How to Mount a Drive as an NTFS Folder in Windows 10 and 11

Before you begin​

This guide uses C:\Mounts\DataDrive as the mount folder and a separate data volume as the target. Substitute your own folder and volume as needed.

• Use an administrator account. Microsoft says mounting or removing a mount point requires membership in the Administrators or Backup Operators group. Disk Management may request elevation.
• Choose an existing, accessible data volume. Identify it by its label, capacity, file system and, if it has one, drive letter. This guide does not cover creating a volume from unallocated space.
• Use a separate NTFS host volume for the folder. For example, the folder can be on C: while the data volume is on another disk or partition. The example assumes the target is also an NTFS data volume.
• Choose an empty folder. Create a new folder for this purpose rather than using a folder containing files. Hidden files and subfolders also make a folder nonempty.
• Keep a current backup of important data. Adding a mount path is not a format, but Disk Management also contains destructive commands. A backup protects you if the wrong operation is selected or the drive has an unrelated problem.

A volume is the storage area you select in Disk Management; a physical disk can contain more than one volume. The folder is an access path to the selected volume, not an expansion of the host volume’s capacity. Files written through the folder are stored on the target volume.

The Disk Management procedure is the same in Windows 10 and Windows 11. Microsoft ended regular Windows 10 support on October 14, 2025; consider upgrading or checking whether an Extended Security Updates program applies to your device.

Create the empty mount folder​

1. Open File Explorer with Windows+E and select This PC.
2. Right-click the volume that will hold the folder—for this example, Windows (C🙂—and select Properties. Check that File system is NTFS, then close Properties.
3. Open C:\. Create a folder named Mounts, if you do not already have one. Inside it, create a new, empty folder named DataDrive.

The resulting folder is C:\Mounts\DataDrive. Leave it empty. If you use a different host volume or folder name, keep track of the exact path for the steps below.

Do not use the root of the host drive itself, such as C:\, as the mount folder. The mount point should be a folder on that volume.

Add the folder path in Disk Management​

Warning: The next steps change a storage access path. Select the existing target data volume, not its disk label, an unallocated region, or a Windows recovery or EFI partition. Do not select Format, Delete Volume, Initialize Disk, or New Simple Volume. Those operations are not needed to mount an existing volume and can put existing data at risk.

1. Right-click Start and select Disk Management. Alternatively, press Windows+R, enter diskmgmt.msc, and select OK.
2. Find the volume whose contents you want to see in the folder. Check its label, capacity, file system and drive letter against what you expect. If you cannot confidently identify it, stop rather than guessing.
3. Right-click the target volume’s rectangular area or its entry in the volume list. Select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
4. Select Add. If the volume already has a drive letter, leave it in place; you are adding a folder path, not changing the letter.
5. Select Mount in the following empty NTFS folder.
6. Select Browse, find C:\Mounts\DataDrive, and select it. Choose OK.
7. Confirm that the displayed folder path is correct, then select OK to add it.

The change normally takes effect immediately; a restart is not required. Windows maintains an established mounted folder across restarts, provided the relevant volumes are available.

If Add or the folder-mount option is unavailable, do not remove an existing drive letter merely to experiment. Check the troubleshooting section first, and retain the letter while you investigate.

Verify that the folder opens the intended volume​

1. In File Explorer, enter C:\Mounts\DataDrive in the address bar and press Enter.
2. Check for files or folders you recognize from the target volume. If the target already has a drive letter, open that letter in another File Explorer window and compare the contents. Both paths should lead to the same volume.
3. Return to Disk Management, right-click the target volume, and select Change Drive Letter and Paths. Confirm that C:\Mounts\DataDrive appears in the list of paths. Close the dialog without changing anything.
4. If you need to confirm write access and the volume is intended to be writable, create a small, disposable test file through the mounted folder. If the volume also has a drive letter, check that the same test file appears through that path. Delete only the test file when finished.

If the target volume is intentionally empty, an empty File Explorer window alone does not prove that the mount succeeded. Check the path in Disk Management and, if appropriate, use the disposable test file.

The folder path is not a backup or a second copy. Editing or deleting a file through the folder changes the file on the target volume itself. Also, the C: prefix in the example does not mean files written inside DataDrive consume free space on C:; they consume space on the mounted target volume.

Remove the folder mount without formatting​

Warning: Removing the mount path makes the volume unavailable through that folder. Close files and applications using the path first, and check whether a backup job, script or service depends on it. If this is the volume’s only access path, it may no longer be reachable in File Explorer until you add another path.

1. Open Disk Management.
2. Find the same target volume you mounted. Right-click it and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
3. In the list, select the folder path—for this example, C:\Mounts\DataDrive. Do not select a drive letter unless you specifically intend to remove that letter.
4. Select Remove, then confirm the removal if prompted.
5. Open Change Drive Letter and Paths for the volume again and verify that the folder path is no longer listed. Any drive letter you did not remove should remain listed.

This removes the folder association; it does not format or delete the volume. The original empty folder may remain on the host volume, but it no longer provides access to the target through that path.

To restore the mount, make sure the intended folder is empty, then repeat Add the folder path in Disk Management for the same target volume. If you need to change the folder path, remove the old path and add the new empty folder path; Microsoft’s procedure does not modify an existing mount path in place.

If the removed folder path was the only access path and you need a drive letter instead, right-click the target volume, choose Change Drive Letter and Paths > Add, select Assign the following drive letter, choose an available letter, and select OK. Use this only for a data volume you have identified correctly.

Troubleshoot a failed or missing mount​

• The target volume is missing from Disk Management. Check that the drive is connected and powered. For an external drive, check its cable and connection, then reopen Disk Management. If the disk contains valuable data but appears unallocated or Windows asks to initialize or format it, stop; those prompts are not a prerequisite for mounting an existing volume with data.
• The target is shown as offline or is not accessible. The folder path cannot provide normal access while the underlying volume is unavailable. Investigate the drive’s connection and status first. On a managed PC or a disk with important unrecovered data, involve the administrator or storage support rather than making unexplained disk changes.
• The folder is rejected as nonempty or already in use. Create a different, new empty folder on the NTFS host volume and select that folder. A hidden file or subfolder counts as content, and an existing mount point cannot simply be reused as an empty folder.
• Change Drive Letter and Paths is missing or unavailable. Confirm that you right-clicked the target volume, not the disk’s label or unallocated space, and that you opened Disk Management with sufficient permissions. EFI System and Recovery partitions are not appropriate targets for this data-volume procedure. If a normal, accessible data volume still cannot be managed, stop and seek support rather than deleting or reformatting it.
• The folder opens, but the expected files are missing. Recheck which volume received the path in Disk Management. A disk can contain several volumes, so matching only the physical disk number is not enough. If you mounted the wrong volume, remove that folder path using the removal steps above, then add it to the correctly identified volume.
• You receive an access-denied message. Adding a mount path does not by itself grant permission to read or write the target’s files. Check access through the target’s existing drive letter, if it has one, and ask the owner or administrator to review permissions. Do not broadly change ownership or permissions just to make the test pass.
• The path worked but no longer opens after a restart or disconnection. Check that both the host volume containing the folder and the target volume are available. If the host volume is unavailable, the target cannot be reached through a folder on that host, even if the target itself is healthy. If the target has another access path, test that separately.
• Disk Management will not add the folder path, even though the checks pass. Leave any existing drive letter intact and note the exact error. Microsoft also documents DiskPart and PowerShell methods for assigning a mount path, but an unexplained failure may indicate a permissions, volume or disk problem. Escalate to the device administrator or Microsoft support rather than formatting the drive to force the procedure.