher price tag.

Consider factors such as storage capacity, read/write speeds, and your budget when choosing the right internal hard drive for your project.

Step 2: Select a Compatible External Hard Drive Enclosure

An external hard drive enclosure is a protective case that houses the internal hard drive and converts it into an external device that can be connected to your computer through USB or other connections. The enclosure should be compatible with your chosen internal hard drive’s size (2.5″ or 3.5″) and interface (SATA or IDE).

Make sure the enclosure supports USB 3.0 if possible – this will ensure faster transfer speeds compared to USB 2.0.

Step 3: Assemble Your External Hard Drive

Once you have both the internal hard drive and enclosure in hand, it’s time to assemble your external hard drive.

1. Using a screwdriver, open the external hard drive enclosure by removing the screws or using the provided tool depending on the enclosure’s design.

2. Gently insert the internal hard drive into the enclosure, aligning the hard drive’s connection port with the corresponding connector in the enclosure.

3. Secure the hard drive in place using any provided screws or clips within the enclosure.

4. Close up the external hard drive enclosure and tighten the screws to hold it together.

Step 4: Connect to Your Computer and Format

You’re now ready to connect your new external hard drive to your computer. Plug in the USB cable from your external hard drive to your computer’s USB port.

Upon connection, your computer should detect your new external hard drive. If you’re using Windows, open Disk Management to initialize and format your new drive before use. Mac users can do this through Disk Utility on macOS.

Once initialized and formatted, your external hard drive will be ready for use!

Building an external hard drive can be a cost-effective solution for expanding your storage capabilities. By following these simple steps, you’ll have all the space you need for storage and backups in no time.

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How to format an external hard drive on macOS

A lthough your Mac comes with a hard drive built-in, knowing how to format an external hard drive on macOS will widen your options. As well as giving you more space to play with, an external hard drive can also back up your Mac’s data. This will give you extra peace of mind because, while you could use one of the best cloud backup services, nothing really beats also having a physical copy of your data to hand should something go wrong.

To that end, you’ll want to grab one of the best external hard drives, perhaps going for the biggest capacity you can afford (or, at the very least, the one which best suits your needs). In general, that’s going to be a super-fast SSD-based drive using the speedy USB 3.0 standard. Everything else you need to format comes built into your Mac. So let’s get started and learn how to format an external drive on macOS.

1. Launch Disk Utility

Plug your external hard drive into your Mac then launch the Disk Utility app . You can find this in the /Applications/Utilities folder but you can also search for it in Spotlight (click the magnifying glass in the top-right corner of the screen and type Disk Utility).

2. Select your External Drive

Select View at the top of the Disk Utility window and choose Show All Devices . Your external storage device will be visible in the sidebar (if it is not, then learn how to fix an external hard drive that’s not showing up). Now click your external drive .

3. Click Erase

Now click the Erase button which you’ll see at the top of the window.

4. Check the settings

In the pop-up menu, make sure Scheme is set to GUID Partition Map .

5. Select the Format

Now select a file format . You can use the Apple File System if you have macOS 10.13 or later or Mac OS Extended if you have macOS 10.12 or earlier. It’s also possible to use MS-DOS (FAT) and ExFAT if you want file systems compatible with Windows.

6. Start the process

It’s recommended that you give your external hard drive a name . Then, when you are ready click Erase . Formatting will then begin.

And there you go. You now know how to format an external hard drive on macOS. Why not also discover how to recover data from a hard drive or how to check your hard drive’s health? You can also learn how to speed up your Mac and how to password protect a folder on Mac.

