Works on Windows 10 / 11 / Server
🔥 Before You Start
Converting GPT → MBR in CMD requires erasing the disk.
There is no lossless CMD method.
✔ Backup your data
✔ Make sure you’re selecting the correct disk
✔ Unplug external drives you don’t want to touch
🧰 Requirements
- Administrator access
- Windows installation or Windows Terminal / CMD
- Target disk must not be your running system disk (unless booted from USB)
📘 Step-by-Step Guide
STEP 1 — Open CMD as Administrator
- Press Windows Key
- Type: cmd
- Right-click Command Prompt
- Choose Run as administrator
You should see:
C:\Windows\System32>
STEP 2 — Launch DiskPart
Type:
diskpart
DiskPart opens and shows:
DISKPART>
STEP 3 — List Available Disks
Type:
list disk
You will see something like:
| Disk | Size | GPT |
|---|---|---|
| Disk 0 | 512 GB | * |
| Disk 1 | 120 GB | * |
The GPT column shows which disks use GPT.
STEP 4 — Select the Target Disk
Replace 1 with your actual disk number:
select disk 1
DiskPart will respond:
Disk 1 is now the selected disk.
🚨 Make sure this is the correct disk. Next steps delete everything.
STEP 5 — Clean the Disk (Erases All Partitions)
clean
You should see:
DiskPart succeeded in cleaning the disk.
This step wipes the partition table.
STEP 6 — Convert GPT to MBR
convert mbr
Output:
DiskPart successfully converted the selected disk to MBR format.
🎉 The conversion is now complete!
Optional Steps (Create a Partition)
If you want to immediately create a new MBR partition:
Create a primary partition
create partition primary
Format it (fast format)
format fs=ntfs quick
Assign a drive letter
assign letter=E
DiskPart will confirm each step.
✔️ Tutorial Summary
| Step | Command |
|---|---|
| Start DiskPart | diskpart |
| Show disks | list disk |
| Select disk | select disk X |
| Clean disk | clean |
| Convert GPT → MBR | convert mbr |