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Change a drive letter
- 2 minutes to read
- 4 contributors
Applies To: Windows 11, Windows 10, Windows Server 2022, Windows Server 2019, and Windows Server 2016
If you want to change a drive letter assigned to a drive, or you have a drive that doesn't yet have a drive letter, use Disk Management to change it. You can also mount the drive in an empty folder so that it appears as a folder. For more information, see Mount a drive in a folder .
If you change the drive letter of a drive that already contains Windows or apps, apps might have trouble running or finding the drive. We suggest not changing the drive letter of a drive that already contains Windows or apps.
The following steps show how to change the drive letter.
Open Disk Management with administrator permissions.
In Disk Management, select and hold (or right-click) the volume on which you want to change or add a drive letter and select Change Drive Letter and Paths .

If you don't see the Change Drive Letter and Paths option or it's grayed out, the volume either isn't ready to receive a drive letter or it's unallocated and needs to be initialized . It might also be that the drive isn't accessible, which is the case with EFI system partitions and recovery partitions. If you've confirmed that your volume is formatted with a drive letter that you can access but you're still unable to change it, that's beyond the scope of this article. We suggest contacting Microsoft Support or the manufacturer of your PC for more help.
To change the drive letter, select Change . To add a drive letter if the drive doesn't already have one, select Add .

Select the new drive letter and choose OK . Then select Yes when prompted about how programs that rely on the drive letter might not run correctly.

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TechnicalSupport FAQs
Before you buy, how do i assign or change a drive letter in windows.
A drive letter can be assigned or changed in Windows using Disk Management. To open Disk Management, complete the following:
Windows 8 and 10
- Right-click the Windows icon .
- Click Disk Management .
- Click Start .
- Right-click Computer .
- Click Manage .
To assign a drive letter in Disk Management, complete the following:
- Right-click the drive you would like to change.
- Click Change Drive Letter and Paths .
- Click Add .
- Click the letter you want to use.
To change a driver letter in Disk Management, complete the following:
- Click Change .
- Click Assign the following drive letter .
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- TECHNOLOGY Q&A
How to change drive letters in Windows 10
Q. How difficult is it to change drive letters in Windows 10?
A. Changing a drive letter in Windows 10 is relatively easy, as follows. Right - click the Windows 10 Menu button and select Disk Management to display a list of all available hard drives. Right - click the specific hard drive letter you want to change, and select Change Drive Letter and Paths . Click the Add button, select a new drive letter, and then click the Change button, as pictured below.

- Letters A and B are reserved for floppy drives.
- The drive letter for the system volume or boot partition (usually drive C) cannot be modified or changed.
- Any letter between C and Z can be assigned to a hard disk drive, CD drive, DVD drive, portable external hard disk drive, or USB flash memory key drive.
- If you change the drive letter for drives where applications or programs are installed, those applications or programs may or may not function properly after the change because they might refer to the original path used to install those products. In this case, you would likely need to reinstall those applications or programs for them to work properly.
About the author
J. Carlton Collins ( [email protected] ) is a technology consultant, a conference presenter, and a JofA contributing editor.
Submit a question
Do you have technology questions for this column? Or, after reading an answer, do you have a better solution? Send them to [email protected] . We regret being unable to individually answer all submitted questions.
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- How to Change Drive Letter Windows 10 without Losing Data?

How to change drive letter windows 10? “I have TWO hard disk and a cd rom drive on my computer. The HDDs are C and E, and the cd rom drive id D. Is it possible to swap the HDD letters, i.e C becomes E and E becomes C? Or are the letters fixed at the time of format? ” -Question from Reddit
Think about whether you want to change your drive letter? Indeed, and for quite a long time. For instance, even though you depend more on graphical desktops that empower you to work effortlessly, drive letters are essential to how your software work. But the question is how to change drive letter windows 10? One such inquiry can be seen above:

