Convert MBR to GPT in Windows 11 Without Data Loss for Free

by John, Updated on: August 25, 2026

There are two types of disks in Windows computers: MBR and GPT. Master Boot Record (MBR) disks use the standard BIOS partition table. GUID Partition Table (GPT) disks use the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). One major advantage of a GPT disk is that you can have more than 4 primary partitions on a single disk. GPT is also required for disks larger than 2TB. Because of its many advantages, newer Windows operating systems, such as Windows 10 and Windows 11, initialize the system disk as GPT by default. Many people ask if it is possible to change a disk from MBR to GPT without losing data. The answer is yes. This article introduces 3 ways to convert MBR to GPT in a Windows 11 computer. Select the corresponding method according to your own disk configuration.

Convert MBR to GPT

Method 1: Convert MBR to GPT in Windows 11 with Disk Management

Windows 11 has a "Convert MBR to GPT" option in the Disk Management tool, but it is useless in most cases. When you right-click the leftmost area of an MBR disk, you will find that the "Convert to GPT Disk" option is grayed out. To enable this option, you must delete all partitions on this disk.

If the operating system is installed on this MBR disk, you cannot delete the C drive and other system reserved partitions. Therefore, you cannot convert the system disk from MBR to GPT in Windows 11 via Disk Management.

How to convert MBR to GPT in Windows 11 with Disk Management:

  1. Press the Windows + X keys together and click Disk Management in the list.
  2. Right-click a partition on this MBR disk and select "Delete Volume". Repeat to delete all partitions.
  3. Right-click the leftmost area of this MBR disk and select "Convert to GPT Disk".

To convert the system disk from MBR to GPT in Windows 11, there is another built-in tool to help you: MBR2GPT. It is a command-prompt tool integrated into Windows 11.

Method 2: Change MBR to GPT in Windows 11 with the MBR2GPT Command

Running the MBR2GPT command in a Windows 11 computer is straightforward, but your disk partition configuration must meet the requirements below:

  1. All partitions on the MBR disk must be Primary. If there is a Logical drive, follow the method to convert it to Primary in advance.
  2. One of the partitions is set as "Active".
  3. A maximum of 3 Primary partitions are allowed on this MBR disk. If there are four or more partitions, follow the method to move some partitions to another disk.
  4. All partitions on this MBR disk must be formatted with the FAT16/32 or NTFS file system. If there are partitions not supported by Windows, such as EXT2/3 or APFS, transfer your files to another place and delete these partitions.

How to convert MBR to GPT in Windows 11 with the MBR2GPT command:

  1. Back up your system disk in case of any unexpected errors.
  2. Press the Windows + R keys together, type cmd, and press Enter.
  3. In the command prompt window, input mbr2gpt /disk:0 /convert /allowFullOS and press "Enter" to execute. If your system disk is not 0, replace it with the right number. You can see the disk number in Disk Management.
  • MBR2GPT will validate the disk partition layout before converting. If validation fails, the conversion will stop, so it will not cause any damage to your computer.
  • If it converts the disk to GPT successfully, the changes cannot be undone. There is no built-in Windows tool that is able to convert a GPT disk to MBR without losing data.
  • The MBR2GPT command can only help you convert the system disk from MBR to GPT. If you use it to convert a data-only MBR disk, you will receive the error "Disk layout validation failed for disk 1".

MBR2GPT command error

Method 3: Convert MBR to GPT in Windows 11 with a Free Converter

If you want to convert a data-only disk from MBR to GPT, but do not want to delete any partitions, there is a free MBR to GPT converter for Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista/XP home computer users.

Download this tool, and you will see all disk partitions with their structures and detailed information on the main window.

NIUBI Partition Editor

How to convert a disk from MBR to GPT in Windows 11 with a free tool:

  1. Right-click the leftmost area of this MBR disk and select "Convert to GPT Disk".
  2. Click "Yes" to confirm in the pop-up window.
  3. Click "Apply" on the top left to take effect.

Watch the video to see how to convert MBR to GPT with this free tool:

Convert MBR to GPT

Besides converting MBR to GPT in Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista/XP, NIUBI Partition Editor helps you perform many other disk partition management operations, such as shrinking, extending, moving, merging, defragging, hiding, wiping partitions, and scanning for bad sectors.

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