How to Organize and Create a Dev Drive in Windows 11

This article describes how to set up and create DevDrive on Windows 11.

DevDrive is a new form of storage volume available to improve performance for key developer workloads. It is built on technology ReFS to implement targeted file system optimizations and provide greater control over storage volume management and security.

The Dev Drive is built for best performance and automatically trusts new volumes to support antivirus configuration and administrative control over what filters are installed.

There are two performance modes that can be used with the Dev Drive. The following table summarizes the behavior of performance mode synchronous and asynchronous scans.

Performance mode statusScan typeDescriptionSummaryNot enabled (Off)Sync
(Real-time protection)Open file start Real-time protection scan.Open now, scan now.Enabled (Active)AsynchronousFile open operations are scanned asynchronously. Open now, scan later.

For more information on Dev Drive performance and considerations, read the post below.

Create Dev Drive from Unallocated space

As mentioned above, the Dev Drive is a new form of storage volume available to increase performance for key developer workloads.

Here’s how to create a Dev Drive from unallocated space.

Precondition

Windows 11 Insider Program Build: Dev Channel. 16GB memory recommended (minimum 8GB) Minimum 50GB free disk space Dev Drives available in all Windows SKU versions.

To create a Dev Drive, use the steps below.

First, open the Windows Settings app.

You can do this by clicking Start menu and choose Settings. Or press the keyboard shortcut (Windows key + I) to launch the Settings app.

windows 11 new settings button

During application Arrangement open, click the button System on the left.

Windows 11 system tiles

On the right, click a tile Storage to expand.

Windows 11 system storage tile

on panels System->Storage click Advanced storage of settings tiles to expand.

windows 11 storage advanced storage settings storage space

On System->Storage->Advanced storage settings->Disks & volumes settings panel, click the button Create Dev Drive .

In the pop-up window, select a room unfilled for Dev Drive and click on it Next.

On the next screen, enter Label or name. Select a Drive Letter to assign to the Dev Drive, type in the drive size (at least 50 GB), and click Format.

Click Format to create a new Dev Drive with the space mentioned above.

Create a Dev Drive Virtual Hard Disk (VHD/VHDX).

You can also create a virtual hard disk ( VHD/VHDX) for DevDrive You. With this option, you will first set up a virtual hard disk and then use the disk for Drive Dev You.

Drive Dev that you create using this option will only be available in the panel This PC on FileExplorer. The virtual hard disk will be unmounted automatically every time you restart your computer.

It’s a good idea to plug it back in when you want to use it.

To set up a virtual disk drive for your Dev Drive, open Windows Settings and navigate to System > Storage > Advanced Storage Settings > Discs & volumes. Choose Create a dev drive.

On the pop-up window, click Create a new VHD.

On the next screen, provide the following using the help guide below:

Virtual hard disk name: Give a name to your VHD (Dev Drive). Location: Set the directory path where the Dev Drive VHD will be placed on your machine. The default location is C:\, unless creating a Dev Drive using Dev Home, where if the default location is %userprofile%\DevDrives. We recommend using per-user directory path locations to store your Dev Drive to avoid accidental sharing. Virtual hard disk size: Set the amount of disk space to be allocated to the volume to be used, the minimum size is 50 GB. Format virtual hard disks: VHD: Supports virtual disks up to 2040 GB in size. VHDX: Supports virtual disks up to 64 TB in size and offers more robust protection against unexpected IO failures caused by issues such as power outages). Learn more about Managing VHDs. disc type: Fixed size – This virtual hard disk file is allocated to the maximum size at creation (Recommended for efficiency) Dynamically expands – Grows to the maximum size when data is written

After you click the Create button, it will take a moment to create and install (mount) a new virtual hard disk.

On the next screen, you need to initialize the disk. Choose a partition style GPT (default) or MBR .

Lastly, define Label (drive name), Drive LettersAnd Size allocation. Then format the disk to be used.

It should be!

Reference:

Conclusion:

This post shows how to set up and create a Dev Drive in Windows 11. If you encounter the above error or want to add something, please use the comment form below.