How to re-enable ISO Mounting in File Explorer under Windows 10 (or 8)

How to re-enable ISO Mounting in File Explorer under Windows 10 (or 8)

by Mihai Neacsu on 8 October 2014 · 59535 views

Windows 10 or 8 comes with a built-in mounting option in File Explorer. With this, you can easily mount .ISO files by double-clicking them or right-click and select Mount, as shown below.

1 full How to reenable ISO Mounting in File Explorer under Windows 10 or 8

This feature is quite handy, while it replaces a lot of third-party apps such as PowerISO or Virtual CloneDrive who can mount ISO files as well.

In order for the Explorer's Mount feature to work, your ISO files must be associated with File Explorer. If you happen to have another program installed on your PC and associated with ISO files, the File Explorer mount option is gone. Here's such an example below, where the same ISO file as above is associated with ImgBurn (a powerful image burner solution). Double-clicking it will only open ImgBurn.

2 full How to reenable ISO Mounting in File Explorer under Windows 10 or 8

Here's how to fix this and get the ISO Mount option back in File Explorer:

Method 1

1. Right-click an ISO file and choose Properties.

2. Notice the Opens with line and click Change as shown below.

3 full How to reenable ISO Mounting in File Explorer under Windows 10 or 8

3. Choose Windows Explorer from the list that pops up.

4 full How to reenable ISO Mounting in File Explorer under Windows 10 or 8

4. Back in the Properties window previously opened, click Apply or OK.

Method 2

1. Right-click an ISO file and choose Open with then Choose default program.

5 full How to reenable ISO Mounting in File Explorer under Windows 10 or 8

2. In the new window that pops up, make sure to check the box Use this app for all .iso files and select Windows Explorer.

6 full How to reenable ISO Mounting in File Explorer under Windows 10 or 8

That's it! This will make all .ISO files mount in File Explorer by default from now on.

If you skip Step 2 and simply select "Open with > Windows Explorer" in Step 1, the ISO file will mount but it will not be associated with File Explorer so future ISO files won't mount by default when double-clicking them.

Comments (2)
kshu's profile
kshu on 25 Aug 2016
Hi ddd. Can you post a link to the ISO file you used? I'd like to test it on my Windows 10 as well.
ddd's profile
ddd on 19 Aug 2016
Didn't work for me. I have Win10 and .iso files were already associated with Windows Explorer. I get the message "disc image file is corrupted" This file is a known good working file as others have used it recently.
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