How to Convert GPT with Two Simple Ways in Windows OS?

What is MBR and GPT disks?

MBR and GPT are two different disk partition styles. Only when the hard disk is initialized with the partition style set, can it be used to store data, including the operating system. Compared with MBR, GPT is a new partition style, breaking through MBR's limitation on hard disk capacity and the number of primary partitions, so more and more people want to convert GPT. The difference between MBR and GPT are as follows:

● GPT supports a disk larger than 2 TB in size while MBR cannot.
● MBR booted by Legacy BIOS, GPT booted by UEFI.
● A GPT disk supports volumes up to 18 exabytes and 128 partitions per disk while the MBR disk supports 2 terabytes in size and 4 primary partitions at most.
● GPT partitioned disks have redundant primary and backup partition tables for improved partition data structure integrity.
● According to the official news from Microsoft. If you plan to upgrade to Windows 11, Windows 11 only supports UEFI boot mode. So you'd better convert  MBR system disk to GPT for Windows 11.

Use Windows built-in tool to convert GPT

Diskpart is a command line tool built into Windows, which supports converting MBR/GPT to MBR/GPT. You can refer to the following steps:

Before you do, here are some helpful tips:
▪ Backup the MBR disk that you want to convert in order to keep the data safe, because Windows built-in tools only allow to convert empty disks from MBR/GPT to MBR/GPT.
▪ If you want to convert  GPT to MBR during Windows 7 install, you should press Shift + F10 to open Command Prompt when the Windows Setup window appears.

Step 1. Press "Windows + R" key simultaneously, and input "diskpart" in the box. Press Enter.

Step 2. Input "list disk" to list all disks connected to your computer and press Enter.

Step 3. Input “select disk n”（n is the number of MBR disk）to select the MBR disk you want to convert to GPT and press Enter.

Step 4. Input "clean" to delete all partitions existing on the target disk and press Enter (backup in advance).

Step 5. Input "convert gpt" and press Enter.

After that, input "exit" to exit Diskpart.

How to convert MBR  to GPT without data loss?

Although Diskpart is easy to use, it is still difficult for ordinary users, because entering the command prompt is not for everyone. And its biggest drawback is that it needs to clear all the data on the hard disk, and it cannot convert the system to GPT when Windows is running, because it does not support clean system disk data.

To solve these problems, I suggest you use AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. This is a powerful MBR to GPT converter that allows you to convert MBR to GPT without clearing the data, and vice versa. More importantly, its operation is very simple, it only takes three steps to achieve conversion.

Please download the Demo to see how to convert MBR to GPT in Windows 10/8/7.

Step 1. Install and open AOMEI Partition Assistant. Right-click the system disk and select “Convert to GPT disk".

Step 2. Ensure you have converted Legacy BIOS to UEFI, and click “Yes” to confirm.

Step 3. In the main interface of AOMEI Partition Assistant, click “Apply” to start the conversion.

And wait for the operation to complete. After that, you can go to “This PC” and open the “Properties”, and you will see the partition table has become to GPT.

If you are converting a system disk, you need to change the BIOS to UEFI  to boot the GPT system disk when restarting.

Do you know how to convert GPT now? AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is your excellent assistant. If you are trying to use it in Windows Server, please upgrade to AOMEI Partition Assistant Server.