 How to format an external hard drive on macOS

IMAGES

  1. How To Change The Drive Letter

    how to change drive letter on external hard drive

  2. Quick Guide: Changing Drive Letters in Windows 10

    how to change drive letter on external hard drive

  3. How to Change a Drive Letter (Windows 10, 8, 7, ...)

    how to change drive letter on external hard drive

  4. Change and Assign Drive Letter in Windows 10

    how to change drive letter on external hard drive

  5. Three Easy Ways to Change USB Drive Letter in Windows 11, 10, 8 or 7

    how to change drive letter on external hard drive

  6. How to change the drive letter in Windows 10/11, DVD and USB drives?

    how to change drive letter on external hard drive

VIDEO

  1. How to Change Drive Letter in Windows 11

  2. How to Change Drive Letter in Windows 10

  3. How to Change Drive Letter in Windows 11/10 (EASY)

  4. How To Turn An Old Laptop Hard Drive Into An External One

  5. Convert any Internal Hard Drive into External Hard Drive

  6. How To Change Drive Letter Of Our Laptop |Apna Laptop ke Drive Letter Kaise Change Kre

COMMENTS

  1. How to Change a Drive Letter on Windows 10 or Windows 11

    You could also hit Windows+X or right-click the Start button, and then click "Disk Management." Identify the drive you'd like to change in the Disk Management Window. In this example, we'll change the letter of the D:\ drive to J:\.

  2. Change a drive letter

    In Disk Management, select and hold (or right-click) the volume on which you want to change or add a drive letter and select Change Drive Letter and Paths. Tip If you don't see the Change Drive Letter and Paths option or it's grayed out, the volume either isn't ready to receive a drive letter or it's unallocated and needs to be initialized.

  3. Change the letter assigned to an external disk?

    Start Disk management by right click on windows start button or using "win+x" on keyboard and selecting "Disk Management" In disk management you will see external disk under "DISK 0" and "CD ROM" at the bottom left corner. Here, you will right click on the partition (blue line partiton) Select "Change Drive letter and paths". Select "Change"

  4. How to Change a Drive Letter

    Jerrick Leger What to Know Open Disk Management. Locate the drive you want to change. Right-click and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths > Change. Select the drive letter you want to assign from Assign the following drive letter. Then select OK and choose Yes.

  5. Three Easy Ways to Change USB Drive Letter in Windows 11, 10, 8 or 7

    Step 1. Press Windows + R in Windows 11/10/8/7, input " diskmgmt.msc " and hit Enter key to open Disk Management. Step 2. Right-click the USB partition that you want to change the drive letter and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths.... Step 3. In the pop-up window, click Change… .

  6. Windows Tip: Assign Permanent Letters to Removable Drives

    1. To set this up, plug in the drive that you want to assign a permanent letter. Then open the Run dialog ( Windows Key+R) and type: compmgmt.msc and hit Enter or click OK. Or, right-click the...

  7. How to assign a drive letter in Windows 10

    — Software How to assign a drive letter in Windows 10 Published April 6, 2017 Written By Bill Detwiler Step-by-step instructions for assigning a specific drive letter to an external...

  8. Change and Assign Drive Letter in Windows 10

    1 Press the Win + R keys to open Run, type diskmgmt.msc into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Disk Management. 2 Right click or press and hold on the drive (ex: "F") you want to add or change the drive letter, and click/tap on Change Drive Letter and Paths. (see screenshot below) 3 Click/tap on the Change button. (see screenshot below)

  9. Steps to Change a Drive Letter in Windows

    Windows 11 and 10 Right-click the Start button. Click Disk Management. Right-click a drive to change the drive letter. Select Change Drive Letter and Paths... Click Change. Select a new drive letter. Click Yes. IMPORTANT: Disk Management will display a warning Some programs that rely on drive letters might not run correctly.

  10. How to Change a Drive Letter in Windows

    To assign or change the drive letter for a disk or partition, simply right-click on it and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths. A window will pop up with the current drive letter, if there is one, and a couple of options. Here you want to click on Change. Next, you will choose the new drive letter from the dropdown list.

  11. How to change drive letter using Settings on Windows 10

    Click the Properties button. Partition properties option. Click the Change drive letter button. Change drive letter on Windows 10. Use the drop-down menu and select the new letter. Select new drive letter. Click the OK button. Once you complete the steps, the drive's partition will now start using the new letter.

