assign drive letter dos

Top Contributors in Windows 11: Ramesh Srinivasan  -  neilpzz  -  Kapil Arya MVP  -  _AW_  -  Horace Wiggins   ✅

February 14, 2024

Top Contributors in Windows 11:

Ramesh Srinivasan  -  neilpzz  -  Kapil Arya MVP  -  _AW_  -  Horace Wiggins   ✅

  • Search the community and support articles
  • Search Community member

Ask a new question

LightJack05

  • Article Author

Manually assigning a drive letter using CMD/Diskpart

[Localization from this article: Manuelles Zuweisen eines Laufwerksbuchstaben mit CMD bzw. Diskpart - Microsoft Community ]

Technical Difficulty: Expert

Applies to: Windows 10 & 11

In some cases, Windows will not assign a drive letter automatically to an inserted drive. For example, this can happen when using a Windows installation media.

In that case, you can use diskpart to manually assign a drive letter.

NOTE: If your drive doesn't get assigned a drive letter, even though you are in a normal Windows environment, this can indicate a problem with the drive. Please back up your files in that case.

Open up a command prompt (CMD/PowerShell).

Type "diskpart" to start up diskpart. You will see the prompt change to "DISKPART>".

assign drive letter dos

Type "list vol" to list all available volumes. You can identify the drive by size and file system.

Additionally, the volume doesn't currently have a drive letter.

assign drive letter dos

Select the volume using "sel vol <number>".

assign drive letter dos

Assign the drive letter using "assign letter=<letter>".

assign drive letter dos

You can now exit diskpart by typing "exit" and switch to the drive using "<letter>:".

assign drive letter dos

It should also be available from Windows Explorer now.

50 people found this helpful

  • Subscribe to RSS feed

Was this article helpful? Yes No

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for your feedback.

How satisfied are you with this article?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

Thanks for your feedback.

Comments (17) 

* Please try a lower page number.

* Please enter only numbers.

Joe13 B-) 2.0

Thanks for the tutorial, I don't think I need to use Google for it anymore!

Congrats on Article Author too! :)

Report abuse

6 people found this comment helpful

Was this comment helpful? Yes No

How satisfied are you with this comment?

Thanks for the tutorial, I don't think I need to use Google for it anymore! Congrats on Article Author too! :)

5 people found this comment helpful

Thanks! Happy I could help! :)

1 person found this comment helpful

RAJU.MSC.MATHEMATICS

Very helpful Thanks.

3 people found this comment helpful

Thank for this informative article.

I ran this in PowerShell PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> GWMI -namespace root\cimv2 -class win32_volume | FL -property DriveLetter, DeviceID

The results are below. I need to know more about the DriveLetter, that does not have a letter and I cannot give it a letter, as you can see in DiskPart.

I'm sure someone personally hacking my computer. I'm wondering if this them hiding on it, and that is why I someone is typing over me and has more control at times of my computer then I do. Maybe a hidden AD Hoc.

I have searched for this on Google I'm either getting blocked or there is no information out there on this.

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> GWMI -namespace root\cimv2 -class win32_volume | FL -property DriveLetter, DeviceID

DriveLetter : B:

DeviceID : \\?\Volume{26xxxxxx--xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx}\

DriveLetter : C:

DriveLetter :

DeviceID : \\?\Volume{d5xxxxxx--xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxxxx}\

DriveLetter : D:

PS C:\WINDOWS\system32> DiskPart

Microsoft DiskPart version 10.0.19041.1

Copyright (C) Microsoft Corporation.

On computer: My Computer

DISKPART> List Volume

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info

---------- --- --- -------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------

Volume 0 D RAW DVD-ROM 2048 B Healthy

Volume 1 B System Rese NTFS Partition 100 MB Healthy System

Volume 2 C NTFS Partition 698 GB Healthy Boot

2 people found this comment helpful

I followed the instructions to CHANGE the letters assigned for three external hard drives. (The computer had named them E, F, G but gave the names to the wrong external hard drive) I changed the letters to the correct names singly (I disconnected the two not being adjusted) Now, I have 2 E, 2 F, 2 G names in the list (when accessed through File Explorer. When I click on "This PC", it shows just the one of each. If I click on either, or both of the same letter name, the same exact files will open. This is annoying. Anyone have a clue what can be done? This is on a brand new computer running Windows 11.

Sorry about the late reply.

That sounds weird... Usually, windows doesn't allow you to assign a drive letter twice.

If you want to change the letters, you usually have to remove them first and then reassign them.

Can you send me a screenshot of disk management, and of the list of volumes?

the partition that is not shown in diskpart is most likely some sort of recovery or reserved partition.

This is not the typical way of hiding an infection with malware...

Also, do note that your ESP (Volume B) should not be mounted, since modifying it can corrupt your Bootloader.

As for the suspected hacking, what symptoms did you observe? Mouse moving on its own, high resource usage, unexpected firewall prompts? Other things?

If you have a compromised system, its almost impossible to clean it from infections without doing a clean install of windows. I would suggest you do that if you suspect an infection. It will take time though and will delete everything on your PC. (Including files, programs, settings.) Create a backup before you reinstall.

There are no viruses nor malware on this computer. I believe it is a reflection of the original name choice. The information contained on each external hard drive is identical, yet when I go into MY PC, it only shows one set of externals. I am afraid to delete one of the duplicates because it might be just mirrored and it will make everything go away. I have way too many things on these external hard drives to lose any of them.

Thanks for your input. Jan

Forum Article Info

  • Devices and drivers
  • Norsk Bokmål
  • Ελληνικά
  • Русский
  • עברית
  • العربية
  • ไทย
  • 한국어
  • 中文(简体)
  • 中文(繁體)
  • 日本語

Sign up for our daily newsletter

  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise with Us

How to Remove and Assign Drive Letters in Windows with Diskpart

Vamsi Krishna

Diskpart is one of the most powerful Windows command line utilities which first appeared in Windows XP. Diskpart is mainly used by Windows administrators to manage tasks like partition management, formatting, creating, re-sizing and getting a detailed information regarding the hard disk or other removable disks attached to the computer. Even though you have a built-in GUI application called Disk Management utility in Windows, Diskpart is much more flexible and works well in a server environment where you need to set up some advanced features like RAID.

Note: This post isn’t intended for beginners, and doing something wrong while using Diskpart utility may cause drive failures and data losses, so make sure that you have a good backup before continuing. You have been warned.

Assign Drive Letter Using Diskpart

Assigning a new drive letter to a partition or removable device using Diskpart is really easy. First, search for the command prompt in the Start menu, right click on it and select the option “Run as administrator.” If you are using Windows 8, press “Win + X” to open the power user menu and select the option “Command Prompt (Admin).”

diskpart-launch-cmd-as-admin

The above action will open the command prompt window with administrative rights. Here enter the following command to start the Diskpart utility.

diskpart-cmd-diskpart

The next step is to list all the volumes in your computer so that you can clearly see all the volume numbers and drive letters of your hard disk partitions and any other removable devices. Use the command below to list all the volumes.

diskpart-list-volume

Once the Diskpart utility lists all the volumes, take a note of the volume number of the drive you want to assign a new drive letter. In my case, I’m trying to assign a new drive letter to the drive I:\ , so my volume number is 7 . Now execute the following command to select the volume while replacing the # symbol with an actual volume number.

diskpart-select-volume

Once the volume is selected, use the following command to assign a new drive letter. Don’t forget to replace the letter “V” with the drive letter you want to assign.

diskpart-assign-letter

That’s all there is to do; you have successfully changed or re-assigned a new drive letter to a partition or a removable drive in Windows. In fact, if you open the Windows explorer, you can see that the change is reflected immediately.

diskpart-drive-letter-changed

Remove Drive Letter using Diskpart

Before moving any further, removing or un-assigning drive letter will effectively hide the drive or partition from plain sight, i.e. you cannot see that drive in the Windows explorer. To remove a drive letter, follow the above steps 1 through 4 and then use the below command to remove the drive letter of a drive or partition. Don’t forget to replace the letter “I” with the actual drive letter.

diskpart-remove-letter

As soon as you have done that, Diskpart will remove the drive letter for that volume. If you list the volumes again, you will see that the drive you just interacted with will have no drive letter next to it.

diskpart-letter-removed

Moreover, if you navigate to the Windows explorer, you will see that the drive which got un-assigned isn’t listed anymore. But again, always be careful while you are messing around with Diskpart utility; it may cause irrecoverable data loss if used incorrectly.

