How to Show or Hide Drive Letters in Windows 11 File Explorer

What Are Drive Letters?

In Windows, every storage drive gets a letter from A to Z. Your main hard drive is typically C:. External drives and USB sticks are assigned other letters. These letters are how Windows and you keep track of which drive is which.

Where Do You See Drive Letters?

When you open File Explorer, you’ll see drive letters listed next to your drives under “This PC.” However, Windows sometimes hides these letters to simplify the view.

How to Show or Hide Drive Letters Using File Explorer Settings

You can quickly show or hide drive letters in Windows 11 File Explorer right from its settings menu, making it easy to clean up your view if you don’t want to see drive letters like C: or D:.

1. Press Windows + S on your keyboard.
2. Type File Explorer Options and click on it when it appears. Learn more about opening 📁 File Explorer Options
3. In the 📁 File Explorer Options window, click the View tab at the top.
4. Look for “Show drive letters” in the list.
5. To show drive letters, check the box . To hide drive letters, uncheck the box .
6. Click OK to save your changes.

Here’s what the setting looks like:

How to Show or Hide Drive Letters Using the Windows Registry (Advanced)

Advanced users can hide or show drive letters in Windows 11 using the Registry Editor for more control, but you’ll need admin rights and must be careful when changing system files.

1. ⚠️ Requires admin privileges – Press Windows + R to open the Run box.
2. Type regedit and press Enter to open the Registry Editor.
3. In the Registry Editor, go to this folder path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer
4. If you don’t see the Explorer folder, 🖱️ right-click on CurrentVersion. Choose New > Key. Name it Explorer.
5. Click on the Explorer folder.
6. In the right pane, right-click and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
7. Name the new value ShowDriveLettersFirst.
8. Double-click ShowDriveLettersFirst and set its value:

   • Enter 0 to show drive letters.
   • Enter 2 to hide drive letters.
9. Click OK and close the Registry Editor.
10. 🔄 Restart your computer to apply the changes.

Here’s an example of the Registry Editor window:

What It Looks Like Without Drive Letters

Summary

Choosing to show or hide drive letters in Windows 11 is up to you, depending on whether you like a cleaner look or want to see all the details, and you can easily switch between them using File Explorer Options or the Registry Editor.

What happens when you’re done? Your File Explorer will then display or hide drive letters according to your selection.

• The simplest way is through 📁 File Explorer Options under the View tab.
• For more control, you can use the Registry Editor. But be careful when making changes.
• After changing settings, 🔄 restart your PC if the changes don’t appear right away.
• Now you know how to customize your drive letters display! If you want to explore more tips about Windows 11, check out this page.