How to Mount Linux File System on Windows 11 via WSL

Why mount a Linux file system?

Mounting a Linux file system lets you read and write data from Linux drives directly on your Windows computer, making it easy to manage files and share information between operating systems.

What happens when you are done?

Once you finish, your Linux drive becomes part of your accessible storage. You can open, edit, and save files directly from your file manager. When you unmount the drive, the connection is safely closed, keeping your data protected and organized.

How to mount Linux file systems in native Linux

Mounting a Linux file system means connecting a storage device, like a hard drive, to a folder on your computer so you can access its files. You do this in Linux using the ‘mount’ command, which requires administrator rights, so you’ll usually type ‘sudo mount’ followed by the drive details and the folder you want to connect it to.

Basic syntax:

sudo mount -t ext4 /dev/sdb1 /mnt/mydata

Admin Privilege Required: This command requires root access. Always use sudo before the command.

How to check currently mounted drives

To see what’s currently connected, use the lsblk or df -h commands. These tools list all active block devices and their mount points.

Permanent mounting via /etc/fstab

To make a Linux drive connect automatically every time you start your computer, you need to add its details to a special file called /etc/fstab. Think of this file as a map that tells your system which drives to connect and where to connect them, and it requires administrator permission to edit.

Admin Privilege Required: Editing /etc/fstab requires administrator permissions. Use a text editor like nano or vi to add your drive details, including its path, where it should appear (the mount point), and its file system type.

Mounting specific media types

You can mount various media types using the same logic. For an ISO file, use the -o loop option. For network drives, you might use mount -t nfs to connect to a remote server.

Unmounting and troubleshooting

Always use the umount command before removing a physical drive. If you get a ‘target is busy’ error, it means a program is still using a file on that drive. Close all open folders or terminal windows pointing to that directory, then try again.

Mount Linux file system on 🪟 Windows 11 via WSL

You can mount a Linux file system on Windows 11 using WSL by first making sure your WSL is up-to-date with the ‘wsl –update’ command in PowerShell. After that, you’ll find the specific ID for the drive you want to connect, which looks something like \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1, to proceed with mounting.

wsl --update

To see your connected drives, run this command in PowerShell:

Get-PhysicalDisk | Select-Object FriendlyName, DeviceId, Size

Look for the DeviceId of the drive you want to mount (for example, \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1).

To mount the entire physical drive, use this command:

wsl --mount \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1

If you prefer to mount a specific partition, add the partition number:

wsl --mount \\.\PHYSICALDRIVE1 --partition 1

Note: If you are working with a virtual hard disk file instead of a physical drive, you can mount it directly using: wsl --mount --vhd <PathToVHD>.

Access the Linux file system in Windows File Explorer

After mounting your Linux drive, you can easily access its files in Windows File Explorer by looking for the Linux node in the left pane or typing ‘\\wsl$\\\\mnt’ into the address bar.

\\wsl$\<DistroName>\mnt

Summary

Mounting a Linux file system lets you access your data across different operating systems, whether you use native Linux commands or WSL on Windows 11.