Windows 10: Enable or Disable Automount of New Disks and Drives in Windows

How to: Enable or Disable Automount of New Disks and Drives in Windows

How to Enable or Disable Automatic Mounting of New Disks and Drives in Windows


Automount is enabled by default in Windows. When enabled, Windows automatically mounts the file system for a new volume (disk or drive) when it is added (connected) to the system, and then assigns a drive letter to the volume.

If you disable automount, it prevents Windows from automatically mounting and assigning drive letters to any new basic volumes (disk or drive) added (connected) to the system.

Any previously connected disks or drives that have been assigned a drive letter will always continue to be mounted with their former drive letter whenever connected by default, even after disabling automount.

If you like, you can scrub (Option Four or Option Seven) to remove volume mount point directories and registry settings for volumes that are no longer or currently connected to the system. This will clear all assigned drive letters of any previously connected disks and drives that are currently not connected to your PC. This can be handy if you want to disable automount and also want to prevent any previously connected disks and drives from being automatically mounted and assigned a drive letter when connected again. Mounted devices are stored in the registry key below:

*Arrow HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices

This tutorial will show you how to enable or disable the automatic mounting and assigning a drive letter when a new disk or drive is connected (added) in Windows 7, Windows 8, and Windows 10.

*Warning You must be signed in as an administrator to enable or disable the automount feature.


CONTENTS:

• Option One: Check if Automount is Currently Enabled or Disabled
• Option Two: Enable Automount using DiskPart > automount Command
• Option Three: Disable Automount using DiskPart > automount Command
• Option Four: Remove Drive Letters of Previously Connected Drives and Disks using DiskPart > automount Command
• Option Five: Enable Automount using mountvol Command
• Option Six: Disable Automount using mountvol Command
• Option Seven: Remove Drive Letters of Previously Connected Drives and Disks using mountvol Command
• Option Eight: Enable or Disable Automount using REG file

OPTION ONE [/i] Check if Automount is Currently Enabled or Disabled
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Type diskpart into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3. Type automount into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter.

4. The command will now return with a Automatic mounting of new volumes enabled or disabled message to let you know the current status.

5. When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.









OPTION TWO [/i] Enable Automount using DiskPart > automount Command
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Type diskpart into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3. Type automount enable into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter.

4. Close the elevated command prompt.

5. Restart the computer to apply.









OPTION THREE [/i] Disable Automount using DiskPart > automount Command
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Type diskpart into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3. Type automount disable into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter.

4. If you would like to remove the drive letters (mount points) of all previously connected drives and disks not currently connected, type the Option Four into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter.

5. Close the elevated command prompt.

6. Restart the computer to apply.









OPTION FOUR [/i] Remove Drive Letters of Previously Connected Drives and Disks using DiskPart > automount Command
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Type diskpart into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3. Type automount scrub into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter.

4. Close the elevated command prompt.

5. Restart the computer to apply.









OPTION FIVE [/i] Enable Automount using mountvol Command
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Type mountvol /e into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3. Close the elevated command prompt.

4. Restart the computer to apply.









OPTION SIX [/i] Disable Automount using mountvol Command
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Type mountvol /n into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3. If you would like to remove the drive letters (mount points) of all previously connected drives and disks not currently connected, type the Option Seven into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter.

4. Close the elevated command prompt.

5. Restart the computer to apply.









OPTION SEVEN [/i] Remove Drive Letters of Previously Connected Drives and Disks using mountvol Command
1. Open an elevated command prompt.

2. Type mountvol /r into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

3. Close the elevated command prompt.

4. Restart the computer to apply.









OPTION EIGHT [/i] Enable or Disable Automount using REG file

*note The downloadable .reg files below will add and modify the DWORD value in the registry key below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\mountmgr

NoAutoMount DWORD

0 = Enable
1 = Disable


1. Do step 2 (enable) or step 3 (disable) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Enable Automount
*note This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Enable_automatic_mounting_of_new_volumes.reg

Download

3. To Disable Automount
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 4 below.

Disable_automatic_mounting_of_new_volumes.reg

Download
4. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

5. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

6. When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

7. Restart the computer to apply.

8. If you like, you can now delete the downloaded .reg file.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Enable or Disable Installation of Removable Devices in Windows
• How to Format a Disk or Drive in Windows 10
• How to Change and Assign Drive Letter in Windows 10
• How to Remove a Drive Letter in Windows 10
• How to Hide Specific Drives in Windows

:)

 

Check if Automount is Currently Enabled or Disabled

Hello!

