On Windows 11, a “drive letter” is automatically assigned to each internal storage, USB drive, DVD drive, and map network drive to identify the volume and make it available through File Explorer or any other application. However, you can change the drive letter to anything you want without deleting the data on the storage. For example, if you may want a drive to use a specific letter related to the content, or the system tries to assign a letter already in use and prevents the storage from appearing on File Explorer and apps.
Whatever the reason, on Windows 11, you can assign a different drive letter in at least four ways using the Settings app, Disk Management, Command Prompt, and PowerShell.
A drive letter (or device letter) can be any character from the English alphabet. However, you cannot use the “C:” because it’s reserved for the main storage that contains the installation. Also, “A:” and “B:” are reserved letters that used to be assigned automatically to floppy drives.
This guide will teach you how to assign a new drive letter on Windows 11.
- Change drive letter on Windows 11
- Change drive letter with Disk Management on Windows 11
- Change drive letter with Command Prompt on Windows 11
- Change drive letter with PowerShell on Windows 11
Change drive letter on Windows 11
To change the drive letter on Windows 11, use these steps:
Open Settings on Windows 11.
Click on System.
Click the Storage tab.
Under the “Storage management” section, click the “Advanced storage settings” option.
Click on Disks & volumes.
Select the drive with the volume with the letter to change.
Select the volume and click the Properties button.
Click the “Change drive letter” button.
Select the new drive letter for the device connected to Windows 11.
Click the OK button.
Once you complete the steps, the system will change the drive’s letter on Windows 11.
Change drive letter with Disk Management
To change the drive letter with Disk Management, use these steps:
Open Start.
Search for Create and format disk partitions and click the top result to open the Disk Management tool.
Right-click the volume and select the “Change Drive Letter and Paths” option.
Click the Change button.
Select the “Assign the following drive letter” option.
Choose a different letter for the drive.
Click the OK button.
Click the OK button again.
After completing the steps, the drive will appear on File Explorer with the new letter.
Change drive letter with Command Prompt on Windows 11
To add a new drive letter with Command Prompt, use these steps:
Open Start.
Search for Command Prompt, right-click the result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command to launch diskpart and press Enter:
diskpart
Type the following command to list the volumes and press Enter:
list volume
Type the following command to select the volume (drive) to change the letter and press Enter:
select volume 2
In the command, change “2” for the number corresponding to the storage you want to change the letter.
Type the following command to change the drive letter on Windows 11 and press Enter:
assign letter=H
In the command, change “H” for the letter you want to use with the drive.
Once you complete the steps, the diskpart tool will assign the new letter to the storage.
Change drive letter with PowerShell on Windows 11
To change a Windows 11 drive letter with PowerShell, use these steps:
Open Start.
Search for PowerShell, right-click the result, and select the Run as administrator option.
Type the following command to identify the hard drive you want to change the letter and press Enter:
Get-Disk
Type the following command to assign or change the drive letter to internal or external and press Enter:
Get-Partition -DiskNumber 0 | Set-Partition -NewDriveLetter F
In the above command, change “0” with the disk number of the drive you want to format and “F:” with the letter you wish to assign to the storage.
After completing the steps, the drive will now have a new letter assignment, and if it is missing, the hard drive will appear in File Explorer.