  12. How to assign permanent letters to drives on Windows 10

    Right-click the drive and select the Change Drive Letter and Paths option. Click the Change button. Select the Assign the following drive letter option. Use the drop-down menu to...

  13. How To Change the Drive Letter in Windows 10

    Right-click the Start button in the lower-left corner of your Desktop screen or press Win + X to open the Power User menu. Select Disk Management from the menu provided. To open from the Command Prompt, press Win + R to pull up the Run function. Type in cmd and hit Enter to bring up the Command Prompt console.

  14. How to Change External Hard Drive Letters

    5. Click the "Change" button and click "Assign the Following Drive Letter." Click the new letter to assign to your external hard drive and click "OK" to save your changes. Anytime you connect an ...

  15. Windows: Changing an External Hard Drive's Drive Letter

    1. Go to computer management (Right click Computer / My Computer), then click "Manage". "Expand Storage" > "Disk Management", and right click on the drive you wish to change. Click on "Change Drive Letter and Paths" then first remove the existing map followed by adding a new one. Share.

  16. How to Change the Drive Letter on Your External Hard Drive

    This short video shows you how to change the drive letter, or add one if it's missing, to your external hard drive or any drive.

  17. How to Assign a Persistent Drive Letter to a USB Drive in Windows

    In Windows 7, 8, or 10, click Start, type "create and format," and then click "Create and format hard disk partitions." Don't worry. You're not going to be formatting or creating anything. That's just the Start menu entry for the Disk Management tool.

  18. How to assign drive letter to external hard drive in Windows 10

    1. Press 'Win + X', and click/tap on Command Prompt, or Command Prompt (Admin) to open it in Administrator mode. 2. After that type 'list disk', press Enter. 3. Type 'select disk X (where X is the number your drive shows up as)', press Enter and type 'clean', press Enter. 4.

  19. How to Change Drive Letter/Name on Windows 11? Here Are 4 Methods

    Bottom Line What Is Drive Letter Drive letter, also referred to as device letter, is an alphabetic character that is assigned to a drive or partition of the storage device on a computer. Usually, the drive letter varies from A to Z and the system partition will be assigned to C by default on Windows.

  20. How to Change Drive Letter in Windows 10/8/7 [Tutorial]

    How to Change Drive Letter in Windows 10/8/7 [Tutorial]Anytime you connect an external hard drive to a PC, the computer assigns it a drive letter that enable...

  21. Change Drive Letter in Windows for an External USB Device

    By default, Windows gave my portable USB drive the letter H. If your drive has no letter or you want to change it, then right-click in the white space to the right of the drive letter and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths. Click the Change button in the dialog box and then pick a new letter from the drop-down list.

  22. How to change drive letters in Windows 10

    July 1, 2018 TOPICS Technology Q. How difficult is it to change drive letters in Windows 10? A. Changing a drive letter in Windows 10 is relatively easy, as follows. Right - click the Windows 10 Menu button and select Disk Management to display a list of all available hard drives.

  23. How to Change Drive Letter on Windows 11(4 Ways)

    Step 3. Right-click on the volume and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths. Step 4. Click the Change button. Step 5. Choose Assign the following drive letter. Pick a new letter for the drive. Step 6. Click OK. And click OK again. Now, your drive will show up in File Explorer with the new letter. Way 3. Change drive letter from Command Prompt

  24. How to Build an External Hard Drive

    1. Internal hard drive (HDD or SSD) 2. External hard drive enclosure. 3. Screwdriver. 4. USB cable (usually provided with the enclosure) Step 1: Choose the Right Internal Hard Drive. Before you begin building your external hard drive, you need to decide which type of internal hard drive (HDD or SSD) will best suit your needs.

  25. How to format an external hard drive on macOS

    It's recommended that you give your external hard drive a name.Then, when you are ready click Erase.Formatting will then begin. And there you go. You now know how to format an external hard ...