Hopefully that helps, and do comment below if you face any problems while following the steps or to simply share your thoughts.

Our latest tutorials delivered straight to your inbox

Vamsi Krishna

Vamsi is a tech and WordPress geek who enjoys writing how-to guides and messing with his computer and software in general. When not writing for MTE, he writes for he shares tips, tricks, and lifehacks on his own blog Stugon.

Ms Paint Not Working Windows Featured Image

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.

assign drive letter dos

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

Get the Windows Central Newsletter

All the latest news, reviews, and guides for Windows and Xbox diehards.

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.

  • 2 7 Nightingale tips and tricks for beginners I wish I knew before playing the game
  • 3 Microsoft brings Wi-Fi 7 support to Windows 11 with latest preview build, coming to everyone later this year
  • 4 New Helldivers 2 patch takes care of all those AFK queue dodgers, but one of its worst bugs still remains
  • 5 This PC comes without memory, storage, or an operating system, and it's the best thing to happen to laptops this year

assign drive letter dos

MiniTool

How to Change Drive Letter with CMD Windows 10

Diskpart is a command-line tool in Windows system that allows you to manage your disks and partitions. This post introduces how to change drive letter with CMD in Windows 10, namely, by using Diskpart CMD tool. MiniTool software provides users a free disk partition manager, data recovery software, system backup and restore software, etc.

If you want, you can change drive letter for a drive with CMD (Command Prompt) in Windows 10. This post includes detailed guides for how to use Diskpart command-line tool to change driver letter in CMD.

How to Change Drive Letter with CMD in Windows 10

Diskpart is a Windows built-in CMD tool that lets you easily manage hard drive and change drive letter. To change or assign drive letter in CMD, you can firstly open Diskpart utility in Command Prompt. Check the steps below.

Step 1. Open CMD in Windows 10

You can press Windows + R , type cmd , and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open elevated Command Prompt .

Step 2. Open Diskpart tool

In Command Prompt window, you can type diskpart command, and press Enter . This will open the Diskpart command-line utility.

Step 3. Change drive letter CMD

Next you can type the command line below to change drive letter in Command Prompt in Windows 10. Remember to press Enter after typing each command line.

  • list volume (this command will list all available volumes detected by your computer)
  • select volume * (replace “*” with the exact volume number of the target partition)
  • assign letter=* (replace “*” with the preferred drive letter like “F”)

Windows change drive letter

After you change or assign a drive letter for a drive or device, Windows will display the same letter automatically next time you reconnect the device to your computer.

If you want to remove the drive letter of a specific drive, you can type remove letter=* command and press Enter . Still, replace “*” with the exact drive letter of the target drive.

How to Change Drive Letter Using PowerShell

Some Windows 10 users might find that Command Prompt is missing from Win + X menu , and instead, it shows Windows PowerShell. Windows PowerShell can do most things that Command Prompt does. Alternatively, you can also use Windows PowerShell to change drive letter in Windows 10.

Step 1. Press Windows + X , and choose Windows PowerShell (Admin) to run Windows PowerShell utility as administrator.

Step 2. Next type get-disk command and press Enter to list all available drives the computer detected.

Step 3. Then you can type the command: Get-Partition -DiskNumber 1 | Set-Partition -NewDriveLetter F , and press Enter to assign a new drive letter. You should change “*” with the actual disk number of target drive, and replace “F” with the new drive letter you’d like to assign to the drive.

change drive letter PowerShell

MiniTool Partition Wizard – Professional Free Disk Partition Manager

Instead of using CMD or PowerShell to change drive letter for a drive in Windows 10, you can also utilize third-party free disk partition manager like MiniTool Partition Wizard to easily change drive letter and manage disk partitions on Windows 10.

MiniTool Partition Wizard let you easily create/delete/extend/resize/format/wipe partitions, convert partitions formats, migrate OS, clone disk, test hard drive speed , analyze hard drive space usage, check and fix disk errors , and more.

change drive letter with MiniTool Partition Wizard

By following the detailed guides above, you can easily change drive letter with CMD (Command Prompt), PowerShell or MiniTool Partitioon Wizard on Windows 10.

About The Author

Position: Columnist

Computer Hope

How to change drives in MS-DOS and Windows command line

C: prompt

To change the drive letter in MS-DOS, type the drive letter followed by a colon . For example, if you wanted to switch to the floppy disk drive, you would type a: at the prompt. Below is a listing of common drive letters and their corresponding devices.

A partition is also treated as a drive, which means if you have a hard drive with two partitions , it's the C: and D: drive letters.

Floppy disk drive (commonly the 3.5" floppy drive).

A second floppy disk drive, if present (commonly the 5.25" floppy drive).

Computer hard drive primary partition (unless the hard drive is not available or is bad). If your CD-ROM (compact disc read-only memory) is the C: drive, your computer is not detecting the hard drive.

Commonly the CD-ROM drive or another drive unless the computer hard drive has multiple partitions . If multiple partitions exist, your CD-ROM drive is the last letter. For example, if one extended partition exists, your CD-ROM drive will be the E: drive because the hard drive partitions would use C: and D: drive letters.

Accessing a USB drive

To access a USB thumb drive or external drive, you must know what drive letter the computer has assigned to the drive. For example, if the USB (universal serial bus) is assigned to the F: drive, you can type f: at the prompt to switch to the F: drive.

What happens after switching drives?

After pressing Enter , your computer should change the MS-DOS prompt to reflect the new drive letter. If the drive does not exist, you will receive an error similar to the error below.

If this occurs and you know the drive exists, it's likely the drive is having problems.

If the drive and drive letter do exist, but there is no media to read, then you'll get the below error.

For example, the error above will be received if you switch the drive with no floppy disk or CD (compact disc) inside.

To list the files on an alternate drive, you can also type dir followed by the drive letter. For example, "dir a:" lists the files on the floppy drive but will not switch your prompt to the floppy drive.

Related information

  • How to see all drives available on the computer.
  • How to change a drive letter.
  • How to use the Windows command line (DOS).
  • How to copy files.
  • How to move files and folders on the computer.
  • See our drive definition for further information and related links.
  • MS-DOS and Windows command line help and support.

site logo

Assign Drive Letters to Folders in Windows

We'll show you 3 different methods to try

Author avatar

If there are folders that you access frequently, this post shows you how to quickly access these folders in Windows Explorer without having to enter the full path to the folder. We will discuss three ways to map folders to drive letters.

Method 1: Use the subst DOS Command

First, we will use an old DOS command, called subst , that allows you to assign a drive letter to any folder in Windows.

For this example, we will assign a drive letter for the following folder: C:\Users\Lori Kaufman\Documents\My Work .

Open the Start menu and enter “ cmd.exe ” (without the quotes) in the Search programs and files box. Click cmd.exe in the results to open the command prompt window.

Opening the command prompt window

In the command prompt window, type the following command to associate drive “ Y: ” with the folder.

NOTE: If there are spaces in the path name, be sure to put quotes around the full path.

Entering the subst command

Now, when we open Windows Explorer, we see a new drive labeled Y: that will directly open the My Work folder.

