Understand your disk partition style: MBR or GPT? This article will guide you on how to check partition styles on Windows 11/10 systems.

Partition style overview

Partition style determines how Windows accesses data on the current disk, so it plays a crucial role in disk management and formatting.

Windows 10/11 supports two partition styles: traditional MBR (main boot record) and newer GPT (GUID partition table). There are many differences between MBR and GPT, such as different support for the number of partitions. MBR supports up to 4 primary partitions, while GPT supports 128 partitions. For more details, see: The difference between MBR and GPT and which is better.

So, how to check the MBR or GPT partition style of the disk? Please follow the steps below.

How to check partition styles in Windows 10/11

Method 1: Check the partition style through the device manager

Device Manager is an important component of Windows that allows you to view and control the hardware connected to your computer. You can use it to update device drivers, enable or disable devices, and more. Here is how to check partition schemes through Device Manager.

Step 1: Right-click on the Windows logo button and select Device Manager .

Step 2: Expand the disk drive , right-click the target disk, and select Properties .

Step 3: In a new window, go to the Volume tab and click the Fill button to view disk information, including partition styles.

Step 4: Click Cancel and exit Device Manager.

Important Tips

Because MBR and GPT each have their own advantages, many users choose to convert disks between MBR and GPT for personal needs. However, this causes all data and partitions on the disk to be deleted. In this case, you can use the free data recovery software MiniTool Power Data Recovery to recover lost files after MBR to GPT conversion.

Method 2: Check partition style through disk management

Disk management is an important tool provided by the Windows operating system, which can be used to create, delete, and format disk partitions, etc. How to check the partition style of a disk through disk management? Please follow the steps below.

Step 1: Right-click the Start button and select Disk Management .

Step 2: Right-click on the target disk and select Properties from the context menu.

Step 3: In the pop-up window, go to the Volume tab, and you can see the partition scheme of the disk.

Method 3: Check partition style through a third-party partition manager

Sometimes, device manager or disk management may not respond for some reason. In this case, you can turn to the third-party partition manager tool to check for MBR or GPT.

The MiniTool Partition Wizard is highly recommended here. It is a professional and free disk partitioning software designed to partition hard disks, clone hard disks, convert MBR to GPT, format partitions, and more.

You can also download and install MiniTool Partition Wizard Free to check partition styles.

After starting the MiniTool Partition Wizard, enter its main interface. On its homepage, all disks and their partition styles on the computer are listed, as shown in the following figure.

Method 4: Use CMD to check partition styles

Additionally, you can use the Command Prompt tool to check the partition scheme. Here is how to check MBR or GPT in CMD.

Step 1: Type cmd in the Windows search box and click the command prompt from the best match result. You may be interested in this article: How to fix the slow Windows search bar problem (Windows 10/11).

Step 2: In the command line window, type diskpart and press Enter .

Step 3: In the pop-up window, type list disk and press Enter .

After executing this command, all disks on the computer are listed. If there is an asterisk (*) under Gpt , it means that the disk is a GPT disk. If there is no asterisk, it means that the partition style of the disk is MBR.

Step 4: Type exit to close the command line window.

Summarize

This article describes how to check partitioning scenarios in Windows 11/10, including using Device Manager, Disk Management, MiniTool Partition Wizard, and CMD.

If you have any questions about the above steps or MiniTool software, please feel free to contact us via [Contact Information].

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