> For the complete documentation index, see [llms.txt](https://docs.parallels.com/landing/llms.txt). Markdown versions of documentation pages are available by appending `.md` to page URLs; this page is available as [Markdown](https://docs.parallels.com/landing/pdfm-ug/parallels-desktop-for-mac-27-users-guide/parallels-desktop-preferences-and-virtual-machine-settings/adding-and-removing-devices/initializing-a-newly-added-hard-drive.md).
# Initializing a Newly Added Hard Drive
After you add a new blank virtual hard drive to the virtual machine configuration, it remains invisible to the operating system unless you initialize it.
### Initializing a New Virtual Hard Drive in Windows
To initialize a new hard drive in Windows 11, you will need to do the following:
1. Open the start menu by clicking on the Windows logo and choose **Settings**.
2. On the left, choose **System** and scroll to the **Storage** menu item.
3. Under **Storage management**, expand the **Advanced storage settings** sub-menu and select **Disks & volumes**.
4. Find the new virtual hard drive from the list and click **Initialize**.
In older versions of Windows, you can initialize a new drive by locating the Disk Management utility in the Control Panel, launching the Initialize and Convert Disk wizard, and creating a new volume on that disk afterwards.
### Initializing a New Virtual Hard Drive in Linux
Initializing a new virtual hard disk in a Linux guest OS involves allocating the virtual hard disk space to a new volume and mounting this volume in the guest OS.
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note**: This section describes the process for Ubuntu Linux. If you are using a different distributive, please refer to its documentation.
{% endhint %}
Once you have connected a new external disk or added a virtual drive to the Linux virtual machine, do the following:
1. Launch the **Disks** utility by clicking on the **Show Applications** icon in the bottom left corner and typing "disks" into the search bar;\
2. In the **Disks** utility window, select the newly added disk from the left sidebar;
3. In the top right corner of the **Disks** utility window, select the menu marked with three vertically aligned dots and choose the **Format Disk** option;\
4. Leave the default options on and click **Format**;
5. Confirm your choice by clicking the red **Format** button and typing in your password if prompted.
Now that you have initialized the disk, partition it by doing the following:
1. Under the volume map, click the (+) button;
2. In the revealed dialog, choose the size of the partition and click **Next**;
3. In the next dialog, type in the volume's name, choose one of the suggested file systems and click **Create**.\
Once the operation completes, click on the triangular Play button to mount the new partition and be able to access it from your Linux machine.
---
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