First let me thank you for this very nice guide.

My problem: WhenI plug an USB drive in the computer, I want Windows 10 to stay the f... put *Banghead NOT assign a drive leter to it. Right now I've ehausted all of the options I found on Google about disabling volume automount (or disk, partition etc.) in Windows.

OS specs: Windows 10 Pro x64, ver. 1803, build 17134.648.
The USB drives I've used: various, FAT32 formatted.

I've followed the above guide to a T, but no dice: every time I plug an USB drive in the computer, Windows merrily mounts it (and assigns a drive letter to it).

Current system config, in respect to this issue:
- ejected and removed all USB drives;
- checked Automount: diskpart → automount = Automatic mounting of new volumes disabled. Registry check: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MountMgr\NoAutoMount=1
- removed non-present volume drive mappings: diskpart → automount scrub = successfuly done. Registry check: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices - only one value shown: \DosDevices\C: .
Other things I've done:
- diskpart → san policy=offlineall . Registry check: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\partmgr\Parameters\SanPolicy=3 . Taken from here: Ondrej Seveceks English Pages

-restarted the computer after doing the above settings and then plugged the USB drive.

The only distantly related thing that worked was setting "Write Protect" for removable devices. Of course this does not prevent volume mounting, but at least data cannot be written on the USB drive.
This is how I did it: diskpart → list disk → select disk desired_disk_number → attributes disk set readonly. Verify: attributes disk : "Current Read-only State : Yes" & "Read-only : Yes".

That's it.
Thanks fo reading! *Smile

 

How to disable automount of drives in Windows 10


Hello All,
Does anyone have an idea of how to prevent the automounting of hard disks / other media (particularly USB drives and SD cards) in Windows 10? It seems that the registry hacks that work in Windows 7 and Windows 8/8.1 do not work in Windows 10.

To check this, take a look in Computer Management -> Disk Managment. What I want is for the Disk to show up but be listed as Offline (not Online).


Thanks,
Jonathan

 

Windows 10 does not recognize WD disk

Occasionally on my win 7 machine, automount gets disabled so I have to re-enable it, see:

There is no data to display

When you connect a device to a Windows 10 machine, no drives are mapped in “File Explorer”

Cause: Automount is disabled on the Windows 10 system.

Fix:

• Enter ‘diskpart’ in the “Search the Web and Windows” dialog box.
  
• Launch the diskpart command prompt.
• Enter: ‘automount enable’ on at the diskpart prompt.

 

Windows 10 will not assign a drive letter when connecting a USB Drive (will not release the drive letter when disconnecting as well)

Hi CantonVideoMan,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I appreciate the time you have taken to resolve this issue. I went through the steps you have performed. However, there are some of the steps which can resolve this issue. I would suggest you to follow these steps and let us know
the results.

Method 1: Start the service.

1. Press Windows
   andR key together on your Keyboard.
   
2. Type Services.msc
   and hit enter.
   
3. Search for Virtual Disk
   service.
   
4. Double click on Virtual Disk service, select the startup type as Automatic and click on
   Start to start the service.
   

Method 2: Auto mount.

1. Tap on the Windows key
   on your keyboard.
   
2. Type: command prompt
   
3. In the search results list, right-click
   Command Prompt, and then click
   Run as Administrator.
   
4. When you are prompted by User Account Control, click Continue.
   
5. Type the following commands.
   
   Diskpart
   
   Automount (This command will tell you, if it is enabled or disabled.)
   
   Automount enable
   
   Automount scrub
   (If automount is already enabled, type this command to clear the saved associations of system drive letters.)
   
   Lastly type: Exit
   
6. Restart the computer and plug in the USB now to check external USB drives.
   
7. 
   
   
   

Let us know if you need further assitsnace regarding this issue, we will be happy to assist you regarding this issue.

Hope it helps.

Roohi Taj S

Microsoft Community - Moderator

 

How do I remove a permanently-assigned drive letter?

Enable or Disable Automount of New Disks and Drives in Windows

Option 7