How to manage storage devices on Windows 11
Here are the steps to use the Disks & volumes settings and Disk Management consoles to manage storage devices on Windows 11.
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OnWindows 11, every drive needs to have a volume with a compatible file system and letter to make it usable. Usually, when you connect an internal or external hard drive, it comes already formatted with the necessary settings to make it plug-and-play. However, sometimes, you will need to manage the storage device manually.
For example, you may need to reformat a previously connected drive to a computer or resolve file corruption problems. You may need to change the drive letter or label to make the storage more meaningful for the data you will be storing. Or, instead of using the entire drive to store files, you may want to resize the volume to create additional volumes to store different types of files.
Whatever the reason, Windows 11 includes many ways to manage storage devices, including the"Disks & Volumes"settings and"Disk Management.“The Disk Management tool has been around for a long time and is a console that allows you to view all drives (such as SSDs, HDDs, and USB drives). You can use the available tools to create, resize, format, and change volumes' letters and labels.
On the other hand,“Disks & volumes"is the new experience designed to replace the Disk Management console. It’s available through the Storage settings. Similar to the legacy console, it offers an interface to view the drives (if they haven’t been initialized). You can create and delete, change size and format, and choose different letters and labels for storage volumes.
In thishow-to guide, I will outline the steps to manage the drives connected to your computer.
How to manage drives from Settings on Windows 11
Windows 11 has a new “Disks & volumes” experience to manage storage drives from the Settings app. Using this experience, you can create new volumes, format, change drive letters and labels, and more. The new settings page is meant to replace Disk Management, but the legacy app is still available.
Create new volume
The “Disks & volumes” settings make it easy to format and create a new volume on a hard drive. You don’t need to bring the storage online or initialize the drive using this interface. The wizard will automatically bring the storage online, initialize it, and set a default partition style.
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To create a new volume on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the wizard will create a new volume that will appear in File Explorer with a file system, drive letter, and label.
Change drive letter
To change the drive letter from the Settings app on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the new letter will apply to the drive.
Change volume label
To change the volume label on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the new label will be reflected on the drive across the Windows 11 experience.
Format drive
To format a drive with a new volume and file system with the Disks & volumes settings, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the data will be erased, and the volume will be formatted with a new file system, drive letter, and label.
Change file system
You can also change the file system from NTFS to FAT32, but the process will delete everything on the storage. As a result, it’s recommended to back up any important data before proceeding.
To change the partition file system on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the new file system will apply to the volume, and it’ll appear as an empty drive in File Explorer.
Change volume size
To change the size of a volume on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the volume will appear with the new size on the system.
Mount drive as folder
On Windows 11, you can also mount a drive as a folder instead of using a drive letter to reduce the number of system drives.
To mount a drive as a folder on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, you will be able to access the files from the folder path and the drive letter.
Check drive properties
To view the drive properties to determine the model, serial number, and other information, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, you will be able to confirm many details about the hard drive, including serial and model numbers and other information.
Check drive health (SSD only)
Windows 11 can also monitor the health of NVME drives and report any problems before a critical error occurs to give you enough time to back up your data before it’s too late. However, you can check the estimated remaining life, spare information, and temperature at any time.
To check the drive health on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, you will have a better understanding of the current health of the drive.
Check volume properties
To check the volume information on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, you will find detailed information about the volume.
Bring drive online or take offline
To turn the drive on or off without disconnecting it on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the drive will go offline or come back up online, depending on the action.
Delete volume on drive
To delete a drive volume and its data on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the data will be erased, and the volume deleted from the hard drive.
How to manage drives from Disk Management on Windows 11
On Windows 11, you can still use the legacy Disk Management app to manage primary, secondary, and removable drives connected to your computer. Similar to the new “Disks & Volumes” settings, the legacy application has the tools to set up new volumes, including formatting, changing labels and letters, enabling compression, and changing volume size.
Initialize drive
When you connect a drive with raw data, meaning that it was never formatted, you will first need to initialize it.
To initialize a hard drive on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the hard drive will initialize, allowing the system to connect with the storage to manage partitions and data.
Convert to Dynamic Disk
The Disk Management tool also lets you start a drive as"Basic Disk"or"Dynamic Disk.“A “Basic Disk” is the default option when initializing a drive that allows you to manage partitions and data. However, you can also convert the storage to a “Dynamic Disk” to take advantage of many other storage features. For example, you may need to convert a drive to dynamic to set up simple, spanned, striped, mirrored, and RAID 5 volumes.
This is a non-destructive process, which means that you should be able to convert the drive without worrying about the data. However, it’s still recommended to create a backup of data before proceeding.
If you must convert from Basic to Dynamic Disk on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the drive will become dynamic to allow you access to other storage features, such as mirror, stripped, and parity, and you will also have the ability to expand the storage across multiple drives.
Create new volume
To create a new data volume with Disk Management, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, you will end up with a new volume that will appear in File Explorer with a file system, drive letter, and label you specified.
Change drive letter
To change the letter of drive with Disk Management, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the letter will be reflected on the drive.
Change drive label
To change the display name of the drive on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the label will appear on the hard drive.
Format drive
To format a hard drive with a new volume and file system on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the tool will wipe out the drive, and it will create a new volume formatted with a new file system, drive letter, and label you specified.
Enable file compression
The NTFS file system available on Windows 11 also includes a lightweight compression feature, which allows you to reduce the size of files and save space while retaining normal access without manual decompression. Since compression and decompression happen on the fly, enabling this feature will require additional system resources. You may not benefit from this feature if you have a hard drive with multiple terabytes and don’t store any files.
To enable file compression at the drive level on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, files and folders that you store on the drive will use compression to reduce the space usage.
Change file system
Similar to using the Settings app, Disk Management can also be used to change the file system. However, the process will erase everything on the drive. If you have important data, it’s recommended that you export the files to an alternate location, format the drive with the new file system, and restore the files.
To change the partition file system with Disk Management, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the data on the hard drive will erase, and the new file system will apply.
Change volume size
The Disk Management console includes an option to shrink or extend the size of the drive to manage multiple volumes on the same drive.
To change the size of a volume on Windows 11, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the volume will appear with the new size on the computer.
Mount drive as folder
To mount a drive as a folder path on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the volume will be accessible from a different drive as a folder.
Check drive properties
To check the hard drive properties with Disk Management, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, you will better understand the properties of the physical drive.
Check volume properties
To check the volume properties, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, you will have detailed information about the volume.
Covert partition style to GPT or MBR
The conversion will delete the data on the drive. As a result, it’s recommended that any data be backed up before proceeding. You can always restore the data after the process.
To convert a secondary drive from MBR to GPT on Windows 11, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the partition type will convert to GPT. You can also use the same instructions to convert the drive to MBR.
Bring drive online or take offline
To bring a drive online or take offline with Disk Management, use these steps:
After you complete the steps, the hard drive will go offline or come back up online, depending on the action.
Delete volume
If you want to delete the data and volume on a hard drive, use these steps:
Once you complete the steps, the files and folders will be deleted, and the volume will be erased from the storage drive.
Although it’s possible to format, review details, and change various settings from within File Explorer, the “Disks & Volumes” settings and the Disk Management console offer the most options for managing storage drives on Windows 11.
More resources
For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10 and Windows 11, visit the following resources:
Mauro Huculak has been a Windows How-To Expert contributor for WindowsCentral.com for nearly a decade and has over 15 years of experience writing comprehensive guides. He also has an IT background and has achieved different professional certifications from Microsoft, Cisco, VMware, and CompTIA. He has been recognized as a Microsoft MVP for many years.
