You can learn 3 easy methods to convert MBR to GPT in Windows 11 and how to easily restore Windows 11 system backup to GPT without converting partition style. You can read on for more details.
Since Windows 11 offers significant improvements in the user experience and also adds a bunch of new, powerful features, you may want to install Windows 11 and explore this new operating system for yourself. And this year Windows 11 will also release its first major feature update, called "Sun Valley 2", or version 22H2. This update restores support for drag-and-drop, improves Start menu customization, and much more.
For users who want to upgrade to Windows 11, there is a question that they are very concerned “Does Windows 11 use MBR or GPT?” According to the Windows 11 minimum requirements released by Microsoft, Windows 11 will abandon the old MBR partition scheme and switch to the GPT scheme. This is also in order to make your Windows computer more secure. So, if you want to upgrade to Windows 11, you need to convert your current MBR disk to a GPT disk.
Then, what are the MBR and GPT for disk? MBR and GPT are two different partition styles that are commonly used in storage devices, such as computer hard drives. They correspond to different boot modes, MBR to Legacy mode and GPT to UEFI mode. GPT is more flexible and compatible with modern hardware than the MBR partition style. The biggest advantage of GPT is that it has no limits on the size of disks and the number of partitions. On MBR disks, users can create up to 4 partitions. While users can create up to 128 partitions on GPT disks.
If your disk is still MBR, it needs to be converted to GPT before you update to Windows 11. Many users will ask: How do I change from MBR to GPT in Windows? Don't worry, next, this article will introduce you 3 simple methods, including built-in tools and professional third-party software.
ð Method 1. Convert MBR to GPT in Windows 11 using Disk Management ð Method 2. Convert MBR to GPT in Windows 11 using Diskpart ð Method 3. Convert MBR to GPT in Windows 11 using Third-party SoftwareðĨ
You can also restore Windows 11 system backup to GPT without converting partition style. Give this backup and restore tool a try.
The built-in tool - Disk Management helps you expand, shrink, delete and format volumes and disks. It also allows you to convert MBR disks to GPT disks.
However, during the conversion process, it will delete all your partitions and then create a new one using the unallocated space, so you will lose all your previous data. Please make a backup of your partitions in advance. Then you can follow the steps below.
Step 1. Right-click the Windows icon and select Disk Management.
Step 2. Right-click the volumes of the target disk, select Delete Volume and repeat this operation to delete all volumes.
Step 3. When the disk is displayed as unallocated space, right-click the disk and select Convert to GPT Disk. And finish all the rest steps.
Close Disk Management when the conversion process is done. You can now use your GPT disk to create partitions as you want or install a new OS on the disk.
Besides the first method, you can also choose another built-in tool Diskpart to help you convert MBR disks to GPT. Since converting MBR to GPT with Diskpart requires cleaning up the whole disk, remember to backup your disk data first. Then follow the steps below.
Step 1. Click the Start button and type cmd. Then right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
Step 2. Type diskpart and click Enter.
Step 3. Type the following commands one by one and hit Enter each time.
Step 5. Type exit when the conversion process completes.
When using the first two MBR to GPT conversion tools you need to be aware that both Disk Management and DiskPart can only convert an empty MBR disk to GPT. Therefore, It requires you to delete every existing partition on the MBR disk, which will cause data loss.
If you want to convert MBR to GPT without deleting the volume and losing data, the third-party partition software - AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional can best meet your requirements. It's an MBR to GPT converter as well as a GPT to MBR converter. As a result, whether you're converting MBR to GPT or GPT to MBR on Windows 11/10/8/7, it can ensure a successful conversion with keeping all partitions secure on the target disk.
Now, you can download AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional and install it. Then follow the steps below.
Step 1. Open the software and right-click on the MBR disk that you want to convert then choose the Convert to GPT Disk option.
Step 2. Click OK on the pop-up window to confirm the operation.
Step 3. Click Apply button to commit the conversion.
