This post describes steps one can take to mount or map a local folder as drive in Windows 11.
Windows allows users to map network folders as drive. With some tricks, user can also mount or map a local folder as a drive in Windows 11.
Previously, we showed you how to mount an external or internal drive as in a folder rather than a drive letter. This makes the drive appear as just another folder.
The contents of the drive will still physically be located on the drive. You will be able to access the drive’s content via the mounted folder path. Whatever you save in the folder, will actually be saved on the drive.
If you also want to learn how to mount a local folder as a physical drive with a letter, the steps below will show you how to do that.
How to Map local folder as drive with letter in Windows 11
As mentioned above, Windows allows users to mount a local folder as a drive with letter with some tricks.
Below is how to do that.
First, create or choose a local folder you want to mount as a drive.
From your desktop, right-click on a blank area and select New => Shortcut.
In the location box of the shortcut window, type in the complete path of the folder preceding the path with subst command, space and drive letter you wish to use.
Example: If you want to mount “C:\Users\Richard\Supplies” as letter Z, then type the following:
subst Z: "C:\Users\Richard\Supplies"
That above command will create a Z drive for the path “C:\Users\Richard\Supplies“
Click Next and provide a name for the shortcut and click Finish.
When you’re done, a new Z drive will appear in File Explorer when you open the shortcut on the desktop.
The drive is only mounted when you open the shortcut on your desktop you created earlier. When you restart or shut down your computer, you’ll lose the mounted drive.
To fix that, you’ll want to automatically mount the drive when you sign into Windows. To get apps or script to automatically start, place the app or script in Windows Starup folder.
Right-click and copy the shortcut created on your desktop.
Then press the Windows key + R on your keyboard to open the Run box.
The enter the command below in the box and press Enter.
shell:startup
This will open Windows Startup folder in File Explorer. Once opened, paste the shortcut you copied earlier there.
Close when you’re done.
That should do it!
Conclusion:
This post showed you how to mount a local folder as a drive in Windows 11. If you find any error or have something to share, please use the comment form below.
