How to Hide or Show Drives in Windows 10 and Windows 11

Important

Before You Hide a Drive in Windows 10 or Windows 11

Windows can hide a drive in several different ways. Some methods only remove the drive from File Explorer, while others remove the drive letter so the volume is not normally accessible by its previous path, such as D:\ or E:\.

⚠️

Not encryption

Hiding a drive is not the same as protecting it with a password. If the drive contains private data, use BitLocker, device encryption, or another proper encryption solution. Hiding only changes visibility or access paths.

For most home users, the safest option is Disk Management: remove the drive letter to hide the drive, and add the letter back when you want to show it again.

Method 1

How to Hide a Drive by Removing Its Drive Letter in Windows

This method hides a partition by removing its assigned letter. The data remains on the drive, but the volume will no longer appear as a normal drive in File Explorer.

Right-click the Start button and select Disk Management.
Find the drive or partition you want to hide.
Right-click the volume and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths.
Select the current drive letter, then click Remove.
Confirm the warning. Windows will remove the letter, and the drive should disappear from File Explorer.

ℹ️

Tip

Avoid removing the letter from the system drive, usually C:. Also be careful with partitions used by installed programs, games, libraries, backups, or sync clients, because their paths may stop working.

Restore

How to Show a Hidden Drive Again in Disk Management

If you removed a drive letter earlier, you can show the drive again by assigning a new letter to the same volume.

Open Disk Management.
Locate the volume that has no drive letter.
Right-click it and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
Click Add.
Choose a drive letter, for example D:, E:, or F:.
Click OK. The drive should appear in File Explorer again.

Method 2

How to Hide Drives in File Explorer Using Local Group Policy Editor

Local Group Policy Editor can hide selected drives from File Explorer without removing their drive letters. This is useful when you want to keep the drive letter active but hide it from casual view.

⚠️

Edition note

gpedit.msc is normally available in Windows Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions. Windows Home users can use the Registry method below instead.

Press Win + R, type gpedit.msc, and press Enter.
Go to User Configuration → Administrative Templates → Windows Components → File Explorer.
Open Hide these specified drives in My Computer.
Select Enabled.
Choose the drive restriction option from the drop-down list.
Click Apply and OK.
Restart File Explorer or sign out and sign back in.

To make the drives visible again, open the same policy and set it to Not Configured or Disabled.

Optional: Block Access to the Hidden Drive

The policy above hides the drive icon, but it does not necessarily block every access path. To restrict access more strongly, configure Prevent access to drives from My Computer in the same Group Policy location.

Method 3

How to Hide Drives in Windows 10 and 11 with Registry Editor

The Registry method is useful on Windows Home or when you want to hide a specific drive letter manually. It uses the NoDrives value under the current user policy branch.

⛔

Be careful

Editing the Registry incorrectly can cause system or user profile problems. Create a restore point or export the Registry key before changing values.

Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.
Go to this key:

Registry pathHKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer

If the Explorer key does not exist, create it under Policies.
Right-click the right pane and choose New → DWORD (32-bit) Value.
Name the value NoDrives.
Double-click NoDrives, select Decimal, and enter the value for the drive letter you want to hide.
Restart File Explorer, sign out, or restart Windows.

NoDrives Values for Common Drive Letters

Drive letter	Decimal value	Drive letter	Decimal value
A:	1	N:	8192
B:	2	O:	16384
C:	4	P:	32768
D:	8	Q:	65536
E:	16	R:	131072
F:	32	S:	262144
G:	64	T:	524288
H:	128	U:	1048576
I:	256	V:	2097152
J:	512	W:	4194304
K:	1024	X:	8388608
L:	2048	Y:	16777216
M:	4096	Z:	33554432

To hide several drives, add their values together. For example, to hide D: and E:, use 8 + 16 = 24. To hide D:, E:, and F:, use 8 + 16 + 32 = 56.

How to Show Drives Again After Using NoDrives

Open the same Registry key and either delete the NoDrives value or set it to 0. Then restart File Explorer or sign out and sign back in.

Method 4

How to Hide or Show Drives Using DiskPart Commands

DiskPart can remove or assign drive letters from an elevated Command Prompt or Windows Terminal. This method is useful for administrators and scripted maintenance, but you must select the correct volume.

