How to Change Drive Letters

Written by Barry Dysert (last updated December 9, 2019)

If you don't like the way the drive letters are assigned to your disk drives, Windows gives you a way to change them. You can even assign a static drive letter to a particular USB port, so that any device plugged into that port will take on that drive letter.

Changing the drive letter is a rather easy task, provided you know where to look. You can make the changes by using the Computer Management utility. The easiest way to start the utility is to use the search capabilities of Windows to look for "computer management" (without the quote marks). Once started, expand the Storage option (left side of the screen) and click Disk Management. (See Figure 1.)

Figure 1. Disk Management details.

Notice that I have a volume called "TIPSNET" that's associated with drive letter "F:". Say that I want the drive letter to be "G:" instead. If I right-click on the volume name and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths" from the resulting Context menu, Windows displays a dialog box that shows the drive letter assigned to the drive. (See Figure 2.)

Figure 2. The Change Drive Letter and Paths dialog box.

All I need to do is select the current drive, then click on the Change button. Windows displays a dialog box that includes a drop-down list where I can pick a drive letter to be used for the drive. (See Figure 3.)

Figure 3. Changing the Drive Letter.

As soon as I pick a drive letter and click OK, Windows verifies that I really want to make the change. Assuming I answer in the affirmative, the change is made and reflected in the Computer Management utility.

 This tip (5668) applies to Windows 7, 8, and 10.

Author Bio

Barry Dysert

Barry has been a computer professional for over 35 years, working in different positions such as technical team leader, project manager, and software developer. He is currently a software engineer with an emphasis on developing custom applications under Microsoft Windows. When not working with Windows or writing Tips, Barry is an amateur writer. His first non-fiction book is titled "A Chronological Commentary of Revelation." ...

MORE FROM BARRY

Creating an Auto Playlist

Auto Playlists are a nice feature of Windows Media Player. Once set up, as more media gets added to your library the auto ...

Discover More

Dropbox

If you have more than one device and want to easily move files between them, Dropbox is the utility of choice. It ...

Discover More

ConFavor

Navigating to favorite files or folders need not be a time waster of click through a tree structure. ConFavor makes this ...

Discover More
More WindowsTips

Using Offline Files

If you need access to files on a network but aren't always on the network, you may find that the offline files feature of ...

Discover More

Creating a System Repair Disk on a USB Flash Drive

Having a system repair disk is almost as important as doing regular backups. CDs and DVDs, though, tend to get scratched ...

Discover More

Finding Large Files

Large files can quickly take up valuable space on your hard drive. In this tip you discover how to easily search for ...

Discover More
Comments

If you would like to add an image to your comment (not an avatar, but an image to help in making the point of your comment), include the characters [{fig}] (all 7 characters, in the sequence shown) in your comment text. You’ll be prompted to upload your image when you submit the comment. Maximum image size is 6Mpixels. Images larger than 600px wide or 1000px tall will be reduced. Up to three images may be included in a comment. All images are subject to review. Commenting privileges may be curtailed if inappropriate images are posted.

What is one less than 7?

There are currently no comments for this tip. (Be the first to leave your comment—just use the simple form above!)

Newest Tips
Links and Sharing
OUR COMPANY
OUR PRODUCTS
OUR SITES
 

Copyright © 2026 Sharon Parq Associates, Inc.