How to mount disks and partitions in Linux (2024)

In Linux, you must mount a disk or partition to a folder, called a mount point, to access its data. This makes the filesystem on the disk available for reading and writing. Mounting is required to use any disk or partition with the system.

You can mount disks and partitions manually as needed or configure them to mount automatically at startup by editing the /etc/fstab file. You can mount using the disk’s device name, label, or UUID.

Knowing how to mount disks in Linux is crucial for accessing and managing your storage devices. This guide explains the process for manual and automatic mounting.

1. Open the terminal.

2. Identify the disk or partition you want to mount.

   $ lsblkNAME MAJ:MIN RM SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINTloop0 7:0 0 55.4M 1 loop /snap/core18/1944loop1 7:1 0 55.4M 1 loop /snap/core18/1932loop2 7:2 0 217.9M 1 loop /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/60loop3 7:3 0 219M 1 loop /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/66loop4 7:4 0 64.8M 1 loop /snap/gtk-common-themes/1514loop5 7:5 0 51M 1 loop /snap/snap-store/518loop6 7:6 0 62.1M 1 loop /snap/gtk-common-themes/1506loop7 7:7 0 51M 1 loop /snap/snap-store/498loop8 7:8 0 31.1M 1 loop /snap/snapd/10707loop9 7:9 0 31.1M 1 loop /snap/snapd/10492sda 8:0 0 20G 0 disk ├─sda1 8:1 0 1M 0 part ├─sda2 8:2 0 513M 0 part /boot/efi└─sda3 8:3 0 19.5G 0 part /sdb 8:16 0 20G 0 disk └─sdb1 8:17 0 20G 0 part sr0 11:0 1 1024M 0 rom

   See Also

   Mount-Unmount-Remount (The GNU C Library)How to Mount a Hard Drive on Linux : MALIBALumount Command (System Administration Guide: Network Services)Assign a mount point folder path to a drive.

3. Determine the filesystem type of the disk or partition.

   $ blkid /dev/sdb1/dev/sdb1: UUID="ccab0f8d-3b5b-4189-9da3-23c49159c318" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="c088a647-01"

4. Create a directory for the mount point if it does not exist.

   $ mkdir disk

5. Temporarily mount the disk or partition.

   $ sudo mount -t ext4 /dev/sdb1 disk[sudo] password for user:

   Replace ext4 with the actual filesystem type if different.

6. Verify that the disk or partition is mounted.

   $ df -hFilesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted ontmpfs 391M 1.8M 389M 1% /run/dev/sda3 20G 7.1G 12G 39% /tmpfs 2.0G 0 2.0G 0% /dev/shmtmpfs 5.0M 0 5.0M 0% /run/locktmpfs 4.0M 0 4.0M 0% /sys/fs/cgroup/dev/sda2 512M 7.8M 505M 2% /boot/efitmpfs 391M 112K 391M 1% /run/user/1000/dev/sdb1 20G 45M 19G 1% /home/user/disk

7. Unmount the previously mounted drive.

   $ sudo umount /dev/sdb1

   See Also

   How to Mount and Unmount Filesystems in Linux?

8. To mount the disk automatically at startup, edit the /etc/fstab file.

   $ sudo vi /etc/fstab

9. Add an entry in /etc/fstab for the disk or partition.

   /dev/sdb1 /home/user/disk ext4 defaults 0 0

10. Apply the changes by mounting all filesystems.

    $ sudo mount -a

11. Confirm the disk or partition is mounted.

    $ df -hFilesystem Size Used Avail Use% Mounted ontmpfs 391M 1.8M 389M 1% /run/dev/sda3 20G 7.1G 12G 39% /tmpfs 2.0G 0 2.0G 0% /dev/shmtmpfs 5.0M 0 5.0M 0% /run/locktmpfs 4.0M 0 4.0M 0% /sys/fs/cgroup/dev/sda2 512M 7.8M 505M 2% /boot/efitmpfs 391M 112K 391M 1% /run/user/1000/dev/sdb1 20G 45M 19G 1% /home/user/disk