How to hide specific drives in Windows 11 File Explorer

Privacy and organization File security are two key aspects of the everyday computing experience, especially when you share a computer or need to protect sensitive information. Windows 11Microsoft's latest operating system offers various options and tools to hide specific disks in File Explorer, thus preventing them from being visible to other users without necessarily restricting access to the data. While some methods are simple and can be performed in just a few steps, others are more advanced and customizable, ideal for users looking for greater control over their drives and partitions.

In this article you will discover All the ways that exist to hide disks or partitions en Windows 11, from options integrated into the explorer itself, through advanced utilities such as Diskpart, to methods that take advantage of the Local Group Policy Editor and the use of third-party programs for more visual and convenient management. We show you each alternative in an exhaustive and detailed manner., so you can choose the one that best suits your needs, without leaving out useful tips on security, accessibility, and customization.

Why hide disks or partitions in Windows 11?

Hiding disks or partitions has several advantages, the most obvious being that protection of personal or confidential informationIf you share your PC with others or use it in a work or home environment, you'll prevent anyone from accidentally or curiously accessing certain drives, especially if you store settings, critical documents, or private data on them. Another common reason It's the simple need for organization: you can hide system or recovery drives to avoid cluttering the left panel of File Explorer or confusing less experienced users, keeping only the ones necessary for everyday use visible.

Top Methods to Hide Drives in Windows 11

There are several ways to make a drive not appear in File Explorer. The most popular methods are three:

• Use third-party programs as partition managers to easily hide and unhide disks.
• Use Diskpart, the advanced line utility commands integrated into Windows.
• Configure the to hide disks or drive letter combinations in File Explorer.

Each method has its own particularities, advantages, and limitations. Below, we'll explain in detail how each one works and when it's best to use them.

How to hide disks using Diskpart

Diskpart It's an advanced command-line tool included with Windows that allows you to manage disks, partitions, and volumes. It's fast and powerful, but requires careful attention to avoid irreversible actions.

Detailed steps to hide a partition:

1. Open a window Symbol of the system as administrator. To do this, press Windows + R, writes cmd and confirm with Ctrl + Shift + Enter.
2. In the console, type diskpart and press Enter.
3. Inside diskpart, type list volume to see all partitions and their letters.
4. Identify the volume number you want to hide and type select volume X (replace X with your volume number).
5. Finally, remove the letter from the partition with the command remove letter X (replace X with the assigned letter, for example remove letter D).

Upon completion of this process, the partition will no longer be visible in File Explorer and most file opening dialog boxes. However, the data isn't lost or erased; only the assigned drive letter is temporarily removed.

How to unhide hidden partition with Diskpart:

1. Reopen diskpart as before.
2. Introduce select volume X where X is the volume number you hid.
3. Write assign letter X, where X is the letter you want to assign again (the same one you had before or another free one).

After this procedure, the partition will reappear in File Explorer with the assigned letter and will be fully accessible.

Hide disks from the

Windows 11 includes specific functionality for hide drives or drive letter combinations directly from the Local Group Policy EditorThis option is very useful if, in addition to hiding, you want to impose certain visual and user access restrictions on the Windows graphical environment.

Step by step instructions:

1. press Windows + R, writes gpedit.msc and press Enter to open the .
2. Navigate to User Configuration> Administrative Templates> Windows Components> File Explorer.
3. Find the directive "Hide these specified drives in My Computer" and double click on it.
4. Change the settings for Not configured a Enabled.
5. From the drop-down menu, select the combination of drives you want to hide: you can choose between restricting all, only C, only D, or combinations such as A and B, A, B and C, etc.
6. press Accept To save the changes.

This policy removes icons for selected disks from This PC, File Explorer, and file opening dialogs. However, access may be possible through other advanced routes. (for example, using the console), so if you want to completely block access you will need to use additional restrictions.

Advanced customization with .ADMX and .ADM files

• 67108863 in decimal hides all units (all bits to 1).
• To hide the units L, M, N and O, the binary string is 00000000000111100000000000 and becomes decimal (30720).

This way, you can create your own custom option in the policy's drop-down menu. Remember that modifying core Windows files can be risky, and it's recommended to create custom files to prevent your changes from being lost after a system update.

Additional aspects to take into account

Hiding a drive does not mean blocking access completely.Advanced users can access it through the command line, Disk Management, or other methods. If you want to completely restrict access, you'll need to combine hiding with security permissions, data encryption, or specialized user control software.

These methods They do not delete information or modify data: only hide (or show) partitions at the Explorer level and sometimes at other programs based on the Windows graphical interface.

Other ways to hide content: folders and individual files

Hiding an entire drive can be overkill in some situations. If you'd rather hide a specific folder or file in Windows 11, File Explorer itself makes it easy to do so:

• Right click on the folder or file you want to hide and select «Properties».
• Check the box "Hidden" on the “General” tab and click “Apply.”
• To stop this content from displaying, go to your browser's View menu, select Show, and uncheck the Hidden Items box.

This method is a basic privacy layer and very simple, although it allows any user to show hidden files again by unlocking the option in the Vista menu.