Part 1: Why Do I Need to Change Drive Letter?
Solution 1: change drive letter via disk management, solution 2: change drive letter with command prompt, solution 3: change drive letter in powershell, solution 4: change drive letter in settings.
- Part 3: How to Recover Lost Data after Changing Drive Letter? HOT
- Part 4: FAQs about Changing Drive Letter
A drive letter is an alphabet distinguishing an existing drive. Drive letters start from A and end at Z. Windows will appoint an open drive letter for all the disks. The system holds the drive letters A and B for the floppy drive and tape drives, and the default drive letter is C. The CD-ROM or other drive is the last drive letter (e.g., D:). That is because C: is the primary drive letter. Windows will generally be the drive letter C. Windows allots the last drive letter to external drives and cell phones.
Individuals change hard drive letter for ease of use. Assigning drive letters in sequential order is a method for keeping them coordinated. You don't need to waste your valuable time by going through drives to track down your files.
Part 2: How to Change Drive Letter?
Step 1 : Click the Win and R keys simultaneously on your keyboard to open the Run box. When the window springs up, type the following command in the bar: diskmgmt.msc.
Step 2 : Hit the "Enter" button, and the "Disk Management" window will be displayed on your screen.
Step 3 : You will see a rundown of drives in the following window. Choose the one you need to change the letter of, then, at that point, right-click on it and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths."

Step 4 : Tap on "Change" and a new window will spring up.
Step 5 : To the right of the "Assign the following drive letter" option, you will see a drop-down menu. Select the drive letter you need to give from this menu.
Step 6 : Click the Win and R keys simultaneously on your keyboard to open the Run box. When the window springs up, type the following command in the bar: diskmgmt.msc.
Step 1 : Press Win + S keys simultaneously, then, at that point, type in "cmd." Click on the command prompt and when the window opens up, Run it as Administrator by right-clicking it.
Step 2 : Type "diskpart" in the next window and hit "Enter," type list volume, and press "Enter" once more. You will see a rundown of volumes under the "Volume ###" sign.
Step 3 : One of them will be the drive you need to allocate another letter. Knowing which one is the required drive is not hard. Simply notice their sizes below the "Size" tab.

Step 4 : Pick the volume and tap the "Enter" button on your keyboard, then, at that point, type appoint letter=X and continue to assign drive letter Windows 10.
Step 5 : To eliminate the letter and maybe supplant it with another, type removes letter=X. Furthermore, that is all there is to it. Close the window and restart your PC, and you should see your drive with the new letter you just allotted to it.
Step 1 : Press the Windows key on your keyboard and type "Windows PowerShell." Right-click on the program and run it as an administrator.
Step 2 : Type Get-Disk in Windows PowerShell to recognize the hard drive you need to give the new drive letter to, and Press "Enter."
Step 3 : When you select the drive, type the command: Get-Partition - DiskNumber 1 | Set-Partition - NewDriveLetter X. Press Enter, and that's how to reassign drive letters Windows 10.
Note : In the command up there, 1 is the plate number of the drive to be designed; the letter "X" in a similar order addresses the drive letter to be allocated to the drive so you can change it to the letter you like.
To change the drive letter with Manage Disks and Volumes in the Settings application, utilize these means:
Step 1 : Go to your computer settings and click on System.
Step 2 : Tap on Storage, and under the "More Storage Settings" segment, click the Manage Disks and Volumes choice.
Step 3 : Select the drive you wish to change the letter for.
Step 1 : Select the desired partition and click the "Properties" button.
Step 2 : Tap on "Change drive letter."
Step 3 : Utilize the drop-down menu and choose a new letter for your drive and tap OK.
Step 4 : When you complete the means, it will change drive letter Windows 7, and it will begin utilizing the new letter.
Part 3: How to Recover Lost Data after Changing Drive Letter?
Data loss after windows change drive letter is the most well-known issue the client faces. For example, if you have installed some software or saved a file in various volumes other than C, changing letters will make them unavailable. In other words, it breaks the things in your PC. Using Tenorshare 4DDiG Data Recovery Software can help you fix the issue.
Tenorshare 4DDiG can assist you with getting back files from an erased drive volume or partition that might have occurred while Windows 10 change drive letter. It additionally allows you to restore documents from the drive with no drive letter. That’s how:
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- Support to extract data from USB flash drives, hard drives, memory cards, digital cameras, and camcorders, among other storage devices.
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After finding the lost documents, you can preview and restore them by clicking the "Recover" button.

