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How to Find a Drive's Volume Label or Serial Number

The 'vol' command makes this easy

By Tim Fisher Tim Fisher Senior Vice President & Group General Manager, Tech & Sustainability Emporia State University Tim Fisher has more than 30 years' of professional technology experience. He's been writing about tech for more than two decades and serves as the VP and General Manager of Lifewire. lifewire's editorial guidelines Updated on April 23, 2022 Tweet Share Email Tweet Share Email Windows The Ultimate Laptop Buying Guide

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Open Commmand Prompt. Execute the vol command and press Enter to display the drive and serial number.Alternative 1: Use the WIN+E shortcut to open a list of drives with the volume label next to each one.Alternative 2: Use a free system information tool such as Speccy. This article explains three ways to find a drive's volume label or serial number. Instructions apply to Windows 10 through Windows XP.

How to Find a Drive' s Volume Label or Serial Number From the Command Prompt

The volume label of a drive isn't usually an important piece of information, but it can be when executing certain commands from the Command Prompt. For example, the format command requires that you enter the volume label of a drive you're formatting, assuming it has one. If you don't know the volume label, you can't complete the task. The volume serial number is less important but could be a valuable piece of information in some specific circumstances. Follow these easy steps to find the volume label or serial number using Command Prompt. Open Command Prompt. In Windows 10 and Windows 8, you can find Command Prompt by right-clicking the Start button. In older versions of Windows, either search the Start menu for cmd or find Command Prompt in the Accessories folder of the Start menu. If Windows isn't accessible, Command Prompt is also available from Safe Mode in all versions of Windows, from Advanced Startup Options in Windows 10 and Windows 8, and from System Recovery Options in Windows 7 and Windows Vista. At the prompt, execute the vol command as shown below, and then press Enter: vol c:
Change c to whatever drive you want to find the volume label or serial number for. For example, if you want to find this information for the E drive, type vol e: instead. Immediately below the prompt, you should see two lines similar to the following: Volume in drive C is Windows Serial Number is C1F3-A79E As you can see, the volume label for the C drive is Windows and the volume serial number is C1F3-A79E. If you instead see Volume in drive C has no label then it means exactly that. Volume labels are optional and your drive happens to not have one. Now that you've found the volume label or volume serial number, you can close Command Prompt if you're finished or you can continue executing additional commands.

Other Ways to Find the Volume Label or Serial Number

Using the Command Prompt is the fastest way to find this information but there are other methods, too. One way is to use the drive's properties from within Windows. Execute the WIN+E keyboard shortcut to open the list of hard drives (if you're using Windows 10, also choose This PC from the left). Next to each drive is the respective volume label. Right-click one (or tap-and-hold) and choose Properties to see it there, too, and to change the drive's volume label. Another is to use a free system information tool like the free Speccy program. With that program, in particular, find the Storage section and pick the hard drive you want the information for. Both the serial number and specific volume serial numbers are shown for each drive. Was this page helpful? Thanks for letting us know! Get the Latest Tech News Delivered Every Day Subscribe Tell us why! Other Not enough details Hard to understand Submit More from Lifewire Vol Command Examples and Options How to Use the Format Command to Write Zeros to a Hard Drive What Is a Volume Label of a Drive? HWiNFO v7.30 Review (A Free System Information Program) What Is a Volume Serial Number? (VSN Definition) How to Open Disk Management From Command Prompt How to use a System Repair Disc to Format the C Drive How to Open Command Prompt (Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, etc.) Speccy v1.32.803 Review (A Free SysInfo Tool) How to Reset a Windows Vista Password [Easy, 15-20 Min] 11 Best Free System Information Tools (October 2022) How to Open an Elevated Command Prompt in Windows Belarc Advisor v11.5 Review (A Free System Info Tool) How to Open File Explorer in Windows 11 How to Find The Serial Number of an HP Laptop Windows Drive Fitness Test v0.95 Review (Free HD Test) Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up Newsletter Sign Up By clicking “Accept All Cookies”, you agree to the storing of cookies on your device to enhance site navigation, analyze site usage, and assist in our marketing efforts. Cookies Settings Accept All Cookies