Get the drive letter of USB drive in PowerShell

Question

I've seen articles in C# and some other languages that explain how to achieve what I'm looking for but I don't know how to convert them.

The following link explains how to get the answer:
How can I get the drive letter of an USB device?
Win32_DiskDrive-> Win32_DiskDriveToDiskPartition -> Win32_DiskPartition -> Win32_LogicalDiskToPartition -> Win32_LogicalDisk
The answer by GEOCHET explains also explains how to achieve the answer but again, not in PowerShell: How to find USB drive letter?

score 9 · Accepted Answer · answered May 17 '12 at 12:01

9

Try:

gwmi win32_diskdrive | ?{$_.interfacetype -eq "USB"} | %{gwmi -Query "ASSOCIATORS OF {Win32_DiskDrive.DeviceID=`"$($_.DeviceID.replace('\','\\'))`"} WHERE AssocClass = Win32_DiskDriveToDiskPartition"} |  %{gwmi -Query "ASSOCIATORS OF {Win32_DiskPartition.DeviceID=`"$($_.DeviceID)`"} WHERE AssocClass = Win32_LogicalDiskToPartition"} | %{$_.deviceid}

Tested with one and more than one USB device plugged-in.

answered May 17 '12 at 12:01

CB.

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Thanks, just incase anyone wants the non-alias version: Get-WmiObject Win32_diskdrive | Where-Object {$_.interfacetype -eq "USB"} | ForEach-Object {Get-WmiObject -Query "ASSOCIATORS OF {Win32_DiskDrive.DeviceID=`"$($_.DeviceID.replace('\','\\'))`"} WHERE AssocClass = Win32_DiskDriveToDiskPartition"} | ForEach-Object {Get-WmiObject -Query "ASSOCIATORS OF {Win32_DiskPartition.DeviceID=`"$($_.DeviceID)`"} WHERE AssocClass = Win32_LogicalDiskToPartition"} | ForEach-Object {$_.deviceid} – resolver101 May 18 '12 at 15:38
Thanks for the time in writing the answer :-) – resolver101 May 18 '12 at 15:39
If the shell you're running in is `cmd.exe`, as it is in some shell execution subroutines of older languages, you need to escape the quotes and run like so: `powershell -noprofile "gwmi win32_diskdrive | ?{$_.interfacetype -eq \"USB\"} | %{gwmi -Query \"ASSOCIATORS OF {Win32_DiskDrive.DeviceID=`\"$($_.DeviceID.replace('\','\\'))`\"} WHERE AssocClass = Win32_DiskDriveToDiskPartition\"} | %{gwmi -Query \"ASSOCIATORS OF {Win32_DiskPartition.DeviceID=`\"$($_.DeviceID)`\"} WHERE AssocClass = Win32_LogicalDiskToPartition\"} | %{$_.deviceid}"` – ijustlovemath Dec 14 '20 at 20:35

score 7 · Answer 2 · edited Jul 29 '20 at 09:14

7

I know the subject has been dropped for a while, but since it's something I come back to pretty often, I thought I'd update things a bit.

If using Windows 7 and above, a much simpler solution would be:

Get-WmiObject Win32_Volume -Filter "DriveType='2'"

And if you want to avoid magic numbers:

Get-WmiObject Win32_Volume -Filter ("DriveType={0}" -f [int][System.IO.DriveType]::Removable)

References:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/previous-versions/windows/desktop/vdswmi/win32-volume
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.io.drivetype

edited Jul 29 '20 at 09:14

Martin Prikryl

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answered Feb 06 '13 at 09:45

Poorkenny

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Note that Windows does not necessarily mount all USB volumes as DriveType 2 (Removable Disk) in Win32_Volume. USB hard drives that get mounted with disk write caching enabled will mount as DriveType 3 (Local Disk) which is what any standard controller attached volume will show up as. – Bacon Bits Dec 29 '17 at 10:37

js2010 · Answer 3 · 2021-02-04T19:24:58.397

5

get-volume | where drivetype -eq removable | foreach driveletter

volume | ? drivetype -eq removable | % driveletter

edited Feb 04 '21 at 19:24

answered Jun 23 '19 at 20:16

js2010

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2

Now it should be the best answer. – Random Tourist Feb 04 '21 at 18:37
These answers were the simplest of the lot. Thanks for this! – Tensigh May 20 '21 at 20:27

Bacon Bits · Answer 4 · 2018-01-05T15:17:36.043

Beginning with PowerShell v3.0, Microsoft introduce the Get-Cim* commands which make this easier than the ugliness of the Get-WmiObject ASSOCIATORS query method:

Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_DiskDrive -Filter 'InterfaceType = "USB"' -KeyOnly | 
    Get-CimAssociatedInstance -ResultClassName Win32_DiskPartition -KeyOnly |
    Get-CimAssociatedInstance -ResultClassName Win32_LogicalDisk |
    Format-List *

Or:

Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_DiskDrive -Filter 'InterfaceType = "USB"' -KeyOnly |
    Get-CimAssociatedInstance -Association Win32_DiskDriveToDiskPartition -KeyOnly |
    Get-CimAssociatedInstance -Association Win32_LogicalDiskToPartition |
    Format-List *

The above commands are equivalent.

Eng.Mohamed Bassuny · Answer 5 · 2022-06-12T17:13:49.747

$FlashDrives = (get-volume | Where-Object drivetype -eq removable).DriveLetter


foreach($elment in $FlashDrives)
{ 
    if($null -eq $elment)
    {
    
    }
    else
    {
       $FlashDriveLetter = $elment + ":\"
       Write-Host $FlashDriveLetter
    }
}

$HardDiskDrives = (get-volume | Sort-Object -Property DriveLetter | Where-Object drivetype -eq Fixed).DriveLetter

foreach($elment in $HardDiskDrives)
{ 
    if($null -eq $elment)
    {
    
    }
    else
    {
       $HardDiskDriveLetter = $elment + ":\"
       Write-Host $HardDiskDriveLetter
    }
}

Fred Flintstone · Answer 6 · 2023-06-14T19:16:21.143

This gets a single USB drive letter and stores it in the variable $DRIVE. Works in Powershell 7.3.4 where Get-WmiObject doesn't and where the USB drive shows up as Fixed as it does with Get-Volume.

$DRIVE = (Get-CimInstance -Class Win32_DiskDrive -Filter 'InterfaceType = "USB"' -KeyOnly | Get-CimAssociatedInstance -ResultClassName Win32_DiskPartition -KeyOnly | Get-CimAssociatedInstance -ResultClassName Win32_LogicalDisk).DeviceID

Get the drive letter of USB drive in PowerShell

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