How to Find the D Drive in Windows 11

To find the D drive in Windows 11, press Windows + E to open File Explorer and select This PC in the left pane. The D drive appears under Devices and drives, often named Local Disk (D:) or Data (D:). If you don’t see it, your PC may only have one drive (C:), or the drive may need a drive letter in Disk Management.

Many laptops come with a single drive, so a missing D drive isn’t always a problem. The sections below show how to tell the difference.

Applies to: Windows 11.

Find the D drive in File Explorer

1. Press Windows + E, or select the File Explorer folder icon on the taskbar.
2. Select This PC in the left pane.
3. Look under Devices and drives. Double-click the (D:) drive to open it.

You can also type D: in the File Explorer address bar, or press Windows + R, type D:, and press Enter.

To see how much space the drive has, go to Settings > System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Storage used on other drives.

List your drives with PowerShell

If File Explorer is confusing, a command shows every drive letter at once. Right-click Start, select Terminal, and run:

Get-Volume

The DriveLetter column shows each letter, FriendlyName shows the label (such as Data or Recovery), and the size columns show how much space each drive has and how much is free. If D is not listed, Windows has not given that letter to any drive.

Show an empty D drive in File Explorer

File Explorer hides drives with nothing in them, such as an empty card reader. To show them:

1. Open File Explorer and select See more (the three dots) > Options.
2. Select the View tab.
3. Clear Hide empty drives and select OK.

Why there’s no D drive

• Your PC has only one drive. Many laptops have a single drive, shown as C:. That’s normal, and there’s nothing to fix.
• D: is a disc drive, USB drive, or memory card. Windows gives the next free letter to whatever is plugged in, so D: may not be a second hard drive at all.
• A new second drive isn’t set up yet. A newly installed drive won’t appear until it’s initialized and formatted.
• The drive has no letter. A drive can exist without a letter, and then it doesn’t show in File Explorer.
• The drive isn’t connected or has failed. On a desktop, a loose cable can make a second drive disappear.

Check the drive in Disk Management

1. Right-click Start and select Disk Management.
2. Look at the list of disks at the bottom of the window. Each row is a physical drive, such as Disk 0 and Disk 1.
3. Use the matching fix below.

If a partition has no letter: right-click it, select Change Drive Letter and Paths, select Add, choose D under Assign the following drive letter, and select OK. Don’t add letters to small partitions labeled EFI System Partition or Recovery. Windows needs those hidden.

If a new disk says Not Initialized: right-click the disk name on the left (such as Disk 1), select Initialize Disk, choose GPT, and select OK. Then continue with the next step.

If a disk shows Unallocated space: right-click the unallocated area and select New Simple Volume. Follow the wizard, choose D as the drive letter, and let it format the drive.

Formatting or creating a volume erases anything on that space. Only do it on a new, empty drive. If you think the drive holds files, stop and get help before you change anything.

If the drive isn’t in Disk Management

• Restart the PC. Windows sometimes misses a drive at startup.
• Check Device Manager. Right-click Start, select Device Manager, and expand Disk drives. If the drive shows a warning sign, right-click it and select Update driver.
• Check the connection on a desktop PC. Turn the PC off and unplug it before checking that the drive’s data and power cables are firmly connected. If you’re not comfortable opening the case, ask a repair shop.
• Check the BIOS or UEFI settings. If the drive isn’t listed there either, it may have failed or not be connected.

Change which drive is D

If D: is used by a disc drive or USB drive, you can give it another letter first:

1. In Disk Management, right-click the drive that’s using D and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
2. Select Change, pick an unused letter, such as E, and select OK, then Yes.
3. Right-click the drive you want as D, select Change Drive Letter and Paths, and assign D.

Don’t change the letter of the C: drive or of any drive that has apps installed on it, because those apps may stop working. When the Start menu shortcut is missing, there are other ways to open Disk Management in Windows 11.

Save new files and apps to D

Once you find the D drive, you can use it to keep space free on C.

• To save new apps, documents, music, and photos to D, open Settings > System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Where new content is saved, and choose D for each type.
• To move your whole Documents folder, right-click Documents in File Explorer, select Properties > Location > Move, and pick a folder on D. Do the same for Pictures, Videos, or Downloads.
• Game launchers such as Steam and the Xbox app let you add a library folder on another drive in their settings.

Don’t move Windows itself or the Program Files folder. Only personal folders and new installs should go to D.

Frequently asked questions

Is it safe to save files on the D drive?

Yes. Keeping documents or large files on a second drive frees space on C:. If D: is a USB drive, remember it won’t be there when it’s unplugged.

My laptop’s D drive is called Recovery. Should I use it?

No. Some older laptops keep factory recovery files on a partition with a letter. Don’t save files there or delete anything from it.

Can I install programs on the D drive?

Yes. Most installers have a Change or Browse button for the install folder, so you can choose a folder such as D:\Programs. Microsoft Store apps follow the setting in Where new content is saved. If you ever remove the D drive, programs installed there stop working.

Why did my D drive disappear after an update?

Usually the drive is still there but lost its letter. Open Disk Management and look for a volume with no letter, then add D back with Change Drive Letter and Paths. If the drive shows a lock icon in File Explorer, it is encrypted with BitLocker and needs to be unlocked with your password or recovery key before you can open it.

Is the D drive a separate disk?

Not always. In Disk Management, each physical drive has its own row, such as Disk 0 and Disk 1. If C and D are on the same row, D is a partition on the same disk, so it does not protect your files if that disk fails. Keep a backup on an external drive or in the cloud either way.

Can I split my C drive to make a D drive?

Yes, by shrinking C: in Disk Management and creating a new volume in the freed space. Back up your files before you try it. The full process is in creating a D drive in Windows 11.

More detail on drive letters is on Microsoft’s Change a drive letter page.

Related: checking hard drive space in Windows 11 shows how much room each drive has left, and finding your hard drive on a Windows 11 PC covers every drive, not just D.