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How to Change a Drive Letter on Windows 10 or Windows 11
Nick Lewis is a staff writer for How-To Geek. He has been using computers for 20 years --- tinkering with everything from the UI to the Windows registry to device firmware. Before How-To Geek, he used Python and C++ as a freelance programmer. In college, Nick made extensive use of Fortran while pursuing a physics degree. Read more...
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.
What Changing a Drive Letter Does How to Change a Drive Letter How to Fix Programs Broken By Changing a Drive Letter Fix The Shortcut Reinstall the Program Change the Drive Letter Back Edit the Registry
What Changing a Drive Letter Does
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.
Warning: 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.
Note: 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.)
How to Change a Drive Letter
Changing a drive letter is pretty simple. Click the Start button, type “Disk Management” in the search bar, and then hit Enter.
Note: 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.”
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.
Select “Change Drive Letter and Paths” in the right-click menu that appears.
In the window that pops up, click “Change.”
Select whatever letter you want from the drop-down menu. Then click “Ok.”
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.
How to Fix Programs Broken By Changing a 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.
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.”
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
Warning: 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.”
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.”
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.
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.”
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.
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Change a drive letter
- 2 minutes to read
- 3 contributors
Applies To: Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7, Windows Server 2019, Windows Server 2016, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2012
If you don't like the drive letter assigned to a drive, or if you've got a drive that doesn't yet have a drive letter, you can use Disk Management to change it. To instead to mount the drive in an empty folder so that it appears as just another folder, see Mount a drive in a folder .
If you change the drive letter of a drive where Windows or apps are installed, apps might have trouble running or finding that drive. For this reason we suggest that you don't change the drive letter of a drive on which Windows or apps are installed.
Here's how to change the drive letter:
Open Disk Management with administrator permissions. To do so, select and hold (or right-click) the Start button, and then select Disk Management .
In Disk Management, select and hold (or right-click) the volume for which you want to change or add a drive letter, and then select Change Drive Letter and Paths .
If you don't see the Change Drive Letter and Paths option or it's grayed out, it's possible the volume isn't ready to receive a drive letter, which can be the case if the drive is unallocated and needs to be initialized . Or, maybe it's not meant to be accessed, which is the case of EFI system partitions and recovery partitions. If you've confirmed that you have a formatted volume with a drive letter that you can access and you still can't change it, unfortunately this topic probably can't help you, so we suggest contacting Microsoft 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 .
Select the new drive letter, select OK , and then select Yes when prompted about how programs that rely on the drive letter might not run correctly.
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How to Change a Drive Letter
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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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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.
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 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.
- Scenario: I have four 16GB USB flash drives that I use for various OS installs. I typically work on one at a time, plugged into the same USB port. Sometimes I connect two at a time. I just accept that Windows will assign the next available letter to the current connected drive. So, if I manually assign a letter to one flash drive, will it get that letter every time, but the other three will not be assigned that letter?
- Yes, that's how it should work.
- Unfortunately this won't work with the same letter assigned to multiple drives. Only the most recent is remembered. They really need to get away from drive letters and switch to using the actual name of the drive.
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Select “Change Drive Letter and Paths” in the right-click menu that appears. In the window that pops up, click “Change.”. Select whatever letter you want from the drop-down menu. Then click “Ok.”. Two popups will warn you about changing your drive letter. Click “Yes” on both of them, and then restart your computer.
Here's how to change the drive letter: Open Disk Management with administrator permissions. To do so, select and hold (or right-click) the Start button, and then select Disk Management. In Disk Management, select and hold (or right-click) the volume for which you want to change or add a drive letter, and then select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
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 ...