How to Mount USB Drives in WSL

If you use the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL) environment, you might want to use your drives-in-windows-11/" class="sal-link" rel="noopener" target="_blank" data-sal-id="11166">USB drives inside your Linux environment. Windows 11 handles your internal drives automatically, but external drives need a little extra help. It is important to know that there are two ways to do this: using the wsl --mount command for storage drives or using usbipd-win for USB devices like webcams or specialized hardware.

Why mount a USB in WSL?

Mounting your drive lets you move files between your Windows folders and your Linux apps. It makes working on projects much faster. You can access raw disk data or specific USB hardware directly within your Linux distribution.

What happens when done?

Once you finish these steps, your USB drive will show up as a folder inside your Linux environment. You can then read or write files to that drive just like any other folder. If you use USBIPD, the device will appear as if it is plugged directly into a physical Linux machine.

Understanding WSL 2 Disk Mounting vs. USBIPD

It is critical to distinguish between these two methods. The wsl --mount command is for physical disk storage, such as USB thumb drives or external hard drives formatted with NTFS, FAT32, or ext4. The usbipd-win tool is for USB passthrough, which allows Linux to talk to non-storage USB devices like serial adapters, security keys, or cameras.

Method 1: Mounting Storage Drives with wsl –mount

Note: You will need to run these commands in PowerShell with administrative privileges.

1. Open PowerShell as Administrator.
2. Identify your disk path by running: wsl --list --disk
3. Mount the disk using the path found (e.g., \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1): wsl --mount \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1 --partition 1

Method 2: Using USBIPD for USB Passthrough

For non-storage devices, you must use the official Microsoft USBIPD GitHub repository. This requires installing the software on Windows and the usbip tools inside your Linux distribution.

1. Install the usbipd-win installer on Windows.
2. In PowerShell, list devices: usbipd list
3. Bind the device: usbipd bind --busid 1-1 (Requires Admin)
4. Attach to WSL: usbipd attach --wsl --busid 1-1

Troubleshooting and Permissions

If your drive does not appear, ensure you are running Windows 11 build 22000 or higher. Always check that your user account has permission to access the mount point. If you receive a permission error, try using sudo before your mount commands.

Summary

• Use wsl --mount for storage drives like USB sticks.
• Use usbipd-win for non-storage USB devices like cameras.
• Always unmount or detach devices before physically unplugging them to prevent data corruption.
• WSL 2 is required for all hardware passthrough features.