Drive Y: added

Use this same process to assign different drive letters to all your frequently used directories. However, the subst command cannot be used with mapped network folders.

Method 2: Use the psubst Utility

A disadvantage of using the subst command is that these virtual drives are temporary and will be removed as soon as you shutdown or restart the computer or log off. However, you can solve this by using the free psubst utility, which operates like the subst command but it creates permanent virtual drives that are persistent even after rebooting your computer.

Download the psubst utility from

https://github.com/ildar-shaimordanov/psubst

Now go ahead and read my post on how to use psubst to map a folder to a drive letter .

Method 3: Use a Graphical Tool

If you would rather use a graphical tool to map drive letters to folders, there is a free utility called, Visual Subst , that’s like a graphical version of the psubst utility.

Download Visual Subst from

http://www.ntwind.com/software/utilities/visual-subst.html

To install Visual Subst , double-click on the .exe file you downloaded.

Visual Subst executable file

On the Installation Options screen, select the check boxes for the Program Shortcuts you want to install and click Next .

Installation Options

When the setup is completed, click Close .  Double-click the shortcut to start the program. You can also start it from the Start menu.

Installation Completed

The main Visual Subst window displays. Select a desired drive letter from the drop-down list.

Selecting a drive letter

To select a folder to map to the selected drive letter, click the Browse button to the right of the edit box.

Clicking the Browse button

On the Browse For Folder dialog box, navigate to the folder you want to map, select it, and click OK .

Selecting a folder on the Browse For Folder dialog box

To map the selected folder to the selected drive letter, click the green plus button on the button bar to the left of the drive letter drop-down list.

Adding the selected=

The virtual drive is added to the list. Add more virtual drives by selecting a drive letter and a corresponding folder and adding it to the list as described above.

Virtual drive W: added in Visual Subst

If you want the virtual drives you defined available automatically when you start Windows, select the Apply virtual drives on Windows startup check box so there is a check mark in the box.

Applying virtual dries on Windows startup

To save the settings for Visual Subst , click the floppy disk button on the button bar. A file with the .ini extension is saved in the same directory where Visual Subst was installed.

Saving settings in Visual Subst

The mapped folders display as Hard Disk Drives in Windows Explorer.

Drive W: added in Explorer

If you want to remove the mapping for a folder, open Visual Subst again and select the virtual drive from the list. Click the red X button on the button bar.

Deleting a virtual drive in Visual Subst

Mapping folders to drive letters can save you a lot of time and Visual Subst makes adding virtual drives easy. Visual Subst works in Windows 2000, Windows XP, and later versions of Windows including Windows 7, 8 and 10. Enjoy!

' src=

Founder of Help Desk Geek and managing editor. He began blogging in 2007 and quit his job in 2010 to blog full-time. He has over 15 years of industry experience in IT and holds several technical certifications. Read Aseem's Full Bio

Read More Posts:

assign drive letter dos

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

More Recovery Products

  • Partition Manager     Partition Master Personal disk manager   Partition Master Enterprise Business disk optimizer   Edition Comparison Partition Master Versions Comparison   Disk Copy Hard drive cloning utility Partition Master Free Partition Master Pro

Centralized Solutions

MSPs Service

Screen Capture

Video Toolkit

Audio Tools

Transfer Products

File Management

iOS Utilities

More Products

  • Support     Support Center Guides, License, Contact   Download Download installer   Chat Support Chat with a Technician   Pre-Sales Inquiry Chat with a Sales Rep   Premium Service Solve fast and more

EaseUS Partition Master

3 Simple Ways to Assign a Drive Letter in Windows 10/8/7

How to assign a drive letter in Windows 10/8/7? This post covers three ways to assign a drive letter by using Disk Management, a partition manager, and Diskpart in CMD.

 Windows 11/10/8/7  100% Secure

assign drive letter dos

Total downloads

Page content

About the Author

Hot topics in 2023.

assign drive letter dos

What Is a Drive Letter

A drive letter is an alphabetic character identifying a physical computer disk or drive partition. Windows will assign an accessible drive letter by default, to any storage device. It starts from A to Z, going through all the alphabet. Windows will assign an accessible drive letter by default, to any storage device.

The system reserves the drive letters A: and B: for the floppy drive and portable media, such as tape drives. Even if your computer doesn't have these drivers installed. But you can still assign such letters manually if you wish. On computers with hard drives, the default drive letter is always C:. The CD-ROM or other disc drive is the last drive letter (e.g., D:). It's because C: is the first drive letter available on a hard disk. The drive letter C: can only be assigned to the drive on which Windows or MS-DOS is installed.

Windows will always be the drive letter C:,  even if you have several operating systems running. Most modern desktops and laptops now have hard drives and disc drives, like DVD drives, but not floppy disks. Even in this case, the C: drive is assigned to the hard drive, and the D: drive is assigned to the DVD drive.

Windows assigns the last drive letter to flash drives, smartphones, and other drives. For example, if the last drive letter was F:, and you plug a new drive, it is allocated as a G: drive until you unplug it. If you install more drives or create new partitions, they are allocated to drive letters other than C:, like D:, E:, F:, G:, and so on. Instead of the drive letter given by Windows, you may alter it to any other accessible drive letter.

How Assigned Drive Letters Work

You can alter the drive letter assigned by Windows. In the case you alter a drive's drive letter, the registry saves it per drive and volume ID. This does not permanently assign a drive letter to the device. The drive letter on your PC may change if you unplug the device or if you alter it.

If you use many USB drives, you may have observed that the drive letter changes each time you attach one. When non-assigned drives are attached, the letters D and onwards are assigned in turn. If the assigned drive is not attached, Windows will assign its drive letter to another drive. If you connect the drive with the given drive letter later, it will be assigned the next available letter.

Windows gives you several options for changing the drive letter of your computer. With this guide, you'll learn how to assign drive letters using three different tools. We will use Disk Management, EaseUS Partition Master, and Windows Command Prompt.

Extended Reading: Drive Letter Not Available

Assign a Drive Letter on Windows 10 with Disk Management

The Disk Management utility that comes with Windows lets you manage your disks. Change drive letters , create new partitions, delete existing partitions, and more.

Follow the steps below to change the drive letter.

Step 1. You will need to open Disk Management with administrator privileges. Right-click on the Start button, then choose Disk Management.

open disk management

Step 2. In the Disk Management window, right-click the volume you want to change or add a drive letter. Then click "Change Drive Letter and Paths".

choose change drive letter

Step 3. Pick "Change" to alter the drive letter. Or pick "Add" to add a drive letter for drives without one.

assign drive letter

Step 4. Choose a new drive letter, click "OK". The Disk Management will warn you that some programs might not run properly. Just close the window by clicking "Yes" to confirm.

disk management assign letter

Assign and Change Drive Letter with EaseUS Partition Manager

Your team is working on a project and you need to copy some files to a USB drive. But you have no idea what is the drive letter of the USB of your team. Most people have dealt with this issue before. As an easy solution, you can assign a drive letter to each driver using EaseUS Partition Master .

Users can manage disks with EaseUS Partition Manager without needing to go through a lengthy process. This program also provides advanced features such as  resize/move partition to solve low disk space issues, merge partitions, clone disk , create/delete/format partition, wipe data, disk/partition conversion, etc.

Now, free download this easy partition tool to assign drive letters with simple clicks.

Step 1.  Run EaseUS Partition Master, right-click the target partition, and choose "Change Drive Letter".

Step 2.  In the new window, click the down arrow and choose a drive letter for the partition from the drop-down menu, then click "OK".

Step 3.  Click the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button in the top-left corner, check the changes, and click "Apply" to change the drive letter of the selected partition.

Assign a Drive Letter Windows 10 Using Command Prompt

Windows Command Prompt can be used to assign drive letters to any directory on a computer. It especially benefits users with many storage devices connected to their computers. Below, we will show step-by-step how to change a drive letter with the command prompt.

