5 ways to identify your Windows drive on Windows 10
When you do a clean install of Windows 10, it installs to the C drive by default. You always have the option to install it to a different drive before installation begins which means that while it’s convention to install it to the C drive, users may opt to install it to any other drive on their system. If you need to identify your Windows drive, there are quite a few options at your disposal. All these solutions make use of tools in Windows 10 so you won’t need to install third-party apps.
File Explorer
Open File Explorer and go to This PC. Look under the Devices and drives section and you will see the various drives configured on your system. The drive with the Windows logo on it is the one that Windows 10 is installed on. If you have installed two different versions of Windows 10 on the same PC, the logo will indicate which drive the current OS i.e., the one you’ve booted to, is installed on.
The Run Box
Open the Run box with the Win+R keyboard shortcut and enter the following in it. Tap enter, and the drive that Windows 10 is installed on will open in File Explorer.
%windir%
It will open the Windows folder and not the root drive that Windows is installed on so you will need to go up one folder level to get to the drive. Regardless, this will easily point you to which drive Windows 10 is installed on.
Command Prompt
Open the Command Prompt and run the following command;
wmic OS GET SystemDrive /VALUE
The command will return the name of the drive that Windows 10 is installed on.
System Information
The system information app also tells you which drive Windows is installed on. To open it, type System Information in Windows search, and open the app that matches the name. Under System Summary, look for Windows Directory and you will find the Windows drive.
Control Panel – System Protection
Open the Control Panel and select System and Security. Go to System, and in the column on the left, click System Protection.
Alternatively, enter the following in File Explorer. Click System Information on the left.
Control Panel\System and Security\System
The System Protection window lists the drives on your system and a Windows logo as well as (System) will be added to the drive that Windows is installed on.
Indications for where Windows 10 is installed are show in various places in the OS because it’s relevant when using certain features. This is by no means an exhaustive list of all the ways to find the Windows drive but it should give you at least one easy, and reliably method to use.
