Related: How to find and open the AppData folder on Windows 10
Access boot partition in File Explorer
File Explorer does not show the boot and/or recovery partitions. To get to them, you can’t use the location bar to type in an address. Instead, you’ll have to use Command Prompt.
- Open Command Prompt with admin rights.
- Run the following command.
mountvol
- The command will return a list of all the volumes that your HDD or SSD is divided into. Note the GUID given next to each volume and the *** NO MOUNT POINTS *** message.
- All volumes with *** NO MOUNT POINTS *** are boot or recovery drives.
- Copy the GUID of the volume you want to access.
- Run the following command. Replace ‘GUID’ with the GUID of the volume you want to access. Do not remove the curly braces.
start \\?\Volume{GUID}\
Example
start \\?\Volume{6718a8b3-0e21-4051-bd61-9c9ca9932023}
- Tap Enter.
- A new File Explorer window will open. You may be prompted to grant admin access. Click Continue to access the drive.
Unhide recovery partition
The boot partition cannot be unhidden, but recovery partitions can. You can access them from File Explorer without having to run the above commands in Command Prompt once they’ve been unhidden.
Follow these steps to reveal a hidden recovery partition:
- Open Command Prompt with admin rights.
- Open the diskpart tool with this command:
diskpart - List all connected disks with this command:
list disk. Note the number given to the disk. - Select the disk with this command:
select disk 0(replace the number to match that of your disk). - List all partitions with this command:
list partitions. - Select the partition you want to unhide:
select partition 1(replace the number with the number given to the partition you want to unhide. - Double-check to make sure the partition is indeed hidden with this command:
detail partition. - Finally, unhide it with this command;
set id = 07 override.
Conclusion
Drivers for boot and recovery are required. Because they don’t take up much room, it’s best to leave them alone. It’s simple to access files on them, and you can make backups using File Explorer, but you should never tamper with these files or drives unless you’re sure what you’re doing.