Step 1. Access the elevated command prompt. Press Windows + S to run the search box. Type cmd . When the command prompt appears, right-click and select "Run as administrator".

open cmd

Step 2. Type diskpart at the command prompt. Press Enter.

command prompt type diskpart

Step 3. Type list volume , then press Enter.

command prompt  type list volume

Step 4. Pay attention to the volume number of the drive you want to change the letter. Type select volume . Substitute volume number by the number of the volume inside the <>.

select volume

Step 5. Type assign letter . Substitute the new drive letter with the new letter for the drive inside the <>. Done. After finishing, you can close the command prompt.

assign letter

You can assign different letters for your drivers in various ways. For example, with Windows Disk Management, and from the command prompt. But EaseUS partition manager gives you total control over your hard drive.

EaseUS Partition Master will assign a drive letter to any drive or partition and much more. Besides changing drive letters, you can also delete, split and wipe partitions. All without having to restart your PC several times or risk losing data. These features allow avoiding complicated procedures when working with multiple partitions.

How Can We Help You

assign drive letter dos

Updated by Tracy King 

Tracy became a member of the EaseUS content team in 2013. Being a technical writer for over 10 years, she is enthusiastic about sharing tips to assist readers in resolving complex issues in disk management, file transfer, PC & Mac performance optimization, etc., like an expert.

Read full bio

assign drive letter dos

Written by Cedric 

Cedric Grantham is a senior editor and data recovery specialist of EaseUS. He mainly writes articles and how-to tips about data recovery on PC and Mac. He has handled 10,000+ data recovery cases and is good at data recovery of NTFS, FAT (FAT32 and ExFAT) file systems, and RAID structure reorganization.

Product Reviews

 Product Reviews

I love that the changes you make with EaseUS Partition Master Free aren't immediately applied to the disks. It makes it way easier to play out what will happen after you've made all the changes. I also think the overall look and feel of EaseUS Partition Master Free makes whatever you're doing with your computer's partitions easy.

Partition Master Free can Resize, Move, Merge, Migrate, and Copy disks or partitions; convert to local, change label, defragment, check and explore partition; and much more. A premium upgrade adds free tech support and the ability to resize dynamic volumes.

It won't hot image your drives or align them, but since it's coupled with a partition manager, it allows you do perform many tasks at once, instead of just cloning drives. You can move partitions around, resize them, defragment, and more, along with the other tools you'd expect from a cloning tool.

Related Articles

How to Split Partitions with EaseUS Partition Master?

author icon

How to Test NVMe I/O Speed on Windows and Mac? [2024 Checklist]

author icon

Blue Screen of Death Is Changing to Black, How to Fix Windows 11 Black Screen of Death

author icon

How to Upgrade Xbox One X to SSD - Guide with Pictures

author icon

Fix 100% disk usage

partition hard drive in Windows 10

Partition Windows 10

Format USB in CMD

Format USB Using CMD

Convert MBR to GPT

Convert MBR to GPT

Combime partitions

Combine/Merge Partitions

Fix Windows can not be installed to this disk

Selected Disk is GPT

C drive is out of space

C Drive Is Full

Transfer Windows 11/10 to new drive

Transfer Windows 11 to New Drive

Get EaseUS Partition Master

Your best companion for disk partitioning, MBR to GPT/GPT to MBR conversion,even OS migration

assign drive letter dos

Copyright ©   EaseUS. All rights reserved.

How-To Geek

How to change a drive letter on windows 10 or windows 11.

You can change your drive letters in Windows 10 and 11 using the Disk Management utility.

Quick Links

What changing a drive letter does, how to change a drive letter, how to fix programs broken by changing a drive letter.

Changing the letter of a drive is easy on Windows 10 and Windows 11, but you should do it as soon as you add the drive to prevent future hassles. Find out how to change a drive letter here.

Windows assigns drive letters alphabetically --- starting with C --- when they're initialized. If you want to change a drive letter, you should do it before you install anything on the drive. Changing a drive letter after programs are installed could break them since there will be references to an installation location that is no longer there.

Windows has gotten pretty smart about updating shortcuts so that programs work after changing a drive letter. Most of your applications' shortcuts will probably be automatically corrected. Unfortunately, Windows isn't as good about updating file associations. You'll have to manually set the default apps associated with files to fix file associations if they were broken by changing the drive letter.

It is possible to change the boot drive letter to something else, but we don't recommend it. Changing C:\ to another letter is likely to result in severe issues, like a PC that cannot boot into Windows at all. Even if it were able to boot, there would be a huge number of programs that would not be able to run.

Technically speaking, while they are commonly called drive letters, each letter actually refers to a partition on a disk. If you have multiple partitions on a single disk, you will need to assign a letter to each partition to make them all accessible. If a disk has just a single partition, it will just have a single letter pointing to that partition. (However, you do not have to assign a letter to each partition. Partitions without drive letters will not appear in File Explorer and elsewhere.)

Changing a drive letter is pretty simple. Click the Start button, type "Disk Management" in the search bar, and then hit Enter.

The program name displayed in the search will not be Disk Management. It will be "Create and format hard disk partitions."

Start menu search showing disk manager result is not called disk manager

You could also hit Windows+X or right-click the Start button, and then click "Disk Management."

Click

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:\. You can right-click the drive on the text list, or on the menu below. Either works.

Right click the drive in the list, or right click the drive on the menu at the bottom.

Select "Change Drive Letter and Paths" in the right-click menu that appears.

Click

In the window that pops up, click "Change."

Click

Select whatever letter you want from the drop-down menu. Then click "Ok."

Select letter from drop down menu, then click

Two popups will warn you about changing your drive letter. Click "Yes" on both of them, and then restart your computer.

Once Windows has restarted, the drive letter should be changed.

Arrow pointing to change drive letter.

There are a few ways you can fix a program broken by changing the drive letter.

Fix The Shortcut

If you're lucky, the only thing that is broken is the shortcut. Fix a shortcut by right-clicking the shortcut on your desktop, and then click Properties.

Click

You need to change the target of the shortcut to the new drive letter.

For example, if GIMP was previously installed at " D :\GIMP 2\bin\gimp-2.10.exe," and you changed the D drive to J, change the target of the shortcut to " J :\GIMP 2\bin\gimp-2.10.exe."

Finalize the change by clicking "Apply" and then "Ok."

Edit the shortcut. Then click

Reinstall the Program

Reinstalling the program will generate new entries in the registry, so everything on the computer will know where to look for the program. Some installers won't like reinstalling directly over existing files, so you may need to rename or delete the old installation first.

Change the Drive Letter Back

If you changed the drive letter of a drive with a lot of programs installed, it might be easier to change the drive letter back. Changing the drive letter back should automatically fix any programs and file associations that were broken.

Edit the Registry

You can break programs, or even Windows itself, by editing the registry. Be careful, and learn about how to edit the registry before you try it. Make sure you backup the Windows registry first. You should not attempt this method unless you have no other options.

Windows, and a lot of programs, track where programs are installed via the Windows registry. It is possible to manually adjust the registry to fix broken programs. Keep in mind that there could be dozens of registry entries you need to edit. A program like GIMP can have registry entries for the context menu, for the "Open With" menu, for any file associations, and for the location of its executables. Other programs may only have a few entries related to where it is installed.

If you're not deterred, here's how you do it.

First, you need to know where the program was previously installed. In this case, the program was installed to the "D:\GIMP 2" folder, and the executables were found the "D:\GIMP 2\bin" sub-folder. It is now located at "J:\GIMP 2" instead.

We need to update the registry to reflect the change in location. Click the Start button, type "regedit" into the search bar, right-click Regedit, and click "Run as administrator."

Click

In Regedit, hit Ctrl+F to bring up a search window. Type in the old location for the program you're trying to fix --- "D:\GIMP 2" for our example --- then click "Find Next."

Click

Once Regedit has found something with "D:\GIMP 2" as part of a path, it'll show it to you. Here is an example from the GIMP search.

Some of the GIMP search results found in the registry.

To actually change them, double click the name of the registry entry you want to modify. Then change the drive letter to J, or whatever you chose. If you didn't otherwise move the folder, leave the rest of the path alone. Then click "Ok."

Change the drive letter in Value Data.

You'll need to repeat this multiple times. To find the next result using your search term, you can hit the F3 key. There will be a popup once you've found all of the entries.

Changing drive letters can be a simple way to customize your PC. Do it before you install anything on the drive, however. You'll prevent any problems before they occur, and probably save yourself quite a bit of troubleshooting.

TechRepublic

Account information.

assign drive letter dos

Share with Your Friends

How to assign a drive letter in Windows 10

Your email has been sent

Image of Bill Detwiler

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.

More Windows tips…

  • How to turn on or off hibernate in Windows 10
  • Regain hard disk space by using Windows Update Cleanup in Windows 7 and 8.x
  • Restore a Windows XP backup in Windows 8
  • How to replace SkyDrive with Libraries in Windows 8.1
  • Pro tip: Use an optical Recovery Drive in Windows 8.1

Subscribe to the Developer Insider Newsletter

From the hottest programming languages to commentary on the Linux OS, get the developer and open source news and tips you need to know. Delivered Tuesdays and Thursdays

Create a TechRepublic Account

Get the web's best business technology news, tutorials, reviews, trends, and analysis—in your inbox. Let's start with the basics.

* - indicates required fields

Sign in to TechRepublic

Lost your password? Request a new password

Reset Password

Please enter your email adress. You will receive an email message with instructions on how to reset your password.

Check your email for a password reset link. If you didn't receive an email don't forgot to check your spam folder, otherwise contact support .

Welcome. Tell us a little bit about you.

This will help us provide you with customized content.

Want to receive more TechRepublic news?

You're all set.

Thanks for signing up! Keep an eye out for a confirmation email from our team. To ensure any newsletters you subscribed to hit your inbox, make sure to add [email protected] to your contacts list.

The Best Windows Disk Partition Manager and PC Optimizer

assign drive letter dos

  • Free Partition Software >

How to Permanently Assign Drive Letter with Ease

A permanent drive letter prevents us from being confused with multiple USB drives. Then, how to permanently assign drive letter with ease? This post offers three effective ways to make it.

Dervish

By Dervish / Updated on November 29, 2023

twitter

Solution #1: Assign a persistent drive letter with Disk Management

Solution #2: assign a static drive letter by command prompt.

Solution #3: Assign drive letter permanently with the best freeware

Why need to permanently assign drive letter?

As we know, Windows assigns drive letters to all the drives that are available on the computer, such as internal hard disks, optical drives, SD cards, and external USB drives. Drive letters are alphabetical identifiers for volumes and each drive letter can be used once on one computer.

However, some users discover USB drive letter keeps changing each time they connect it to the same computer . It happens frequently if they use multiple USB drives on one computer. That’s really frustrating! At this time, assigning permanent drive letters to USB drives is needed.

In addition, some users perform regular backup between the USB drive and the computer via a USB hidden copier . With a persistent drive letter, the backup task can be recognized and repeated by the backup utility smoothly. What we need to do is to permanently assign drive letter.

How to permanently assign drive letter with ease?

How do I permanently set a drive letter? There are three efficient solutions I’d like to recommend to you. Learn how to assign a static drive letter in Windows 10 below:

1. Hit Windows Key + X on your keyboard, and select Disk Management from the menu.

2. Right click the USB drive to which you want to assign a persistent drive letter and select “Change Drive Letter and Paths.”

Change Drive Letter and Paths

3. In the pop-up window, click “Change”.

Select Change

4. In the next window, choose a proper drive letter for your USB drive using the drop-down menu and click “OK”.

Assign Drive Letter

✐ Tips: You may choose a rarely-used drive letter like M-Z, thus avoiding possible drive letter conflicts.

5. You will get a prompt that some programs might rely on drive letters to run properly. Click “Yes” to continue as long as the drive letter you assign here is not occupied by another drive where the programs are installed.

Prompt

1. Tap the Search button on the taskbar and type “cmd” in the search box. Right-click “cmd” and select “Run as administrator”.

2. Type diskpart and press Enter.

3. Type list volume and press Enter.

4. Type select volume # (ex: volume 7) and press Enter to select the USB drive to be assigned a static drive letter. You may get indication from the size of the volume.

5. Type assign letter=# (ex: letter=M) and press Enter to assign a new drive letter.

6. Double type exit and press Enter to exit Diskpart and Command Prompt successively.

Command Prompt

Solution #3: Assign drive letter permanently with the best freeware

AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard , the best partition manager, can help you assign a permanent drive letter to a USB drive. It can be operated with mouse-clicking and it’s totally free. Besides, it offers many other powerful features to help you manage disks and partitions better such as resizing/moving partitions , deleting partitions, formatting partitions, deleting large files , etc.

Just follow the instructions below to see how to permanently assign drive letter:

Step 1. Download, install, and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant. Right-click the USB drive which you want to give a permanent drive letter to, select “Advanced” and then “Change Drive Letter”.  

Change Drive Letter

Step 2. Select a new drive letter in the pop-up window. You are suggested to choose a rarely-used drive letter like M-Z.

Select Drive Letter

Step 3. Click “Apply” to view pending operations and then “Proceed” to commit the operations.

Proceed

✍ Note : To change partition type ID for MBR disk partitions and change serial number on a certain partition, please upgrade to AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional .

You have learned three exact ways to permanently assign drive letters for USB drives. After you commit one of the solutions, every time you connect the same drive to the same computer, Windows 10 will automatically recognize it and set the same letter. However, if you insert your external drive into another computer, it is likely to get a different drive letter. Apart from assigning a drive letter to a certain drive permanently, you can also repair pen drive not detected and fix the error that C drive is RAW with AOMEI Partition Assistant. Go for this tool and you won’t regret!

Dervish

Related Articles

How to assign and remove drive letter with diskpart.

This post will show you how to use Diskpart assign drive letter in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7. In addition, another free GUI software will be introduced to assign or remove the drive letters.

Drive Letter Not Available-Why and How to Solve It?

Can’t assign drive letter in Disk Management because a certain drive letter is not available? Follow this article to solve it efficiently.

How to Change Partition Type ID Easily? (2 Ways Included)

Are you in need of changing partition type ID in Windows? Read this article thoroughly to get two efficient methods to modify partition type ID.

Free Download to Try AOMEI Partition Assistant Now

Stack Exchange Network

Stack Exchange network consists of 183 Q&A communities including Stack Overflow , the largest, most trusted online community for developers to learn, share their knowledge, and build their careers.

Q&A for work

Connect and share knowledge within a single location that is structured and easy to search.

How can I permanently assign drive letters to my USB devices in Windows?

I have several customers with different PCs (Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows 7).

Unlike DOS 6.22, where you can permanently assign drive letter designations (e.g. Drive C: = Hard Disk Bootable Partition, Drive D: = CD Drive, or any additional partitions you want to create with FDISK, depending on which version of Windows you are running), if in Windows XP I connect a USB flash drive, it will assign it drive E:, in Windows Vista it will assign it drive F:.

In DOS 6.22, when you have LASTDRIVE=Z: in your CONFIG.SYS file, you can then statically assign permanent logical drive designations to any devices whether you connect them or not.

Why can't this be done in Windows? I have no way to create standardized backup PowerShell or batch file scripts!

