How to create mirror volume on Windows 11
In Windows 11, you have several ways to create a mirror volume to protect your data from drive failure, and this guide will show you how.
We usually store files on the system installation drive or external storage. Although this is a typical scenario, the problem with this approach is that the data is not redundant. If storage dies (unless you have a backup), you’ll lose your files too.
However, in Windows 11, you can use Disk Management or Storage Spaces to create a two-drive mirror configuration to protect your files in case of physical or logical problems with one of the drives.
The “mirror” reference comes from “RAID” (Redundant Array of Independent Disks) levels, the standard that defines the different ways you can mix and match drives for redundancy, performance, or speed.
In RAID, “mirroring” is defined at level one, and this array consists of two physical drives that contain the exact copy of the data. If one drive fails, you still have seamless access to the data on the other drive. The mirror array has a minimum requirement of two drives, but you can always have more as long as you add them in pairs.
This guide will show you how to create a mirror volume in Windows 11.
How to create a mirror volume with Disk Management
To create a mirror volume on Windows 11 using Disk Management tool, follow the steps below:
- Open beginning.
- Search for “Create and format disk” and click on the top result to open the Disk Management apartment
- Right-click the Unallocated space and select the New mirrored volume Possibility.
- press the Next Button.
- Select the available drive on the left.
- press the Add to Button.
- (Optional) Specify the space for the mirror volume.
- Quick note: Normally you do not want to change this setting. Note, however, that the new partition cannot be larger than the size of the smaller disk.
- press the Next Button.
- Choose the driver letter for the volume.
- press the Next Button.
- Choose “Format this volume with the following settings” Possibility.
- In the “File system” setting, select the NTFS Possibility.
- In the Allocation Unit Size setting, select the default Possibility.
- In the Volume Label setting, confirm a descriptive name for the drive.
- Check the “Perform a quick format” Possibility.
- press the Next Button.
- press the Finished Button.
- press the Yes Button.
Once you complete the steps, the mirror drive will appear in File Explorer and any data you save to that location will be duplicated on both drives for redundancy.
Create a mirror volume from an existing drive with data
If you already have a drive with data, it’s still possible to make the storage redundant by mirroring it.
To create a mirror volume with a drive with data on Windows 11, follow these steps:
- Open beginning.
- Search for “Create and format disk” and click on the top result to open the Disk Management apartment
- Right click on the drive with the data and select add mirror Possibility.
- Select the other drive to create a mirror.
- press the add mirror Button.
- press the Yes Button.
After you complete the steps, the existing data on the drive will be replicated over the new storage, forming a mirror volume.
Rebuild mirror volume after driver error
To replace a failed drive on a mirror volume, complete the following steps:
- Open beginning.
- Search for “Create and format disk” and click on the top result to open the Disk Management apartment
- Right-click the drive with the error and select the remove mirror Possibility.
- Select the drive indicated as Absence.
- press the Yes Button.
- Right-click the scratch disk with the data and select the add mirror Button.
- Select the new drive to replace the failed drive in the mirrored volume.
- press the add mirror Button.
- press the Yes Button.
Once you complete the steps, the mirror volume will be recreated in Windows 11.
How to create a mirror volume with Storage Spaces
To create a mirror volume with Storage Spaces on Windows 11, follow these steps:
- Open settings.
- Click on system.
- press the storage page on the right.
- In the Storage Management section, click Advanced storage settings.
- press the memory slots Attitude.
- press the “Create storage pool and storage space” Possibility.
- Confirm a name for the pool – for example My mirror pool.
- Select the two drives to create the mirror volume.
- press the Create Button.
- Confirm a name for the mirror volume – for example My mirror room.
- (Optional) Specify a size for the volume in the Size setting. (Usually you want to use the default amount.)
- From the Resiliency drop-down menu, select the Two way mirror Possibility.
- press the Create Button.
- Specify a name for the drive in the Label setting. (This is the name you see in File Explorer.)
- In the Drive Letter setting, choose a letter for the drive.
- Use the “File System” drop down menu and select the NTFS Possibility.
- press the format Button.
After completing the steps, the mirror volume will be created and displayed in File Explorer with the letter and name you specified.
Rebuild mirror volume after driver error
To repair a volume with a damaged Storage Spaces drive, follow these steps:
- Open settings.
- Click on system.
- press the storage page on the right.
- In the Storage Management section, click Advanced storage settings.
- press the memory slots Attitude.
- Expand the pool.
- Expand the space.
- Expand the physical drives.
- press the “Add Disk to Storage Pool” Possibility.
- Check the drive replacing the failed one in the mirror.
- press the Add to Button.
- Select the failed drive and click Characteristics Button.
- press the Prepare for removal Button.
- press the Remove Button.
Once you complete the steps, the mirror will be rebuilt, but this process may take a long time depending on the amount of data.
Because Storage Spaces require drives to be cleaned before adding them to the pool, you cannot mirror a drive that already contains data. If you want to create a new volume with this drive, you need to create a file backup first, create the two-way mirror volume, and then restore the data from the backup.
This guide covers the steps to create a redundant volume to store files on a secondary drive. If you want to install Windows 11 in a mirror configuration, you may want to create a mirror on the device’s UEFI firmware. However, since firmware varies by manufacturer and even by computer model, it is best to contact your manufacturer for more specific instructions.
More resources
For more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to frequently asked questions about Windows 10 and Windows 11, see the following resources: