As UEFI has largely replaced BIOS in recent years, more and more users are changing their disk partition style from MBR to GPT. The latter is, of course, the new standard which has a series of advantages over the older technology, including faster boot speed, better OS compatibility (GPT supports most operating systems, including Windows Server and macOS), advanced data protection, etc. So today we are going to show you how to convert MBR to GPT in Windows 10 to take advantage of everything modern hardware has to offer.
How to convert MBR to GPT
Although Windows offers a native solution to switch between MBR and GPT, you must delete all data on the disk to use it. Luckily, we have ways to do this without losing data, and today I’m going to show you exactly how. So, without further ado, let’s see how to convert your PC’s disk partition style from MBR to GPT. But before that, we’ll also look at what MBR and GPT are, and how they affect the way you use your computer.
What are GPT and MBR?
MBR (Master Boot Record) and GPT (GUID Partition Table) are two different partition styles for hard drives, and both are widely used for managing disk partitions on Windows computers. The latter is the relatively new technology and is slowly replacing the former because it is faster, more secure and can natively address larger storage drives. While MBR disks use the standard BIOS partition table, GPT disks use UEFI.
How is GPT better than MBR?
One of the main advantages of GPT disks is that you can have more than four partitions on each disk. This is also a prerequisite for large disks, because while MBR supports disks up to two terabytes (2TB), GPT can handle a theoretical maximum of up to 18EB (Exabyte). Also, on MBR disks, you are only allowed to create up to 4 primary partitions, while on GPT disk, you can create up to 128 primary partitions.
Another advantage of GPT is that it stores multiple copies of data on disk, making it a more robust solution in terms of data backup. In comparison, MBR disks store partitioning and boot data in one place, which makes them more vulnerable to overwriting or corruption. One thing to note, however, is that GPT disks do not support old BIOS firmware, so you will need to convert the partition style from GPT to MBR before you can use it as a system disk on older PCs.
What to remember when converting MBR to GPT or vice versa
If you want to convert your PC boot disk from MBR to GPT, make sure your motherboard supports UEFI. It’s because motherboards with legacy BIOS do not support GPT partition as a boot drive.
Another important point to note is that although there are several free and paid utilities that help you convert from MBR to GPT, most of the free methods of converting between the two formats will result in data loss. However, there are a couple of ways to do it for free without losing data, and today we’re going to show you exactly how to do it.
Method 1: Convert MBR to GPT using Disk Management (Data Loss)
To note: Back up all your data before using this method.
- Search “This PC” in the Windows search bar. Now right-click on the result and select “Manage”.
- Now click on “Disk Management” to list all available disks.
- Right-click each partition on the target disk and select “Delete Volume” to clean up the disk.
- Finally, right-click the target disk and select “Convert to GPT Disk”. Confirm if asked.
Method 2: Convert MBR to GPT using DiskPart (Data Loss)
To note: Back up all your data before using this method.
- Open the command prompt as an administrator. (Search “cmd” in Windows search bar and under Command Prompt option, select “Run as administrator”).
- In the Command Prompt window, type ‘diskpart’ (without quotes) and press Enter. Then type “list disk” and hit enter.
From the disks listed by the utility, select the disk you want to convert using the “select disk X” command, where “X” is the number assigned to the disk you want to convert. Now delete all data from your chosen disk by running the “clean” command. You will receive a message saying “DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk”.
- Finally, type “convert GPT” and press Enter. Wait a few seconds for the command to be executed. You will have successfully converted the disk from MBR to GPT.
To note: Running the clean command will delete all partitions or volumes on the disk.
Method 3: Convert MBR to GPT using Gptgen without data loss
- First, download and install a utility called ‘gptgn’ (To free). Don’t forget the installation directory.
- Now open the command prompt in administrator mode and type the path to your Gptgn installation using the syntax seen below. In my case it is “C:UsersDesktopStuffFilegptgen-1.1″, so I will type “cd c:UsersDesktopStuffFilegptgen-1.1″ (without quotes). Note that the drive letter will depend on your installation directory.