Dennis's user avatar

  • Based on all the answers I've seen so far, there's no way to permanently reserve a logical drive letter for an external device in Windows!.. a flaw! –  Joe R. Jul 5, 2011 at 23:25
  • 1 The drive letter is stored in the windows registry, not on the device, windows looks at the device ID and checks the windows registry and assigns the drive letter based on that, if there is no pre assigned letter it will assign the first unused drive letter. so no way to do what you want from PC to PC other than assign the same drive letter for each device on each PC. It is always better to assign a letter farther down the alphabet, that way there are no collisions with drive letters already occupied on any given PC. –  Moab Jul 5, 2011 at 23:29
  • @Moab: I'll use your suggestion to assign an X: Y: or Z: although maybe I can devise a scheme to identify an attached device by volume label name. I think this is where Microsoft missed the boat with Windows!.. They used the same scheme used in DOS to identify devices whereas in UNIX everything, devices included, is a file in the filesystem, example: /dev/fd0 = diskette drive, /dev/hd0 = logical hard disk 0.. Now in Windows, we have floating (variable) logical devices besides all the other similarities with DOS, including security issues which have never been a problem with UNIX-bases systems! –  Joe R. Jul 5, 2011 at 23:51
  • Yup, Windows sucks, let us count the ways... –  Moab Jul 6, 2011 at 0:01

7 Answers 7

You can setup Windows so that it remembers the drive letter you asign to a drive, but you have to connect the device and set it up first. This can be done in the Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management (or run compmgmt.msc if you're as lazy as me). Under Storage > Disk Management , right-click on the drive you want to configure and select Change Drive Letter and Paths... . There you can change the drive letter that's assigned to the drive.

After this is done, whenever the drive is plugged back in, this letter will be used if it's available . If this is too risky for you, you can mount the drive in an empty folder anywhere on the filesystem instead (via the same interface). This works the same as the drive letter in the sense that Windows will only use it if it's available, but it will never do it unless it's explicitly setup to do so.

Martin Larente's user avatar

  • I think this is the best way to do it. Make sure to use higher drive letters so that other removable devices don't steal the next available driver letter and cause a conflict. –  Chris Thompson Jul 5, 2011 at 23:14
  • @Martin: You see?.. "...if it's available." meaning there's no way in Windows to guarantee that letter will be available if another device takes it, which in the real world, frequently happens! –  Joe R. Jul 5, 2011 at 23:21
  • 4 @Frank Computer: then you can use an empty directory to mount the device instead. It won't be used up by another drive unless it's manually configured that way. –  Martin Larente Jul 5, 2011 at 23:32
  • @Frank Computer: This is why you start your "static" drive letter assignments with Z: . If you have more than 20 different USB devices, you're in trouble no matter what you do. USBDLM works fairly well as @Mike Renfro mentions below. –  Bacon Bits Jul 6, 2011 at 4:47
  • I have found that even when I force assign the drive letter to my USB drive, that Windows 7 will often take that drive letter assignment and use it (or reserve it) after I have dismounted it. I normally want to assign my portable drive to G: at work. I unmount the drive and when I plug it back in the next day, Windows 7 often refuses to reassign it back to G:. It will instead assign it to H:. Even worse is that Windows 7 doesn't have G: available to be reassigned to. The logical drive letter is missing from the available list until I reboot - then I can force the assignment back to G:. –  John C Aug 16, 2016 at 15:43

Instead of trying to define a standard drive letter for your scripts, define an environment variable that you set on each system to designate the USB drive.

Mark Ransom's user avatar

  • or perhaps better to use volume name vs. drive letter? –  Joe R. Jul 5, 2011 at 23:45

One word: USBDLM .

  • automatically solves conflicts between USB drives and network or subst drives of the currently logged on user
  • you can define new default letters for any/all USB drives
  • you can make your 19-in-1 card reader only allocate drive letters for slots that have media inserted
  • usb port number
  • drive type (CD, removable, fixed)
  • presence of files/folders
  • volume label
  • volume serial number

32-bit and 64-bit versions available. This gets installed on each and every Windows system I install. No registry hackery, no disk management tool required, it just works as a persistent service. I cannot recommend this highly enough.

Mike Renfro's user avatar

Create your batch file scripts using %~d0 as the drive letter and colon. %~d0 is replaced by the drive containing the script. So if on one machine the thumb drive is F %~d0 is equivalent to F: On another machine the thumb drive is W %~d0 is equivalent to W:

All my scripts are this way because I use my thumb drive in 100s of machines

Kevin's user avatar

You can use also Disk Management (part of Computer Management) to give the volume a specific drive letter.

Neil's user avatar

Windows remembers drives based on an ID it gets from the drive itself. It tries to assign the original drive letter it first assigned it, but will assign another if that is in use. You can see Windows' memory of them in HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices (be very careful if you ever edit values under this key).

If you go into Computer Management (Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management, or just Run compmgmt.msc ) and select Disk Management, you will be able to set the drive letter there by right-clicking on the drive and selecting "Change Drive Letter and paths...". Once you have changed it, Windows will afterward attempt to re-use that drive letter when the recognized device is reconnected. You could use this to set the same drive letter for the device on each machine it will be used on.

Joel B Fant's user avatar

You could try using USBDeview .

Find the device in the list, right-click and choose Change Assigned Drive Letter, then set it to the letter you would prefer. If I remember correctly, it is persistant.

Gareth's user avatar

  • Doesn't work for me if Windows has taken and used my previous drive assignment (see my comments above), even when running as Admin. My drive will stay as H: if Windows decides has "taken" my previous G: letter. Only a reboot and a forced assignment will work for me. Reboot frees the "reserved" G: (in my case) and then I can reset and force my drive with Mini Tool back to G (with Admin rights). –  John C Aug 16, 2016 at 15:39

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for browse other questions tagged windows batch powershell ..

  • The Overflow Blog
  • Who owns this tool? You need a software component catalog
  • Down the rabbit hole in the Stack Exchange network
  • Featured on Meta
  • Upcoming privacy updates: removal of the Activity data section and Google...
  • Changing how community leadership works on Stack Exchange: a proposal and...

Hot Network Questions

  • Pasta Bar for 250 people
  • What's the relation between a language being managed and it's compiler being reversible?
  • Simplify one-time switch made using a flip flop?
  • Is Freyd's thesis available online anywhere?
  • Should this be a two or three factor ANOVA?
  • How far can we go in space?
  • Referring to selected linguex sub-examples without parentheses
  • Why does the Falcon 9 first stage perform a burn at 60 km altitude?
  • Leaflet offset of tiled layer WMTS layer
  • Logging in a different thread using circular buffer C++
  • The best way to guess the needed data using Mathematica?
  • What leverage or negotiation tools do government agencies actually have to negotiate prescription drug prices directly with drug companies?
  • Sample Size impact on Effect size
  • Would it be constitutional for a US state or the federal government to ban all homeopathic "medications"?
  • How do I write a sexist narrator without coming off as sexist myself?
  • Sci-fi short story about a teacher who was being studied to learn how to get robots to replace teachers in classrooms
  • Identifying two unopened bags with earth-toned pieces
  • If X causes Y, where does Y gain its properties from? Are they transferred over from the cause X?
  • Are views logically redundant?
  • How to efficiently transport troops from orbit
  • Can you cast a Wall of Force into water?
  • Can someone explain this choice of word?
  • After changing the username, no SFTP login is possible anymore
  • What theorems from single-variable calculus break down in the multi-variable context?"

assign drive letter dos

  • Discussions

Howdy, Stranger!

It looks like you're new here. If you want to get involved, click one of these buttons!

Quick Links

  • Recent Discussions
  • 9.9K All Categories
  • 365 News & Announcements
  • 102 Software Spotlights
  • 736 Site Issues
  • 3.5K Offers & Requests
  • 773 Product Comments
  • 1.1K Hardware
  • 3.1K Software
  • 99 Video Games
  • 57 Programming

Changing drive letters in MS-DOS 6.22?

Twiggy

BigCJ wrote: Add this line to CONFIG.SYS LASTDRIVE=Z This makes all drive letters assignable. The CD-ROM should be receive a drive letter now.
BigCJ wrote: That isn't really possible AFAIK. Changing drive letters wasn't easy until Windows came along. I'd backup the data and repartition the Logical drives.
BigCJ wrote: Wait, what exactly are you trying to do? Have primary partition as C:, the CD-ROM as and then the Logical drives? It's supposed to list the hard disks and their partitions before CD drives.
BigCJ wrote: That isn't possible under DOS. See, MSCDEX presents the CD-ROM drive to DOS as a network drive, and those load after hard disks and their partitions. What's wrong with your CD drive having a higher drive letter?
BigCJ wrote: Having the CD drive(s) after the hard disk partitions *was* standard way back when. The "CD drive being no matter what" ideal came about in the Win9x-era.

Sandpit

KnowledgeBase Archive

An archive of early microsoft knowledgebase articles, q51978: order in which ms-dos and windows assign drive letters.

THE INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE MICROSOFT KNOWLEDGE BASE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. MICROSOFT DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. IN NO EVENT SHALL MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS OR SPECIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF MICROSOFT CORPORATION OR ITS SUPPLIERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES SO THE FOREGOING LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY.

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1986-2002.

WebNots

Home » Tech Tips » Windows » How to Assign or Change Drive Letter in Windows 11?

How to Assign or Change Drive Letter in Windows 11?

Windows by default uses C drive (C:) for hosting system and application files. You can choose different drives like D: instead of C: while installing Windows on your computer. Similarly, it is also possible to manually change the installed app’s location , though generally users install apps on C: drive. Did you anytime think of changing the existing drive letters in your system? Here is how you can do that in Windows 11 PC.

Default Drive Name Assignments in Windows 11

Let us say, you have two partitions C: and D: volumes on your hard disk. Here is how the default drive letter assignment in Windows work:

  • A: – floppy disk drive for IBM computers (obsolete)
  • B: – floppy drive for MS-DOS and Windows computers (obsolete)
  • C: – Windows and app installation files
  • D: – storage space partition
  • E: – the letter after your storage partition for CD drive (if CD/DVD drive is available)
  • F: onwards – removable storage disks like USB and external hard disks

When you have more partitions on the hard drive, system will use the next drive letters like E: or F: when you insert an external drive. For example, when you have C: and D: drives on your hard disk and insert an USB drive , it will take the letter E: or later.

Changing Drive Letters in Windows 11

It is not necessary to live with the assigned drive letters forever on your system. You can either reduce / increase the drive’s space and assign new letters or simply change an existing drive’s letter. For example, you have 400GB D: drive which you can simply change to F: drive. Alternatively, you can divide it into 200GB + 200GB drives and name them as G: and H: drives.

Windows 11 makes it easy to change the drive letters from the Settings app without using registry or changing system files. However, you can also do the same from Computer Management as with the case in Windows 10 .

1. Change Drive Letter from Windows 11 Settings

If you want to change the assigned drive letters for any partition on your hard disk except C drive then this is the option you should proceed with.

  • Press “Win + I” keys or use Windows Search to find Windows Settings app.
  • Once you are in the Settings app, go to “System” tab and then click on “Storage” option.

Go to System Storage Settings

  • Go down to the bottom of the “Storage” settings section and click on “Advanced storage settings” available under “Storage management” section.

Advanced Storage Settings

  • This will expand the section and click on “Disks & volumes” option.

Go to Disks and Volumes

  • The “Disks and volumes” section will show all your existing drives and click on the one you want to change the letter name. it will show two buttons – “Explore” and “Properties” and click on the “Properties” button.

Open Disk Volume Properties

  • On the next screen, you can see the buttons for “Change label” and “Change drive letter”.

Select Change Drive Letter

  • Click “Change drive letter” button and select your favorite letter from the dropdown to assign.

Change Label for C Drive

The dropdown will show all letters except C: and the current volume. In the above example, we want to change the D: drive and the system shows A to Z letters except C and D. Since D is the current volume, it is not shown in the list. But C is not shown because it is a system volume partition and you cannot change the drive letter for C. You will not see “Change drive letter” button when selecting properties of C drive. However, you can assign A and B for drive letters which were once reserved only for floppy disks. Since floppy disk is obsolete Windows allows you to assign those reserved drive letters A and B also.

2. Change Drive Letter from Disk Management in Windows 11

Though changing drive letter is easy with Windows Settings, it does not allow changing C drive letter. You can use Disk Management app for changing any drive letter with additional features.

  • Press “Win + R” keys to Run prompt .
  • Type compmgmt.msc and press “OK” button.

Open Disk Management App in Windows

  • This will open Computer Management app and select “Disk Management” from the sidebar available under “Storage” section.
  • You will see all the drives available on your computer and select C or D or any drive that you want to assign a new letter.
  • Go to “Action > All Tasks > Change Drive Letter and Paths…” menu.

Change Drive Letter in Disk Management

  • On the pop-up that appears, click on “Change…” button.

Select Change Button

  • Click on the dropdown against “Assign the following drive letter:” option.
  • Select your favorite letter and click “OK” button.

Assign New Drive Letter

Here you will see all the drive letters except D which is already assigned to another partition volume on the hard disk. Though it is possible to change drive letter for C, we do not recommend as it can affect the installed programs on your computer. Most programs by default install under “Program Files” section in C drive. Changing the drive letter may affect the installed programs and they may stop working. In such a case, you need to uninstall and reinstall the program on the new drive again. This will be a big task if multiple programs stopped working. Therefore, choose the system drive when you clean install Windows first time and stick with that. If you are using preinstalled Windows on C drive, then continue to use that without changing. You can change all other drives using Disk Management or Windows Settings app.

If you want to create parition, select the volume and right click on it. From the menu, select “Shrink Volume” option and select the reduced size for your volume. The remaining size will become unallocated for which you can assign a new label and letter as explained above. Learn more about how to create disk paritions in Windows computer .

Assigning Drive Letter to Removable Disks

As mentioned, Windows will assign the available drive letter for removable disks after the current partition volumes. The problem is when you have multiple removable disks, the assigned letters will change every time which may confuse you. The good part is that you can assign a drive letter as explained above for your removable USB or external hard disk. Windows will remember the assigned letter and use the same whenever you insert the external drive. However, make sure to use the letters clearly away from the current and CD/DVD drives. For example, you can use X or Y or even A or B which are generally not assigned.

About Editorial Staff

Editorial Staff at WebNots are team of experts who love to build websites, find tech hacks and share the learning with community.

You also might be interested in

Fix iPhone Storage Full Issue

How to Fix iPhone Storage Full Issue?

Earlier Apple used to sell iPhone with as low as[...]

How to Backup and Restore Mac Using Time Machine?

Guide on How to Backup and Restore Mac Using Time Machine?

Regularly backing up your Mac is an important task you[...]

6 Facts to Know Before Buying Hosting Plan

6 Facts to Check Before Buying Web Hosting Plans

Launching a new site or migrating to new host, here are the 6 facts you should know before buying a hosting plan to avoid later frustration.

