2 Ways to Mount and Unmount VHD / VHDX from Command Line

Virtual hard disk (VHD / VHDX) is a disk image file format for storing the complete contents of a hard drive. In this tutorial we’ll show you how to mount and unmount VHD / VHDX file from Command Prompt and PowerShell.

Method 1: Mount and Unmount VHD/VHDX from Command Prompt

This method allows you to mount and unmount VHD/VHDX file in all versions of Windows, including Windows 10 / 8 / 7 and Windows Server.

1. Open the Command Prompt in Administrator mode.

   Image may be NSFW.
   Clik here to view.

2. At the Command Prompt, type diskpart and press Enter to access the command-line disk partitioning utility.
3. Before mounting or unmounting virtual disk, you need to specify the location of your vhd/vhdx file. Type the following command and hit Enter.
   select vdisk file="[location of vhd]"

4. You can now mount or mount your VHD/VHDX file using the below commands:

   • To mount VHD/VHDX file, type attach vdisk and press Enter. You can see a new virtual hard drive in your Disk Management and Windows Explorer.

     Image may be NSFW.
     Clik here to view.

   • To unmount a virtual hard disk, type detach vdisk and press Enter.

Method 2: Mount and Unmount VHD/VHDX from PowerShell

In Windows Server 2016 / 2012 / 2008, you can also mount and unmount VHD/VHDX file using the PowerShell cmdlet. Here’s how:

1. Open the PowerShell as Administrator.
2. When the command-line window opens, you can run the Mount-VHD cmdlet to mount your vhd/vhdx file.
   Mount-VHD –Path "[location of vhd]"
3. To unmount your virtual hard disk, just run the Dismount-VHD cmdlet instead.
   Dismount-VHD –Path "[location of vhd]"

If you get the error message like “Mount-VHD is not recognized as the name of a cmdlet“, you need to add a feature named “Hyper-V Module for Windows PowerShell” to your server.