Change a drive letter

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

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

Important

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

The following steps show how to change the drive letter.

  1. Open Disk Management with administrator permissions.

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

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

    Tip

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

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

    Screenshot of the Change Drive Letter and Paths dialog.

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

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