How to: Change Partition Style to GPT or MBR without Data Loss
Navigation
✎ What is (MBR/GPT) partition style?
✎ Why change partition style of your hard drive?
✎ Two methods to change partition style in Windows 11/10/8/7
✎ Summary
What is (MBR/GPT) partition style?
The partition style defines how a disk records partition information. The two main types are Master Boot Record (MBR) and GUID Partition Table (GPT). MBR is older and has partition and disk-size limits, while GPT is newer and works well with UEFI-based computers.
A GPT disk supports up to 128 partitions in Windows and can handle disks larger than 2 TB, while an MBR disk supports up to 4 primary partitions and is limited to about 2 TB of usable space.
Why change partition style of your hard drive?
Reasons for you to change partition style to GPT:
1. In MBR, you can create up to 4 primary partitions or 3 primary and 1 extended partition, but in GPT, there's no limit, allowing up to 128 partitions.
2. MBR disks have a capacity limit of less than 2 TB, while GPT disks can support up to 18 EB, making GPT a better choice for large-capacity needs.
3. To resolve the error message "Windows cannot be installed on this disk. The selected disk has an MBR partition table. On EFI systems, Windows requires a GPT partition table," convert the target disk from MBR to GPT. If the disk already contains data, back it up first or use a tool that supports conversion without deleting partitions.
4. Microsoft has stated that Windows 11 only supports UEFI boot mode when directly upgrading from Windows 10, requiring a GPT disk.
Reasons for you to change partition style to MBR:
1. Your computer doesn't have EFI firmware, so you can't boot from a GPT hard disk. If you don't have EFI, switching to MBR is a good option.
2. When booting from a new hard drive installation, you may receive the message "The selected disk is of the GPT partition style". To resolve this, simply convert the GPT disk to an MBR disk, which is a simpler partition style.
Two methods to change partition style in Windows 11/10/8/7
Here are two methods to change a disk's partition style in Windows 11/10/8/7. You can select the one that fits your situation.
Change partition style via Diskpart
Diskpart is a Windows built-in command-line tool for disk management. To change the partition style with Diskpart, press Windows + R, input diskpart, and click OK. Then run commands such as list disk, select disk #, clean, and convert gpt or convert mbr.
۰list disk
۰select disk
۰clean
۰convert gpt
- Notes:✎...
- To convert a disk to MBR, replace the command "convert gpt" with "convert mbr" in the Diskpart command.
- The "clean" command will delete all volumes and data on the selected disk, so it's essential to back up important data before running it.
Convert partition style via the third party partition manager
If your disk is not empty and you don't want to delete volumes on it, you can use the free partition manager Qiling Disk Master Standard to convert the partition style to GPT or MBR without deleting any partitions. This tool allows you to explore its features and functionality by downloading and trying it out.
Step 1. Install and launch the software, then right-click the disk whose partition style needs to be changed to GPT and choose "Convert to GPT".
Step 2. You can see the disk you select to convert in a moment.
- Notes:✎...
- If your disk is being used by other programs, Qiling Disk Master will give you three options: Retry, which is the recommended choice, allowing you to close other operations and then execute this operation; Restart Now, which lets the operation finish in PreOS mode; and other options.
- To avoid Windows boot failure, don't convert the disk containing the Windows OS to GPT, as Windows 32-bit OS can't be installed on a GPT disk and Windows booting from MBR requires BIOS mode, while booting from GPT needs UEFI mode.
- Qiling Disk Master Standard allows converting non-system disks between MBR and GPT without data loss, while Qiling Disk Master Professional is required for system disk partition style changes.
Summary
After reading this post, you'll understand what partition style is and how to convert between MBR and GPT when necessary. If you need to make the conversion without deleting partitions or data, the Qiling Disk Master is a recommended tool. It can also perform other tasks such as cloning partitions, migrating an OS to an SSD, merging partitions, wiping data, and more.
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