A hidden disk or partition is also great for hiding private and sensitive files with the addition of a file safe to protect against unauthorized access by programs or tools capable of seeing hidden partitions.
In the following guide, we will show you how to hide a partition or an entire disk on windows, using only the tools provided by the operating system itself. For those who need one secret partition for personal files, we will show you how to use VeraCrypt in combination with the secret partition created for the occasion.
READ ALSO -> Create a partition (volume) in Windows by dividing a disk into several parts
1) Hide a partition or disk on Windows
When you hide a secondary partition or disk in Windows, the setting remains until you manually unhide or remount that partition or disk; the partition, therefore, remains invisible to all other users who can log in to the Windows computer but its content remains intact and intact.
To hide a partition or disk on Windows right click on the Start menu and press on Disk Management, so that all existing volumes are displayed. In the new window, right-click on the partition to be deactivated (or on the box Disc 1, 2, or 3 present next to the indication of the external or secondary disk), press on the item Change drive letter and paths, and click on the button Remove.
If you have applications open using files from the partition, you are warned that the drive is in use and cannot be disabled it. As with removable drives, memory cards, or USB sticks, be sure to close all applications that may be using files on that partition before proceeding with the operation.
The partition or drive with no letters assigned is now hidden and is no longer accessible by the operating system you are using. To see the content inside it is necessary to repeat the procedure and select this time to add so that you can reassign a letter to the drive.
2) Hiding a partition or disk with mountvol
In addition to the method via the graphical interface, we can hide a partition or disk directly from a command prompt, using the command mountvol.
To proceed we open the Start menu, type the command prompt open the app of the same name as administrator (using the right button on the app) and type the command:
mountvol
This command shows all volumes present in Windows, including those that are not visible (hidden by the backup system or by Windows itself). We identify the letter of the volume or partition we want to hide, then we run the following command:
mountvol X: /D
Instead of the X: we insert the letter assigned by the system (for example mountvol D: /D), so you can quickly hide a disk or partition in Windows.
To make the unmounted partition visible again, run the command mountvolwe identify the volume or partition where it is written NO MOUNT POINTS and proceed to mount the volume by running the command:
mountvol X: \\?\Volume{XXXXXXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXX-XXXXXXXXXXXX}\
In this case, we will have to replace the X: with the letter, we want to use (using a letter not yet assigned) and enter the string of the volume to activate (obtainable from the command mountvol seen so far).
3) Hide a partition or disk with diskpart
A great alternative tool to hide disks or volumes on Windows is diskpart: also operates from a prompt but is much more comfortable to use than mountvolas it also shows the size of each volume/partition and the associated file system type.
To hide a partition or disk with diskpart, open the prompt again with administrator rights and immediately run the following command:
diskpart
followed by the command:
list volume
All partitions and disks on the computer will be shown; to hide a partition or disk we identify the right volume in the column Volume ###we check the letter associated with it from the column Let. and run the following command:
select volume X
followed by:
remove letter Y
Instead of the X, we must enter the number of the specific volume, and instead of the Y the letter assigned by Windows, so as to quickly hide the assigned disk or partition.
To unhide the hidden volume again we repeat all the steps of diskpart up to select volume X and run the command:
assign letter=Y
replacing the Y with the letter we want to assign to the unit to show.
4) Hide secret files and documents
The tricks to hide a partition or disk seen so far are useful for being able to hide partitions with backups or system images, but they are not suitable for hiding confidential files and documents since a minimum of computer knowledge is enough to re-show the hidden volume.
However, we can add an additional layer of protection by creating, within the partition or disk to be hidden, a safe file with an encryption program such as VeraCryptavailable for free download on Windows.
After installing VeraCrypt we create a new virtual volume file within the partition or disk to hide choose the access password and use the application itself to mount the file safe as a virtual disk.
After having moved all the secret files into the volume created by VeraCrypt, we use the program to “disassemble” the safe file and we use the tricks to hide the partition that holds this precious file, so as to combine the invisibility of the operating system with the VeraCrypt encryption.
Alternatively, we can encrypt an entire folder with a compression program such as 7-Zip, assigning an unlock password for the compressed file; the same compressed file will be moved to the partition to be hidden.
To learn more we can read our guides on how to keep files safe with VeraCrypt come on how to password protect folders and files on windows.
Conclusions
Partitions reserved for backups or system images should always be hidden: Windows recovery systems can always access them but making them invisible from the desktop or File Explorer will prevent deletions, overwriting, and malware infections.
If, on the other hand, we want to hide secret files, it is always better to use VeraCryptsubsequently saving the safe file in an invisible partition.
For Windows backups, we suggest you read our guides on how to create a system image on windows for recovery and on the best programs to make automatic and incremental backups.