How to Turn On or Off Dev Drive in Windows 11

This guide will help everyday Windows 11 users understand how to enable or disable the Dev Drive feature on their computer.

What is Dev Drive?
Dev Drive is a feature in Windows 11 that lets you create a special separate space on your hard drive. This space is mainly for developers to keep coding tools and files safe and organized, away from regular system files.

If you’re not a developer or want to stop other users from creating this special drive on your computer, you can easily turn this feature off. This can also help keep your computer more secure.

How to Turn Dev Drive On or Off

There are three simple ways to enable or disable the Dev Drive feature on your Windows 11 PC:

1. Using Windows Terminal

  1. Open Windows Terminal as an administrator. To do this, search for “Windows Terminal” in the Start menu, right-click it, and select Run as administrator.
  2. To turn on Dev Drive, type this command and press Enter:
    fsutil devdrv enable

  3. To turn off Dev Drive, type this command and press Enter:
    fsutil devdrv disable

2. Using Local Group Policy Editor

  1. Press Windows + S, type Edit group policy, and press Enter to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
  2. In the editor, go to:
    Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Filesystem

  3. Find Enable dev drive on the right side and double-click it.
  4. Choose one of the options:
    • Not Configured – This is the default setting.
    • Enabled – Allows Dev Drive and lets antivirus work on it.
    • Disabled – Stops users from creating new Dev Drives.
  5. Click OK to save your choice.
  6. Tip: You might need to restart your computer for the change to take effect.
Enable Dev Drive setting in Group Policy Editor

3. Using Windows Registry Editor

  1. Open the Registry Editor by pressing Windows + R, typing regedit, and clicking OK.
  2. Navigate to this folder:
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetPolicies

  3. Look for these two values in the right pane:
    • FsEnableDevDrive
    • FltmgrDevDriveAllowAntivirusFilter
  4. If they don’t exist, right-click an empty space, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, and create both names exactly as above.
  5. Double-click each and set the value to:
    • 0 to disable Dev Drive.
    • 1 to enable Dev Drive.
  6. Close Registry Editor and restart your PC to apply changes.
Windows Registry Editor for Dev Drive settings

Summary

  • You can choose to turn Dev Drive on or off using Windows Terminal, Group Policy Editor, or Registry Editor.
  • Turning off Dev Drive can help keep your computer safer by stopping unwanted special drives from being made.
  • Admins or everyday users can use these simple steps depending on their comfort level.

If you have any questions or want to share your experience, feel free to leave a comment below!

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