- Run the ‘list disk’ command as described earlier. To convert the partition table of your target disk from MBR to GPT, type the command: ‘gptgen.exe -w .physicaldiskX‘ (without the quotes) and press Enter (note that ‘X’ denotes the disk you want to convert).
- Once the command is executed, you will successfully convert MBR to GPT without data loss. You might get a warning that there is no guarantee of a successful conversion, but select the option to continue anyway.
Other Methods to Convert MBR to GPT without Data Loss
If the above processes seem too cumbersome, you can use other more user-friendly ways to convert your disks from MBR to GPT. All major disk partition software including Easus Partition Master, AOMEI Partition Assistant, MiniTool Partition Wizard and others provide you the option to convert MBR to GPT without losing data, but not with the free version. So if you’re willing to pay, they might be the easiest way to switch between the two without losing data.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How to convert MBR to GPT using Rufus?
Rufus is a software that helps to format and create bootable USB drives, such as USB drives/pen drives, memory sticks, etc. You can also use it to assign a partition style during the installation process.
Q. How do I boot into UEFI mode?
Once Windows is installed, the device will automatically start using the same mode it was installed with. Microsoft advises users to install Windows 10 using UEFI mode unless you are booting from a network that only supports BIOS. In this case, you will need to boot into legacy BIOS mode.
Q. Is NTFS MBR or GPT?
Comparing NTFS and GPT is like comparing apples and elephants. GPT is a partition table layout, while NTFS is a file system. While the former defines the partition style on a hard drive, the latter is formatting so that an operating system can be installed. Examples of the former include GPT and MBR, while the latter include NTFS, FAT32, EXT4, etc. UEFI, and by extension GPT, are compatible with the NFTS partition.
Q. Is GPT or MBR better?
As we have already mentioned, GPT is the new standard which has a series of advantages over the old technology, including faster boot speed, better compatibility with the operating system, advanced protection of data, etc However, it’s only available with UEFI, so you’ll still need to use MBR in older systems.
Q. Can Windows 10 install on MBR partition?
Yes he can. However, MBR has some inherent shortcomings that you should remember before installing Windows 10 on MBR disk. We discussed this in detail earlier in this article.
Q. Will converting to GPT delete data?
There are both lossy and lossless ways to switch between the two file systems, and we’ve discussed both in this tutorial.
Q. How can I convert C: Drive to GPT?
To convert your computer’s current boot drive from MBR to GPT, you will need to use one of the lossless methods. You can use third-party utilities such as GTPGN or the paid version of commercial programs such as Easus Partion Master.
Q. How do I know if a disk partition is GPT or MBR?
To check which partition table your disk is using, go to Disk Management as described in the tutorial. Now locate the disk you want to check, right click on it and select “Properties”. Then select the ‘Volumes’ tab and you will see either ‘Master Boot Record (MBR)’ or ‘GUID Partition Table (GPT)’.
Q. Does my laptop support GPT?
As mentioned earlier, whether your device supports GPT or MBR depends on whether it is running UEFI or legacy BIOS. To check what type of motherboard firmware your PC uses, follow the instructions in our detailed article on this subject.
Q. How do I create my GPT SSD?
You can follow the methods in the above tutorial to convert your SSD partition layout to GPT. They work for both SSDs and mechanical hard drives.
Q. Can you use GPT without UEFI?
No you can not. GPT was introduced as part of the UEFI initiative. So to use it, the motherboard must support UEFI. If your motherboard does not support UEFI, you cannot use GPT partitioning style on the hard drive.
Q. How can I get rid of the GPT partition?
You can convert GPT partitions to MBR the same way you convert MBR to GPT. You can change the partition style as long as the disk is empty and contains no volumes. Before converting, back up all data and close all programs accessing the disc.
Convert MBR to GPT without data loss
While the three methods detailed above will help you convert your disk from MBR to GPT, the third will do so without any data loss – and for free. So, if you are looking for ways to convert your storage disks from MBR to GPT, try one of the above methods and let us know how it went.
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