DOWNLOAD EBOOKS

  • SEO Guide for Beginners
  • WordPress SEO PDF Guide
  • Weebly SEO PDF Guide
  • Alt Code Emoji Shortcuts PDF
  • ALT Code Shortcuts PDF
  • View All eBooks

TRENDING TECH ARTICLES

  • ALT Code Shortcuts for Symbols
  • Fix Chrome Resolving Host Problem
  • Fix Slow Page Loading Issue in Google Chrome
  • View Webpage Source CSS and HTML in Google Chrome
  • Fix Safari Slow Loading Pages in macOS
  • Fix Windows WiFi Connection Issue
  • ROYGBIV or VIBGYOR Rainbow Color Codes
  • Fix I’m Not A Robot reCAPTCHA Issue in Google Search
  • Structure of HTTP Request and Response

POPULAR WEB TUTORIALS

  • Move WordPress Localhost Site to Live Server
  • Move Live WordPress Site to Localhost
  • Move WordPress Media Folder to Subdomain
  • Fix WooCommerce Ajax Loading Issue
  • Create a Free Weebly Blog
  • Edit Weebly Source Code HTML and CSS
  • Add Scroll To Top Button in Weebly
  • Add Table in Weebly Site
  • How to Add Advanced Data Table Widget in Weebly?
  • Up to $500 Free Google Ads Coupon Codes

FREE SEO TOOLS

  • Webpage Source Code Viewer
  • HTTP Header Checker
  • What is My IP Address?
  • Google Cache Checker
  • Domain Age Checker Tool
  • View All Free Web and SEO Tools

© 2024 · WebNots · All Rights Reserved.

Type and press Enter to search

IMAGES

  1. Sổ tay : How to Assign and Remove Drive Letter with Diskpart?

    assign drive letter dos

  2. 3 Simple Ways to Assign a Drive Letter in Windows 10/8/7

    assign drive letter dos

  3. How to Assign / Change / Remove Drive Letter

    assign drive letter dos

  4. Business paper: Assigning drive letters

    assign drive letter dos

  5. Windows 8 Disk Management

    assign drive letter dos

  6. [FIX] The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned

    assign drive letter dos

VIDEO

  1. Letter P| Phonic Sound And Words

  2. How to Change Drive Letter in Windows 11

  3. How to Change Drive Letter in Windows 10

  4. How to Change Drive Letter in Windows 11/10

  5. How to extend drive d to drive c

  6. How to format and/or assign drive letters using Disk Management in Windows 7

COMMENTS

  1. Manually assigning a drive letter using CMD/Diskpart

    Procedure Open up a command prompt (CMD/PowerShell). Type "diskpart" to start up diskpart. You will see the prompt change to "DISKPART>". Type "list vol" to list all available volumes. You can identify the drive by size and file system. Additionally, the volume doesn't currently have a drive letter. Select the volume using "sel vol <number>".

  2. How to Use the Diskpart Utility to Assign and Remove Drive Letters

    You'll need to start by opening an administrator mode command prompt -- type cmd into the search box, and then right-click and choose Run as administrator, or use the CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER keyboard shortcut. Once there, run the diskpart command, and then type in the following to list out the volumes on your system. list volume

  3. How to Remove and Assign Drive Letters in Windows with Diskpart

    select volume # Once the volume is selected, use the following command to assign a new drive letter. Don't forget to replace the letter "V" with the drive letter you want to assign. assign letter =V That's all there is to do; you have successfully changed or re-assigned a new drive letter to a partition or a removable drive in Windows.

  4. [Free Guide]: Use Diskpart Assign Drive Letter in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7

    Step 1. Press "Windows + R". Then, type "diskpart" and press Enter. Step 2. Type in "list volume" and press Enter. Now, you can see all volumes on PC. Step 3. Type in "select volume 7" and press Enter (here take volume 7 as an example). Step 4. Finally, type in"assign letter=F" and press Enter.

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

    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...

  6. How to Change Drive Letter with CMD Windows 10

    Step 1. Open CMD in Windows 10 You can press Windows + R, type cmd, and press Ctrl + Shift + Enter to open elevated Command Prompt. Step 2. Open Diskpart tool In Command Prompt window, you can type diskpart command, and press Enter. This will open the Diskpart command-line utility. Step 3. Change drive letter CMD

  7. How to change drives in MS-DOS and Windows command line

    MS-DOS Q&A How to change drives in MS-DOS and Windows command line Updated: 07/13/2023 by Computer Hope To change the drive letter in MS-DOS, type the drive letter followed by a colon. For example, if you wanted to switch to the floppy disk drive, you would type a: at the prompt.

  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. Assign Drive Letters to Folders in Windows

    Method 1: Use the subst DOS Command First, we will use an old DOS command, called subst, that allows you to assign a drive letter to any folder in Windows. Table of Contents Method 1: Use the subst DOS Command Method 2: Use the psubst Utility Method 3: Use a Graphical Tool

  10. 3 Simple Ways to Assign a Drive Letter in Windows 10/8/7

    Step 2. In the Disk Management window, right-click the volume you want to change or add a drive letter. Then click "Change Drive Letter and Paths". Step 3. Pick "Change" to alter the drive letter. Or pick "Add" to add a drive letter for drives without one. Step 4.

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

    Changing a drive letter is pretty simple. Click the Start button, type "Disk Management" in the search bar, and then hit Enter. The program name displayed in the search will not be Disk Management. It will be "Create and format hard disk partitions." You could also hit Windows+X or right-click the Start button, and then click "Disk Management."

  12. DOS Command: ASSIGN

    Syntax: ASSIGN ASSIGN x=y [...] /sta Purpose: Redirects disk drive requests to a different drive. (In DOS Version 6, this program is stored on the DOS supplemental disk.) Discussion Use the ASSIGN command to change drive assignments from the drive indicated by the first letter you enter (x), to the drive indicated by the second letter (y) entered.

  13. Drive letter assignment

    MS-DOS command prompt with drive letter C as part of the current working directory. File Manager displaying the contents of drive C.. In computer data storage, drive letter assignment is the process of assigning alphabetical identifiers to volumes.Unlike the concept of UNIX mount points, where volumes are named and located arbitrarily in a single hierarchical namespace, drive letter assignment ...

  14. Diskpart

    More on the blog: https://bit.ly/31NoF4GAssign drive letters in the command line with Diskpart.Start a command prompt and type "diskpart". Then you can use "...

  15. How to assign a drive letter in Windows 10

    Click OK. 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...

  16. How to Permanently Assign Drive Letter with Ease

    Solution #1: Assign a persistent drive letter with Disk Management. 1. Hit Windows Key + X on your keyboard, and select Disk Management from the menu. 2. Right click the USB drive to which you want to assign a persistent drive letter and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths.". 3. In the pop-up window, click "Change". 4.

  17. batch

    Unlike DOS 6.22, where you can permanently assign drive letter designations (e.g. Drive C: = Hard Disk Bootable Partition, Drive D: = CD Drive, or any additional partitions you want to create with FDISK, depending on which version of Windows you are running), if in Windows XP I connect a USB flash drive, it will assign it drive E:, in Windows Vi...

  18. Changing drive letters in MS-DOS 6.22?

    Changing drive letters in MS-DOS 6.22? Twiggy July 2017 edited August 2017 in Software So, I have the solar system back. When I go into my extended dos parition, and make some logical paritions, it makes the first as ":D" however this conflicts with my CD-ROM drivers.

  19. Q51978: Order in Which MS-DOS and Windows Assign Drive Letters

    MS-DOS checks all installed disk devices, assigning the drive letter A to the first physical floppy disk drive that is found. 2. If a second physical floppy disk drive is present, it is assigned drive letter B. If it is not present, a logical drive B is created that uses the first physical floppy disk drive. 3.

  20. ms dos

    adding a third floppy drive to a two-drive machine, with no hard drive, would result in floppies on A:, B: and C:; adding a third floppy drive to a two-drive machine with a hard drive would result in floppies on A:, B: and C:, and the hard drive on D:. MS-DOS 5.0 and later. With MS-DOS 5.0 and later, the basic assignments are as follows:

  21. How to Assign or Change Drive Letter in Windows 11?

    1. Change Drive Letter from Windows 11 Settings If you want to change the assigned drive letters for any partition on your hard disk except C drive then this is the option you should proceed with. Press "Win + I" keys or use Windows Search to find Windows Settings app.