Note:
This software also supports converting GPT to MBR. If you want to convert GPT to MBR without operating system, you can create a bootable media, boot your PC from it to enter Windows PE mode to finish the conversion
When you have converted MBR to GPT in Windows 11, then you should go to BIOS to change the boot mode to UEFI. The following graphic tutorial will show you how to do that.
Step 1. Shut down and restart your computer. Keep pressing the F2/F9/Del (different computer may have different key ) to enter the BIOS setting.
Step 2. On the Boot menu, Select UEFI/BIOS Boot Mode first and use the up and down arrows to select UEFI, and press Enter.
Step 3. Press F10 to save the changes and exit.
â Recommended Reading:
After switching the boot mode to UEFI, there's one more step: enabling Secure Boot. This is also a minimum requirement for users looking to upgrade to Windows 11. Get details from the following guide:
After you have converted the disk to GPT, you need to upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11. The official method provided by Microsoft requires TPM2.0 and Secure Boot. But some computers don't satisfy these two conditions. At this time, you can choose a reliable backup and restore software - AOMEI Backupper Professional to help you. It allows you to restore system backup to GPT without converting disk partition style, and it can bypass TPM and Secure Boot.
It has powerful backup functions and offers various backup solutions to meet different needs of users, including System Backup, Disk Backup, Partition Backup and File Backup. Then, you can backup any items you want and easily restore your Windows 11 system backup to GPT disk without converting partition style.
The Universal Restore feature can reach the goal. The biggest advantage of this feature is that you can restore your system backup to another computer with different hardware. This feature can help you when you encounter any of the following situations:
â Install Windows 11 bypass TPM 2.0 and Secure Boot. â Install Windows 11 without disk conversion. â Instant recovery of a crashed system on different hardware. â Migrate system to a computer with dissimilar hardware installed. â Install your system between real and virtual machines. â Reinstall your system after replacing your motherboard, CPU and other hardware.
Before you start the restore process, you need to install AOMEI Backupper Professional on another computer that has already installed Windows11. Then, use it to create a system image and bootable disk together. After finishing these preparations you can follow the steps below to restore your system to unbootable computer.
Note: We cannot predict what will happen after the update. To protect your existing system and data, it is highly recommended to back up your computer before upgrading to Windows 11.
Step 1. Insert the disk containing system image and bootable disk into the computer you want to install Windows 11. Then, restart your computer and boot from the bootable disk. When the software interface appears, click Restore and then click Select Task or Select Image File.
Step 2. Select the backup image you want to restore and click Next.
Step 3. Select the destination to restore your Windows 11 to the GPT disk.
Step 4. If your computer hardware is different from the previous one, this software will recognize and automatically select the Universal Restore function. You just need to click Start Restore.
Microsoft has decided to leverage the advances of UEFI in Windows 11 in order to offer enhanced security for users. This means that Windows 11 MUST run with UEFI, and is not compatible with BIOS or Legacy Compatibility Mode.
Locate the disk you want to check in the Disk Management window. Right-click it and select “Properties.” Click over to the “Volumes” tab. To the right of “Partition style,” you'll see either “Master Boot Record (MBR)” or “GUID Partition Table (GPT),” depending on which the disk is using.
Most PCs use the GUID Partition Table (GPT) disk type for hard drives and SSDs. GPT is more robust and allows for volumes bigger than 2 TB. The older Master Boot Record (MBR) disk type is used by 32-bit PCs, older PCs, and removable drives such as memory cards.
Since Windows 11 requires your computer to support UEFI mode, you need to convert your disk to GPT. This article provides you with 3 useful ways to convert MBR to GPT in Windows 11. When using Disk Management or Diskpart, it is recommended that you backup your important files in advance, because the conversion process will delete all your previous data. If you don't want to delete the volume and losing data, you can choose to convert MBR to GPT with AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional Edition.
You can use AOMEI Backupper Professional to restore your Windows 11 system backup to GPT disk without disk conversion. The Universal Restore feature of this software can help you restore system backup to a computer with different hardware so that you can avoid losing your data and reinstalling computer.
Besides, it also supports cloning dynamic disks, clone and resize partition, etc. If you are a Windows server user, you can try AOMEI Backupper Server. You can download this software to explore more functions.