FAQs about Changing Drive Letter
1. how do i change a drive letter from d to c.
Open Disk Management from Windows 10 menu and right-click the particular hard drive letter you need to change. Tap the "Change Drive Letter and Paths" optionthen press Add. Choose another drive letter for it, and afterward tap the "Change" button, as shown, and this can be a solution to how to switch drive letters.
2. How do I change the drive letter without disk management?
There are several other options that you can employ to change the drive letter without disk management. One can go to the command prompt, or Powershell can also be an answer to how to change drive letter.
3. Can I change the drive letter without losing data?
In case a partition contains just the documents that you seldom use, changing the drive letter might cause infrequent issues and not something more regrettable. So, you can change the drive letters of external drives without issues.
4. Can I change the drive name without formatting?
Yes, you can change the drive letter without formatting the drive using Disk Management. That lets you save a lot of precious data from getting deleted and helps change the letter for your ease.
After going through this guide, you should be able to easily change the drive letter of any drive in your Windows 11/10. We have discussed every aspect of how to change drive letter windows 10. Moreover, you can use Tenorshare 4DDiG for recovering your lost data due to changing the drive letter.

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How to Change a Drive Letter
Don't like the letters assigned to your drives in windows change them.
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What to Know
- Open Disk Management. Locate the drive you want to change. Right-click and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths > Change .
- Select the drive letter you want to assign from Assign the following drive letter . Then select OK and choose Yes .
The letters assigned to your hard drives, optical drives, and USB drives in Windows are not fixed. Use the Disk Management tool in Windows to change drive letters. These steps apply to Windows XP and newer versions of Windows .
How to Change Drive Letters in Windows
Follow these steps to change the driver letters in any version of Windows.
You can't change the drive letter of the partition that Windows is installed onto. On most computers, this is usually the C drive.
Open Disk Management , the tool in Windows that lets you manage drive letters, among [many] other things.
In Windows 11/10/8, Disk Management is also available from the Power User Menu ( WIN + X keyboard shortcut) and is probably the quickest way to open it. You can also start Disk Management from the Command Prompt in any version of Windows, but starting it via Computer Management is probably best for most of you.
Locate from the list at the top, or from the map at the bottom, the drive you want to change the drive letter of.
If you're not sure that the drive you're looking at is really the one you want to change the drive letter for, you can right-click or tap-and-hold the drive and then choose Explore . If you need to, look through the folders to see if that's the right drive.
Right-click or tap-and-hold the drive and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths .
Select Change .
If you've selected the primary drive by accident, some versions of Windows will display a message that reads Windows cannot modify the drive letter of your system volume or boot volume.
Choose the drive letter you want Windows to assign to this storage device by selecting it from the Assign the following drive letter drop-down box.
You don't need to worry if the drive letter is already being used by another drive because Windows hides any letters you can't use.
Select OK .
Choose Yes to the Some programs that rely on drive letters might not run correctly. Do you want to continue? question.
If you have software installed to this drive, it might stop working properly after changing the drive letter. See details on this in the section below.
Once the drive letter change is complete, which usually only takes a second or two, you're welcome to close any open Disk Management or other windows.
The drive letter is different from the volume label. You can change the volume label using similar steps .
If You Have Programs Not on the Main Drive
Changing drive letter assignments for drives that have software installed to them may cause the software to stop working. This isn't quite as common with newer programs and apps but if you have an old program, especially if you're still using Windows XP or Windows Vista, this is likely to be a problem.
Fortunately, most of us don't have software installed to drives other than the primary drive (typically the C drive), but if you do, consider this your warning that you might need to reinstall the software after changing the drive letter.
No Changes for the Operating System Drive
You cannot change the drive letter of the drive that the Windows operating system is installed on. If you'd like Windows to exist on a drive other than C , or whatever it happens to be now, you can make that happen but you'll have to complete a clean install of Windows to do it. Unless you have a pressing need to have Windows exist on a different drive letter, we don't recommend going through all that trouble.
Change, Don't Switch
There's no built-in way to switch drive letters between two drives in Windows. Instead, use a drive letter that you don't plan on using as a temporary "holding" letter during the drive letter change process.
For example, let's say you'd like to swap Drive A for Drive B . Start by changing Drive A's letter to one that you don't plan on using (like X ), then Drive B's letter to Drive A's original one, and finally Drive A's letter to Drive B's original one.
Using the Command Prompt
You can also change the drive letter from Command Prompt . It's not as easy as using Disk Management and you can't see right away which letters are available to choose, but it is completely doable with the diskpart command.
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How to Change Drive Letter in Windows 10
The article shows you how to change drive letter for hard drives in This PC on Windows 10 computer.
Note : You'd better know that some programs that rely on drive letters might not run correctly after drive letter is changed.
Video guide on how to change drive letter in Windows 10:
Steps to change drive letter in Windows 10:
Step 1 : Open Disk Management .
Step 2 : Right-click a hard drive and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths in the context menu.

