Generate a step-by-step tutorial on how to mount a storage drive as a folder in Windows 11. Start by explaining the concept of mounting drives as folders and then provide clear instructions.
In this guide, I’m going to explain the steps to mount a storage drive as a folder in Windows 11. In addition, I’ll tell you about the advantages of this procedure when it comes to managing your files more efficiently and in which situations it may be interesting to choose a mount point within a specific directory instead of assigning a single letter to the drive . Don’t miss it!
Mount a storage drive as a folder on your PC step by step
When you plug a storage drive into your computer, it is mounted independently. This way, it is assigned a drive letter and appears in the This PC section of File Explorer. However, this behavior can be changed in various ways. For example, we already explained how to merge multiple disks into a single drive . But there is also the option of mounting the drive in a folder of your choice.
First of all, I’ll tell you that this option is really convenient to better integrate the storage units that you have installed or connected to your computer. It is a useful procedure both when you add an SSD to the computer and when using external media, such as a pendrive or an SD card .
Mounting a storage drive as a folder can make things much easier when it comes to managing your files or expanding your PC’s internal storage. But how do you do it? The first thing you need to do is connect the drive in question. As I said, it doesn’t really matter what type of media you use in this procedure , although I will tell you that I followed these steps with an 8 GB USB memory stick connected to one of the USB-A ports on my laptop.
Once the computer has recognized the device, it is time to go to the disk manager . You can easily locate it by using the Windows search with the text string “Create and format hard disk partitions” , as shown in the following image:
After selecting the first result, which corresponds to an option in the Control Panel , the Disk Manager will open . This is the tool that will allow you to choose the mounting point of a drive. In fact, it is actually necessary to clarify something: the mounting is not done for entire drives, but for partitions . So you will be able to have a partition mounted on a folder on the main disk (or any other disk) and another with an assigned letter, even if both belong to the same drive.
Once you have located the partition you want to mount to a folder, right-click on it. When the context menu opens, click Change drive letter and paths .
Then, in the pop-up window, you have to press on Add .
Select the Mount on the following empty NTFS folder option . Then, click Browse to choose the folder where the partition contents should be displayed.
At this point, you need to know this:
- Multiple mount points . A partition can have both an assigned letter and a mount folder. This way, you can access it from the chosen path or in the This PC section of the File Explorer.
- Multiple mounting folders . When you mount a storage drive as a folder, Windows allows you to assign more than one path. This means that you can view the contents of the drive from different locations.
- Real paths . It is true that when you mount a drive in a folder, it becomes a kind of shortcut. However, its path is completely valid for the rest of the applications. For example, if you navigate to it with the command prompt or CMD , you will be able to list the files on the drive without any problem. That is, for all programs, rather than acting as a mere shortcut, the assigned path is completely valid.
It is also possible to remove the assigned letter so that the drive disappears from the This PC space . Just select the current letter and press the Remove button . Then, answer Yes to the warning message.
If you want to revert the changes applied, repeat the same process, but in this case, after clicking on Add , select the option Assign the following drive letter . From the list, choose the letter you want and that’s it! The drive will reappear in the This PC area .
Following the steps mentioned above has some important advantages. Here are some of them:
- Faster access to files on the partition or drive . You can create references to the drive in as many folders as you want. This allows you to keep the files within the device at hand.
- Integrating programs . If a program does not support external storage to save its data, with this trick you can integrate the device within the structure of the main unit.
- Storage upgrade – This is also a pretty neat way to expand the space on your computer’s main drive, without having a bunch of drives in the This PC section .
And you, why do you want to mount a storage drive as a folder in Windows 11? Tell us about your experience. We’ll read each other in the comments section!