How to Check if Your Disk is GPT or MBR

Knowing whether your hard drive uses GPT (GUID Partition Table) or MBR (Master Boot Record) is essential for compatibility and performance, especially when dealing with disk size limits or OS installations. Here’s a guide on how to identify your disk partition style on Windows and MacOS.

Checking Disk Type in Windows

  1. Open Disk Management.
    Press Win + X and select “Disk Management” (or go through Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management).
  2. Locate your disk in the list.
    In the bottom part of the window, you’ll see a list of available disks. Find the disk whose partition style you want to check.
  3. Open disk properties.
    Right-click on the target disk and select “Properties.”
  4. Check the partition style.
    Go to the “Volumes” tab, and look for the “Partition style” field. Here, it will indicate if the disk uses GPT or MBR.

Alternative Method via Command Prompt

  1. Open the Command Prompt as Administrator (right-click on the Start menu and select “Command Prompt (Admin)”).
  2. Enter the command: diskpart and press Enter.
  3. Then, type list disk and press Enter. A list of disks will appear. Disks using GPT will have a * symbol under the GPT column. If there is no symbol, the disk uses MBR.

Checking Disk Type on MacOS

  1. Open the Terminal (you can find it via Spotlight Search).
  2. Enter the command: diskutil list and press Enter.
  3. This command will display a list of all disks along with partition information. If it shows GUID_partition_scheme next to the disk, it’s using GPT. If it shows FDisk_partition_scheme, it’s using MBR.

Now you know how to check whether your disk is using GPT or MBR. This will help you manage compatibility and optimize the performance of your computer more effectively.