Step 3 : In the following window, tap Change to move on.

Step 4 : Select a new drive letter and click OK .

Step 5 : Choose Yes to confirm drive letter change.

As you can see from the following screen shot, the drive letter of the selected hard drive has been changed successfully.

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How to Change Drive Letter in Windows 10?
Changing the drive letter in your windows has many advantages that go beyond identifying file systems. follow the brief instructions below to get more..

Jan 31, 2023 • Filed to: Answer Hard Drive Problems • Proven solutions
Ask yourself this question: Do you need to change your drive letter? Yes, and for numerous reasons. For example, even though you now rely more on graphical desktops that enable you to easily click on icons, drive letters are still integral to how your software function .
The bigger question is how to go about changing the drive letters of the drives in your PC. The different ways you can do that will be written out for you below. You'll be using Disk Management, CMD, and PowerShell.

- Part 1. Is It Safe to Change Drive Letters?
- Part 2. 6 Ways to Change Drive Letter in Windows 11/10
- Part 3. Overview of Windows Drive, Partition & Volume
Is It Safe to Change Drive Letters?
Yes, it's very safe to change drive letters . If it wasn't, you wouldn't be reading these letters (pun intended) right now. By default, Windows automatically assigns the letter "C" to your system drive, then other letters to the rest of your storage devices.
But what does it mean to change a device or drive's letter, anyway? Simply put, it's a way to identify your drive by a different letter. But even though changing a drive letter has its benefits, it also harbors risks that can harm your files. How?
For one, changing drive letters confuses Windows. The operating system won't know where to look for your files because it expects to find them in a particular place, but because you've renamed their directory, it will be left unsure what to do.
In a way, it's kind of embarrassing how such advanced technology can sometimes be so dumb, isn't it? Honestly, you just change ONE letter, but your machine doesn't recognize it for what it is!
There is also the risk that any software you install on a drive will cease functioning once you change the letter of that drive. This is not a probability but it's still a possibility, so be wary of doing that. On the bright side, at least the problem is more common with older software. What about the reasons you should change your drive letter?
- Convenience
Say you purchase an external drive and wish to change its drive letter, right? And you're doing this because you already have another drive with the same letter as the external. You can easily do all this without having to resort to complex instructions, and that is very convenient. This freedom to customize your storage devices the way you want is also a welcome addition to computer usage.
- Ease of Recognition
Assigning letters in alphabetical order to drives is a simple way to keep them organized. It benefits you because it will be easier to know what files or programs are installed on which drive. You don't have to waste precious time by going through random locations to find your files.
6 Ways to Change Drive Letter in Windows 11/10
The first thing you need to know here is this: You cannot change the drive letter of the drive where your Windows is installed on. The only way for you to do that is to do a clean install of the Windows itself; but why go through all that trouble just to change a simple letter?
With that being said, and except for your operating system's default drive, you have much leeway when it comes to changing drive letters.
Even though Windows automatically assigns a drive letter to any external storage device you connect to it, there are unique occasions where it tries to give an already-assigned letter to a new drive. It thus nullifies the action and prevents the drive from showing up in "File Explorer." That's just one credible reason you might see a need to change a drive letter ; the rest is up to you, but more important is for you to know how to do it. Kicking off the tutorial will be "Disk Management."
Video tutorial: How to Change Drive Letter in Windows 11/10?
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1 Change a Drive Letter in Disk Management
1. Press on the "Windows" + "R" key. When the "Run" window pops up, type this command in its search field: diskmgmt.msc.
2. Hit the "Enter" key and "Disk Management" will be launched.
3. You will see a list of drives in the "Disk Management" window. Pick out the one you want to change the letter of, then right-click on it and select "Change Drive Letter and Paths."

