By Achilles Hill | Last Updated
Need to keep a partition or drive out of sight on your Windows PC? Whether you're hiding a sensitive volume, keeping it safe from accidental access, or just decluttering your File Explorer, Windows 10 and 11 make it easy to hide any drive without deleting or formatting it.
In this guide, we’ll show you how to hide a drive in Windows 10 or 11 using simple and advanced methods—no third-party tools needed.
Hiding a drive can serve multiple purposes:
Note:
Step 1: Open Disk Management on your computer.
Step 2: Find the drive you want to hide (e.g., D: or E:). Then right-click the volume and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
Step 3: Click Remove, then confirm by clicking Yes. Now, the drive is now hidden from File Explorer, but data remains intact.
How to Unhide It:
Go back to Disk Management, right-click the hidden volume and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths. Then click Add to assign a drive letter and click OK.
Modifying the registry can affect system behavior. Follow these steps carefully.
Step 1: Open the Registry Editor.
Step 2: Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer .
Step 3: Go to the right panel, right click the blank space and choose New> DWORD(32-bit) Value .
Step 4: Name it: NoDrives. Then double-click NoDrives and select Decimal. And enter a number that represents the drive(s) you want to hide.
Note:
Step 5: Hit the OK button and shut down Registry Editor. After that, reboot your computer.
If you want to unhide the drive, just go to set NoDrives value to 0 and restart your computer. The drive will appear on File Explore again.
Step 1: Run Group Policy Editor.
Step 2: Navigate to User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > File Explorer. Find and double-click the settings-- Hide these specified drives in My Computer.
Step 3: Select Enabled, then choose the drive(s) to hide from the dropdown.
Step 4: Click Apply > OK to apply the changes.
Note:
If you want to hide the empty drives, there is an easy way.
Step 1: Open Folder Options.
Step 2: Click the View tab and check the option—Hide empty drives under Advanced settings. After that, click the OK button.
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If you hide the drives successfully, is it possible to access the drive? Yes, of course. You can access the hidden drives via the following methods:
Note:
1. Will hiding a drive delete my data?
No, hiding a drive only removes it from visibility in File Explorer. All files remain intact and accessible by path.
2. How do I make the hidden drive reappear?
Use Disk Management to assign a drive letter, or reverse changes made via Registry or Group Policy.
3. Can I hide the C: drive?
Technically yes, but it's not recommended, as it contains your system files. Hiding it can cause system instability.
4. Can someone still access my hidden drive?
Yes, users can access it via command line or path. To restrict access, use encryption or user permissions.
Whether you're organizing your File Explorer or protecting sensitive data, hiding a drive in Windows 10 or 11 is quick and reversible. Use Disk Management for simplicity, or dive into the Registry or Group Policy for more control—without affecting your files.
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