How to Change External Drive Letter
Changing the drive letter of an external drive can be a useful task, especially when you have multiple external drives connected to your computer and want to organize them more efficiently. By changing the drive letter, you can easily identify and access the specific external drive you need. In this article, we will guide you through the steps to change the drive letter of an external drive on both Windows and macOS operating systems.
For Windows Users:
1.
Connect your external drive to your computer.
2.
Open File Explorer (Windows key + E) and navigate to This PC.
3.
Right-click on the external drive you want to change the drive letter for and select “Manage” from the context menu.
4.
In the Computer Management window, click on “Disk Management” in the left pane.
5.
Locate the external drive in the right pane and right-click on it.
6.
Select “Change Drive Letter and Paths” from the context menu.
7.
In the Change Drive Letter or Path dialog box, click on “Change” and choose a new drive letter from the list.
8.
Click “OK” to confirm the change.
9.
Restart your computer for the changes to take effect.
For macOS Users:
1.
Connect your external drive to your Mac.
2.
Open Disk Utility by searching for it in Spotlight (Cmd + Space) or by navigating to Applications > Utilities > Disk Utility.
3.
Select your external drive from the list on the left side of the window.
4.
Click on the “Erase” tab at the top of the window.
5.
Select the format you want to use for your external drive (e.g., Mac OS Extended (Journaled)).
6.
Click “Erase” to format the drive.
7.
After the drive is formatted, go back to the main Disk Utility window and select your external drive again.
8.
Click on the “Partition” tab at the top of the window.
9.
Select the partition you want to change the drive letter for (usually the only partition listed).
10.
Click on the “Options” button and select “Set Drive Name and Icon” from the dropdown menu.
11.
Enter a new name for your external drive and click “OK” to confirm the change.
12.
Click “Apply” to save the changes and restart your Mac for the new drive letter to take effect.
By following these steps, you can easily change the drive letter of your external drive on both Windows and macOS. This will help you keep your external drives organized and make it easier to access the files you need.