4. Click on "Change" and another window will open up.

5. Right beside the "Assign the following drive letter" option, you will see a drop-down menu. Select the drive letter you want Windows to give the storage device from this menu.

6. Click on "OK" and select "Yes". Close "Disk Management" and your drive will now be bearing a brand-new letter.

2 Change Drive Letter in CMD
1. Press "Windows" + "S", then type in "cmd" in the search field you see. Click on "command prompt". After the command prompt opens up, right-click on it, and select "Run as administrator."
2. Type diskpart in the command window and hit "Enter", then type list volume and press "Enter" again. You will see a list of simple volumes under "Volume ###."
3. One of them will be the drive you want to assign a new letter. Knowing which of them is the drive shouldn't be too hard. Just look at each of their corresponding sizes under the "Size" category.

4. Choose the volume and hit "Enter", then type assign letter=R and hit "Enter" one more time.

5. If you want to remove the letter and perhaps replace it with another one, type removes letter=R. And that's it. Close the "command prompt" tool and restart your PC and you should see your drive rocking the new letter you just assigned to it.
3 Change Drive Letter in PowerShell
1. Press the "Windows" key and type "Windows PowerShell" in the search bar. Right-click on the program in the search results and choose "Run as administrator."
2. Type Get-Disk in Windows PowerShell to identify the particular hard drive you want to assign the new drive letter to. Press "Enter."
3. Once you select the drive, type the following command and hit "Enter" to assign the drive letter to the drive: Get-Partition -DiskNumber 1 | Set-Partition -NewDriveLetter G

Take note of this: In the command up there, replace "1" with the disk number of the drive to be formatted; the letter "G" in the same command represents the drive letter to be assigned to the drive, so you can change it to the letter you prefer.
Are you looking to change your drive letter in Windows 11/10? You are in the right place. This task can help a lot to better organize your devices and to better remember what content is stored on each of them. The procedure is very simple and you can do it in two ways. In this post you will know how to do it and you will also be advised to avoid changing the letter of your C Drive.
4 To Change Drive Letter in Registry Editor
The first way to change your drive letter is using CMD tool. You can perform this task in just some minutes through the following steps:
Step 1: Open CMD

Hold Windows key and press “R” to open Run tool. Now type “cmd” and press “Enter.” Command Prompt will run immediately.
Step 2: Write the commands

Once you opened Command Prompt, type the following commands. Please don’t forget to press “Enter” after each one.
- list volume
- select volume 1* (change "1" for the number of the volume that contains the partition where you want to change the letter)
- assign letter=X (“X” is an example, you can write the letter you want but it has to be different from the rest of the letters of the other partitions)
5 To Change Drive Letter in Settings
Another way to change your drive letter is through Windows settings. This task is a little bit slower than the last one but if you don’t like to use CMD, this will fit better to you. To change your drive letter through Windows settings, please do the following:
Step 1: Open Windows settings

Press Windows key and click the gear icon to open Windows settings.
Step 2: Open “System” page

On Windows Settings, click “System.”
Step 3: Open “Manage Disks and Volumes”

Once you are on “System” page, click “Storage” and then click “Manage Disks and Volumes.” This will open the page where you will change the drive letter.
Step 4: Open drive “Properties”

Go to the drive you want to change letter and click “Properties.”
Step 5: Click “Change drive letter”

Within Volume Data section, click “Change drive letter.”
Step 6: Type new drive letter

