How to check whether a Windows disk uses GPT or MBR

The simplest way to check a Windows disk's partition style is to open Disk Management, view the physical disk's Properties → Volumes and read Partition style. PowerShell and DiskPart also provide read-only ways to inspect it.

GPT and MBR describe a disk's partition layout. UEFI and legacy BIOS describe firmware boot modes. They are related when booting Windows, but the partition style of an arbitrary data disk does not tell you how the computer currently booted.

Identify the disk first

A computer can contain several disks with different partition styles. Match the disk by capacity, model and its volumes. Do not assume that Disk 0 is always the Windows disk.

Checking requires no formatting, partition deletion or conversion. Cancel any prompt asking you to initialize an unfamiliar disk if you are only inspecting it.

Method 1: Disk Management

Press Windows + R, enter diskmgmt.msc and press Enter.
In the lower pane, locate the physical disk containing the volume you want to examine.
Right-click the disk label on the left, such as Disk 0, and choose Properties.
Open Volumes and read Partition style.

6 ways to check if your hard drive is GPT or MBR with 100% accuracy. Picture 3 — Open properties for the physical disk label, rather than a volume's file properties.

6 ways to check if your hard drive is GPT or MBR with 100% accuracy. Picture 4 — The Volumes tab identifies GUID Partition Table (GPT) or Master Boot Record (MBR).

Method 2: PowerShell

Open PowerShell or a PowerShell tab in Windows Terminal. Run:

Get-Disk | Select-Object Number, FriendlyName, Size, PartitionStyle

Read the PartitionStyle value for the intended disk. GPT and MBR are explicit results; RAW can indicate an uninitialized disk, rather than MBR.

6 ways to check if your hard drive is GPT or MBR with 100% accuracy. Picture 2 — PowerShell displays a partition-style column for detected disks.

The Get-Disk documentation notes that dynamic disks are not returned by this cmdlet. If a disk is missing, use Disk Management for further inspection instead of assuming its style.

Method 3: DiskPart

Open an elevated terminal if required, then enter these inspection commands:

diskpart
list disk
exit

6 ways to check if your hard drive is GPT or MBR with 100% accuracy. Picture 1 — Read the GPT column in the DiskPart disk list.

An asterisk in the GPT column identifies a GPT disk. For an initialized disk, a blank GPT column generally indicates MBR; a blank entry on a new or unreadable disk should be investigated rather than treated as conclusive.

Use only the listing command for this check. Commands such as clean, format and convert have different purposes and can change or erase storage. Microsoft's DiskPart list reference explains the available listings.

Check the current boot mode separately

Press Windows + R and run msinfo32.
In System Summary, find BIOS Mode.
Read whether the current Windows session is using UEFI or Legacy.

6 ways to check if your hard drive is GPT or MBR with 100% accuracy. Picture 6 — System Information reports the current boot mode, not each disk's partition style.

Windows UEFI boot normally uses a GPT system disk, while a legacy Windows installation uses an MBR system disk. Data disks can use another style. This distinction matters when preparing Windows installation media.

Optional third-party tools

If you already use a trusted partition viewer, read its disk-level style or properties. An older utility named Show Disk Partition Style displays a dedicated column, as illustrated below. Windows' built-in tools make an additional download unnecessary for this task.

6 ways to check if your hard drive is GPT or MBR with 100% accuracy. Picture 5 — A third-party viewer's Partition Style column.

MiniTool Partition Wizard also shows disk information. Inspect the disk summary instead of choosing a conversion command as a test.

6 ways to check if your hard drive is GPT or MBR with 100% accuracy. Picture 7 — Select the physical disk in the partition manager to inspect its information.

6 ways to check if your hard drive is GPT or MBR with 100% accuracy. Picture 8 — Conversion entries are actions, not steps needed to check the current layout.

If you are troubleshooting an installer warning, record both the disk style and the mode used to boot the installer. See Windows installation error guidance before changing the layout. Back up data and plan any conversion separately from this inspection.