Windows 10: Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10

Discus and support Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10 in Windows 10 Tutorials to solve the problem; How to: Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10 How to Remove a Drive Letter in Windows 10 By default, Windows 10 will automatically assign an available... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Tutorials' started by Brink, Sep 16, 2016.

  1. Brink
    Brink New Member

    Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10


    How to: Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10

    How to Remove a Drive Letter in Windows 10

    By default, Windows 10 will automatically assign an available drive letter to any connected internal and external storage devices.

    Windows progresses through the alphabet from A to Z to assign available drive letters to devices as connected.
    • Windows reserves the drive letters A and B for floppy drives, but you can still manually assign them to a drive.
    • The drive letter C can only be used for the drive Windows is installed on. If you multi boot operating systems, the currently running Windows will always show its drive letter as C.
    If you remove the drive letter from a volume, partition, or disk, it will no longer be available to show as a drive in File Explorer "This PC".

    This tutorial will show you different ways to remove a drive letter in Windows 10.

    *Warning You must be signed in as an administrator to remove a drive letter.


    CONTENTS:
    • Option One: To Remove Drive Letter in Disk Management
    • Option Two: To Remove Drive Letter in Command Prompt using Diskpart
    • Option Three: To Remove Drive Letter in Command Prompt using Mountvol
    • Option Four: To Remove Drive Letter in PowerShell
    • Option Five: Remove Drive Letters of Previously Connected Drives and Disks using DiskPart > automount Command
    • Option Six: Remove Drive Letters of Previously Connected Drives and Disks using mountvol Command




    OPTION ONE [/i] To Remove Drive Letter in Disk Management
    1. Press the Win+R keys to open Run, type diskmgmt.msc into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Disk Management.

    2. Right click or press and hold on the drive (ex: "G") you want to remove the drive letter of, and click/tap on Change Drive Letter and Paths. (see screenshot below)

    Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10 [​IMG]

    3. Click/tap on the Remove button. (see screenshot below)

    Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10 [​IMG]

    4. Click/tap on Yes to confirm. (see screenshot below)

    Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10 [​IMG]

    5. When finished, you can close Disk Management if you like.





    OPTION TWO [/i] To Remove Drive Letter in Command Prompt using Diskpart
    1. Open an elevated command prompt.

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

    3. Enter list volume into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter.

    4. Make note of the volume number (ex: 5) for the drive letter (ex: "G") you want to remove.

    5. Enter the command below into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter.
    *Arrow select volume <volume number>

    *note Substitute <volume number> in the command above with the actual volume number (ex: "5") from step 4 above for the drive letter (ex: "G") you want to remove.

    For example: select volume 5
    6. Enter the command below into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter.
    *Arrow remove letter=<drive letter>

    *note Substitute <drive letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter (ex: "G") you want to remove.

    For example: remove letter=G

    If the new drive letter you assign is not available, you will get an error message indicating so in the command prompt. You will just need to repeat this step to assign an available drive letter.
    7. When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.


    Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10 [​IMG]






    OPTION THREE [/i] To Remove Drive Letter in Command Prompt using Mountvol
    1. Open an elevated command prompt.

    2. Type the command below into the elevated command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
    *Arrow mountvol <Drive Letter>: /d

    *note Substitute <Drive Letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter (ex: "G") you want to remove.

    For example: mountvol G: /d
    3. When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt if you like.


    Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10 [​IMG]






    OPTION FOUR [/i] To Remove Drive Letter in PowerShell
    1. Open an elevated PowerShell.

    2. Enter Get-Partition into the elevated PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

    3. Make note of the disk number (ex: "1") and PartitionNumber (ex: "3") for the DriveLetter (ex: "G") you want to remove.

    *note The disks will be listed in numerical order starting with "0" at the top.

    4. Enter the command below into the elevated PowerShell, and press Enter to verify the disk number (ex: "1") is correct for the drive letter (ex: "G") you want to remove.
    *Arrow Get-Disk <disk number> | Get-Partition

    *note Substitute <disk number> in the command above with the actual disk number (ex: "1") from step 3 above for the drive letter (ex: "G") you want to remove.

    For example: Get-Disk 1 | Get-Partition
    5. Enter the command below into the elevated PowerShell, and press Enter to verify the disk number (ex: "1") is correct for the drive letter (ex: "G") you want to remove.
    *Arrow Remove-PartitionAccessPath -DiskNumber <disk number> -PartitionNumber <partition number> -Accesspath <drive letter>:

    *note Substitute <disk number> in the command above with the actual disk number (ex: "1") from step 3 and verified in step 4 above for the drive letter (ex: "G") you want to remove.

    Substitute <partition number> in the command above with the actual PartitionNumber (ex: "3") from step 3 for the drive letter (ex: "G") you want to remove.

    Substitute <drive letter> in the command above with the actual DriveLetter (ex: "G") from step 3 above you want to remove.

    For example: Remove-PartitionAccessPath -DiskNumber 1 -PartitionNumber 3 -Accesspath G:
    6. When finished, you can close the elevated PowerShell if you like.


    Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10 [​IMG]






    OPTION FIVE [/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.


    Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10 [​IMG]






    OPTION SIX [/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.


    Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10 [​IMG]


    That's it,
    Shawn


    Related Tutorials

    :)
     
    Brink, Sep 16, 2016
    #1
  2. Lazzer408 Win User

    help. USB drive isn't assigned a drive letter.

    Any usb flash drive I plug into my computer isn't assigned a drive letter. The physical drive shows in the "safely remove hardware" but it doesnt show up in disk management. I have tried to populate the volume thru the safely remove hardware properties window and it does pop up in the list but it doesn't stay there. This isn't a format or assign a letter problem. It's more complicated then that. Maybe one of the services needed for usb drive management was disabled? Suggestions needed. btw external usb harddrives work fine.
     
    Lazzer408, Oct 27, 2019
    #2
  3. RB22531 Win User
    Remove Drive Letter Logistics

    I've always used disk management to assign (CHANGE) a permanent drive letter on a couple of my USB external backup drives. That works like a charm for backup jobs that require a set drive letter destination. But I got to wondering exactly what the other
    two disk management Options of ADD and REMOVE actually do.

    In other words does REMOVE (as I've read elsewhere) take the Drive Letter currently assigned to the Drive and remove it from not only the drive, but also from the list (i.e. the drop down list) in disk management you see when you want to change a letter.
    So that letter will no longer be available for assignment to any drive? What good does this accomplish?

    Can I add this drive letter back to the list with the ADD Option? If not what does the ADD Option do?

    I had previously though that REMOVE simply removed the letter assignment the disk and the letter would still be available in the disk management list. And the drive would just go back to being assigned the first available letter windows had from then on.

    Appreciate any confirmations on what exactly the ADD and REMOVE do.
     
    RB22531, Oct 27, 2019
    #3
  4. Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10

    Win 10 drive letter

    Hi,

    Thank you for posting your query on Microsoft Community.

    I recommend you to refer to the suggestion provided in the below Microsoft Help Article and check if it helps. The below link will be also applicable to Windows 10. To open Control Panel, type it on search bar and click on it.

    Change, add, or remove a drive letter:

    http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/change-add-remove-drive-letter#1TC=windows-7

    Disclaimer:


    • Some programs make references to specific drive letters. If you change a drive letter, these programs might not work correctly.

    • If you get an error, the drive you are trying to change might be in use. Close any program or window that is using the drive and try again.

    • You can't change a drive letter if the drive is either a system partition or a boot partition. For more information, see

      what system partitions are and boot partitions?





    You may also refer to the suggestions by Azrael’s Kiss replied on October 30, 2014 and check if that helps.

    How the drive letters are assigned in Windows 10 Technical Preview?



    Hope this information helps. Please let us know if you need any other assistance with Windows in future. We will be happy to assist you.
     
    Mayank Gupta10, Oct 27, 2019
    #4
  5. How to Remove Unpopulated Drive Letters

    Hello:

    First let me thank you for the reply and now I will answer your questions:

    1. Are you talking about the duplicate Removable drives appearing File Explorer?

    Answer: Yes

    2. Will they still appear, even after restarting your computer?

    Answer: Yes, I have tried this multiple times.

    3. Did check them through Disk Management? Press Windows logo key + X, and select Disk Management from the list.

    Answer: When spawning Disk Management the same unpopulated drive letters do appear and to clarify, these are the drive letters appearing each time I would insert a thumb drive. The drive letter associated with the thumb drive appears and remains even after
    removing the portable flash drive. When viewing the drive letters in disk management and when right clicking each drive the only options appearing are - Change Drive Letter and Path.../Properties/Help

    4. What other troubleshooting steps did you tried?

    Answer: Unfortunately, I know of no other steps to try. There is one exception. When I attach a ClipSport MP3 player two additional drive letters appear. One is for the onboard memory and the other for the memory card. When removing the player the drive
    letters also vanish.

    I am at a loss. And I almost forgot to mention. When viewing the vacant drive letters while in Disk Management I do see the Disk # and underneath the disk Removable (letterRemove Drive Letter in Windows 10 :) and then No Media.

    Any other thoughts, or questions? Thank you very much and please reply.

    Eric

     
    Eric_Bernstein, Oct 27, 2019
    #5
  6. Windows 10 changing USB port drive letters

    Hi Joseph,

    Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community.

    I understand the inconvenience you are facing currently.

    I would appreciate if you can provide us the following information to help us understand the issue better.

    • Since when are you facing this issue?
    • Did you make any changes in prior to this issue?
    I would like to inform you that the issue might have occurred due to some changes made to your computer.

    I suggest you to try changing the drive letter of the drive and check if it helps.

    Follow the steps to change the drive letter:

    • Press Windows + X keys and click on Disk Management.
    • Right click on the external drive and click on Change Drive letter and paths.
    • Click on Change the button.
    • Under Assign the following Drive letter, select the desired drive letter.
    • Click Ok to save changes.
    Hope the information helps. Please let us know if the issue persist and we will be happy to assist you further.
     
    Nachappa C K, Oct 27, 2019
    #6
Thema:

Remove Drive Letter in Windows 10

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