On this window, click the arrow next to the letter and you can select a new one. Finally, click “OK” and the drive letter will be changed.
6 No Changes for the Operating System Drive
If you want to change the letter of the Operating System Drive (C Drive), you will generate problems in your operating system. If you do, Windows will not start because the corresponding files are encrypted and cannot be changed.
In fact, if you try to do this process through Disk Management you will get the message "Some programs that rely on drive letters might not run properly," so it is not recommended that you continue. Even if you don't have important information or you have just installed Windows, I do not advise you to do so and you will avoid to get multiple problems.
Overview of Windows Drive, Partition & Volume
What's up with these 3 things? Is knowing them significant or something? Yeah, it's a good idea to at least have some basic knowledge of what they are and what they're capable of doing. Besides, you'll understand some of the infinite technical mumbo-jumbo associated with anything computer-related.
Windows Drive
This refers to the hard disk drive that comes preinstalled with Windows on your PC. Your PC might also come with more than a single drive, as is the case with more modern and powerful computers that utilize an SSD as the main drive and HDD as a secondary drive, but Windows is always installed on the main drive; always represented by the letter "C." It's where the OS and software titles are stored in your PC.
Having said that, and to reiterate, don't attempt to change the drive letter of your Windows' primary drive. You can change the drive letters of any other drive, both internal and external, but not the main drive because doing that will only lead to more complications and put a dent in the performance of your Windows. All in all, disregard the instructions on changing drive letters in this instance because they are unnecessary.
Windows Partition
Think of a partition as a division of your hard disk drive. To be more precise, a partition is a logical separation of one drive, but it seems as if this separation creates many physical drives. When it comes to terms, "partition" and "disk partition" are often interchanged. If the word "drive" is added into the mix, it's usually meant to signify a partition with a drive letter attached to it.
You can divide your hard disk into numerous partitions and give each of them a unique letter. There are over 26 letters in the English alphabet, so you obviously can't run out of letters to assign. Now, changing the letter of each partition pretty much follows the same rules as changing a drive letter. These letters make it easier for you to differentiate the partitions and assign individual purposes for them, or it just makes it more convenient for you to know what's in each partition.
Read More: How To Create Windows Partitions on Mac
Windows Volume
Yeah, this is a big one. Just like your main drive, your system's volume is crucial to the system's performance; heck, your PC won't even start if your volume is faulty. Volume refers to the disk volume that contains hardware-specific files that are necessary for your Windows to boot, namely Ntdetect.com, Ntldr, and Boot.ini.
Just like with Windows drive, don't tamper with the letters for Windows volume. Yes, if you follow the steps given earlier, you can change the letters; but why do that when it's only a recipe for trouble.? You're not advised to venture into your Windows volume. Leave it as it is unless you're sure you know what you're doing.
Closing Words
There, with everything written up there, you should have no trouble changing the drive letter of any drive in your Windows 11/10. The methods outlined work for both internal and external hard drives as well as more portable storage devices.
Follow the instructions and you're all set. Just don't go and tamper with more than you've been instructed on; don't be in over your head and kill your innocent drive. Third-party tools might try to entice you into using them to get the job done with the quick press of a button, but don't fall for it. The solutions given here are all you need.
How do I boot from D drive instead of C?
If your D: volume has an installation of Windows or another operating system, you can change the boot drive through native Windows tools. Press Win + R and type "msconfig". Now click on the "Boot" tab, select the drive you want to boot from and click the "Set as default" button. Before leaving, do not forget to click “apply”.
How do I permanently change boot drive?
You will need to open the BIOS setup utility by pressing F1, F2, F10, F11, or F12 before the Windows logo appears. Go to "Advanced settings" and then to "Boot menu." Look for the D Drive and select it using the arrow keys until it is shaded, then press the "+" key to move it to the top of the list. Press F10 to save your settings and restart your computer.
What happens if C drive is full?
The C Drive is the main partition of a disk and it is where the operating system is installed along with several important files. Ideally, it should not exceed 90% of its capacity so that it can work with total fluidity. When this partition fills up, it may often slows down, freezes, and crashes your computer.
How do I clear space on my C drive?
There are several practical ways to do it. If you have other partitions or storage devices with enough free space, you can move large files and documents or reinstall applications. There are also many temporary files that are stored on the C Drive that you can delete to save great amount of space.
How do I change the boot menu in Windows 11/10?
Most computers work with UEFI boot mode in Windows 11/10. To change the boot menu, you must press F1, F2. F10, F11 o F12 before the Windows logo appears. Press F8 to open “Boot Menu”, now look for the device you want to boot from the beginning, select it typing the arrow keys and then press “+” key until it is at the top of the list. Finally press F10 to save settings and restart your PC.
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