Hide a Drive with DiskPart

Command Prompt or Terminal as administratordiskpart
list volume
select volume 4
remove letter=E
exit

Replace 4 with the correct volume number and E with the drive letter you want to remove.

Show the Drive Again with DiskPart

Command Prompt or Terminal as administratordiskpart
list volume
select volume 4
assign letter=E
exit

⚠️

Double-check the volume

Always verify the size, label, and file system before running remove letter or assign letter. Selecting the wrong volume can break shortcuts, applications, or boot-related paths.

Method 5

How to Hide a Drive Letter with mountvol in Windows

The mountvol command manages volume mount points. It can remove a drive-letter mount point without deleting data.

Hide a Drive with mountvol

Command Prompt or Terminal as administratormountvol E: /D

This removes the E: mount point. The volume will no longer appear as drive E: in File Explorer.

Show the Drive Again with mountvol

First, list available volume names:

Command Prompt or Terminal as administratormountvol

Then assign the correct volume name back to a drive letter:

Examplemountvol E: \\?\Volume{xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx}\

Because the volume GUID must be chosen correctly, Disk Management or DiskPart is usually easier for most users.

Comparison

Best Ways to Hide or Show Drives in Windows 10 and Windows 11

Method	Best for	Admin rights	Easy to reverse?
Disk Management	Safely removing or restoring a drive letter	Usually yes	Yes
Local Group Policy Editor	Hiding selected drives from File Explorer	Yes	Yes
Registry Editor	Windows Home users and manual policy control	Sometimes	Yes, if the value is removed
DiskPart	Advanced users, scripts, recovery environments	Yes	Yes
mountvol	Managing volume mount points from command line	Yes	Moderate

Recommended for most users

Use Disk Management if you want to hide a non-system partition by removing its drive letter.
Use Group Policy if you only want to hide the drive icon in File Explorer.
Use Registry Editor when Group Policy Editor is unavailable.

Avoid these mistakes

Do not remove the letter from the Windows system drive.
Do not hide a drive used by installed applications unless you understand the consequences.
Do not rely on drive hiding as a real privacy or security measure.

Fixes

What to Do If a Hidden Drive Still Appears or Does Not Come Back

Restart File Explorer

Open Task Manager, find Windows Explorer, right-click it, and select Restart. This refreshes File Explorer without rebooting the whole PC.

Check Whether a Group Policy Is Still Active

If a drive remains hidden after you assign a letter, open gpedit.msc and check whether Hide these specified drives in My Computer is still enabled.

Check the Registry NoDrives Value

If you used the Registry method, go back to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer and remove NoDrives or set it to 0.

Make Sure the Partition Is Healthy

Open Disk Management and check whether the volume is shown as Healthy. If the partition is offline, unallocated, RAW, or missing, the problem is not only drive visibility.

FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions About Hiding Drives in Windows

QDoes hiding a drive delete files?⌄

No. Removing a drive letter or hiding a drive through policy does not delete files. It only changes how the drive is displayed or accessed.

QCan I hide the C: drive?⌄

You should not remove the drive letter from the system drive. Hiding it with policy may be possible in some configurations, but it can confuse users and does not protect Windows from administrative access.

QIs hiding a drive secure?⌄

No. Hiding a drive is mainly an interface or access-path change. For real protection, use encryption such as BitLocker and keep backups of important data.

QWhy is the hidden drive still visible in some programs?⌄

Group Policy and Registry hiding mainly target File Explorer views. Some file managers, command-line tools, administrative tools, or programs running with elevated rights may still detect the volume.

QHow do I hide a drive only for one user?⌄

Use the current-user Registry path with NoDrives or configure a user-based Group Policy. Removing a drive letter in Disk Management affects the system more broadly, not just one user profile.

Summary

Summary: The Safest Way to Hide or Show Drives in Windows

The easiest way to hide a drive in Windows 10 or Windows 11 is to remove its drive letter in Disk Management. To show it again, assign a drive letter back to the same volume. If you only want to hide drive icons in File Explorer, use Local Group Policy Editor or the NoDrives Registry value. For command-line work, DiskPart and mountvol provide more advanced control over drive letters and mount points.

⊞ Quick Recap

For most users, open Disk Management, right-click the target volume, choose Change Drive Letter and Paths, and remove the letter to hide the drive. To show it again, return to the same dialog and click Add. Use Group Policy or NoDrives only when you want to hide drive icons without removing drive letters.