Windows 10 Mount ISO

Well, good news! In Windows 10 you no longer need special apps in order to mount a ISO DVD image! Now you can use Windows File Explorer on the image file and it will be automatically mounted as a new virtual DVD drive. When Windows 7 was released, a significant new built-in feature was the ability to burn ISO images to disc. When Windows 8 came around, it included the ISO burning and allowed mounting of ISO images natively without third-party software.

You just double click in Windows File Explorer on the .ISO image file and it will be automatically mounted as a new virtual DVD drive. Or right-click with your mouse on the .ISO image file and select Mount from the popup menu. To un-mount just right-click with your mouse on the mounted virtual DVD drive and select Eject.

Mount and Burn ISOs in Windows 10

First off, we’ll take a look at mounting an ISO file. In previous versions of Windows, you needed to use a third-party tool like Virtual Clone Drive to mount an ISO or a utility like ImgBurn to burn them to disc. However, since Windows 8, mounting an ISO is a simple as a double click. That will mount the disc image as a virtual drive, and you can see the contents.

Like in the example below I just double clicked the Windows 7 image to reveal the files on it.

Alternately, you can right-click the ISO file and select Mount from the context menu, note that just below that is the option to Burn disc image.

You can also select the ISO file, and from the Ribbon go to Manage > Mount…note that by using this navigation method you also get the burn icon as well.

No matter how you choose to mount your ISO, it mounts it as a virtual disc, and it will show up in This PC as a drive. For example, in the shot below I have three different ISO files mounted. Then you can access them just like if there was a physical disc in your drive.

Also, note that if you want to unmount the ISO, just right-click and select Eject.

Burning an ISO

As I explained above, the option to burn an image is either in the Ribbon or the context menu. Burning an ISO to disc is essentially the same as it was in Windows 7. Pop in a blank disc and right-click and select Burn disc image.

Then the Windows Disc Image Burner tool kicks off. Select the drive with your blank CD or DVD. I also suggest checking Verify disc after burning. That will make sure there are no errors on the disc during the burning process.

After it’s done, the drive will pop open with your completed disc. That’s all there is to it!

While it’s usually faster to create a USB installation drive for software, some people are just more comfortable using a physical DVD, CD, or Blu-ray disc. Flash drives have a tendency to be lost easily. If you need to burn a retail copy of Windows 7 or higher to disc for any reason, head to the Microsoft Software Download site.