Why Two Identical Drives Appear in Windows 10 File Explorer and How to Fix It

Sometimes Windows 10 users may encounter an issue where two identical drives are displayed in File Explorer. This can be confusing, as it appears as if two identical devices are connected to the system. Let's look at potential causes of this problem and how to resolve it.

Reasons for Duplicate Drives in File Explorer

Here are some common reasons why two identical drives might appear in File Explorer:

  • System errors after updates. Some Windows updates can trigger display errors, causing drives to appear twice.
  • Library configuration errors. Windows may accidentally duplicate a drive if it's linked to multiple libraries.
  • Partition misconfiguration. If a drive is partitioned incorrectly, some of these partitions may appear twice.

Methods to Fix the Issue

Try these methods to remove the duplicate drive from File Explorer:

1. Disabling the Duplicate Drive via Registry Editor

  1. Press Win + R and type regedit to open the Registry Editor.
  2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\MyComputer\NameSpace.
  3. Look for folders with GUIDs (globally unique identifiers) that match your drive's ID. Locate the duplicate and delete it.
  4. Restart your computer and check File Explorer.

2. Using Command Prompt to Fix Errors

Open Command Prompt as an administrator and run these commands in order:

dism /online /cleanup-image /scanhealth
dism /online /cleanup-image /restorehealth
chkdsk /f /r

These commands can help fix potential disk errors and remove duplicate entries.

3. Disabling Drive Display in the Library

  1. Open "This PC" and select "Manage".
  2. Go to "Disk Management" and check the settings for each partition.
  3. If you see a duplicate drive, disable its display through the settings.