If you are dual booting Windows and Linux, at some point you will need to access the files on your Linux system from Windows. Linux has built-in support for Windows NTFS partitions, but Windows generally cannot read Linux partitions without third-party software.
We have compiled a list of useful third-party software. This list focuses on applications that support the Ext4 file system, which most new Linux distributions use by default. All of these applications also support Ext2 and Ext3 and one of them also supports ReiserFS.
September 8, 2022 update: This article previously recommended Ext2Fsd as one of these three options. Ext2fsd is still available on GitHub and SourceForge and still works, but they all indicate that the project has been abandoned. It works at the moment, but I don’t know if it will continue to work in the future without an update. We’ve exchanged recommendations to include only software that has been recently updated (or whose developer is still active) and we’ve confirmed that it works on Windows 10 and Windows 11.
What about WSL2?
You can also mount an Ext4 drive using the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL2), but the Ext4 file system drive must be a different physical drive than an NTFS drive.
In addition, Windows 10 does not support this feature. Microsoft has gradually stopped pushing new WSL features into Windows 10. mountIt is required for this method.
DiskInternals Linux Reader
Linux Reader is a free app from DiskInternals, developers of data recovery software. In addition to Ext file systems, Linux Reader also supports Apple’s ReiserFS, HFS, and HFS+ file systems. It’s read-only, so it won’t harm your Linux file system.
Linux Reader does not provide access by drive letter. Instead, another application is launched to browse your Linux partitions.
Linux Reader displays file previews so that you can easily find the right file.
When working with files in Windows,[保存]Option to save the file from the Linux partition to the Windows file system. You can also save entire file directories.
Ext2explore
Modernization: Ext2explore hasn’t been updated since 2012, but as of September 2022, it’s fully functional. If you are dealing with large hard drives (several terabytes or more), performance may be affected, but it will solve your problem.
We’ve covered Ext2explore in the past. This is an open source application that works similarly to DiskInternals Linux Reader, but only for the Ext4, Ext3, and Ext2 partitions. There is also no file preview, but it has one advantage. It does not need installation. All you have to do is download the .exe file. and run it.
However, Ext2explore.exe must be run as an administrator. Otherwise, an error will occur. First, extract the executable from the ZIP file using a file archiver or file explorer. Then right-click on the executable file to access the context menu,[管理者として実行]Click.
You can enable “Run this program as an administrator” to save time in the future.
Right click on the executable file ext2explore.exe and[プロパティ]Click.[互換性]Click the tab[管理者としてこのプログラムを実行する]Check the box next to[適用]Click.
It is very likely that Ext2explore will not detect Ext4 partitions or drives when the application is launched for the first time. The fix is easy. In the upper left corner[ファイル]Click and from the dropdown menu[システムの再スキャン]Choose.
Ext2explore basically works like any other file explorer. There is a hierarchical view in the left pane and a folder view in the right pane. It works just like you do on Windows, Linux or macOS.
As with Linux Reader, you must save a file or directory in your Windows system before opening it in another program.
Linux file system for Windows
The Linux File System for Windows by Paragon Software is much newer than the previous two options. It supports reading and writing to Ext2, Ext3, and Ext4, and supports Btrfs and XFS in read-only mode.
NB: The Linux file system for Windows is neither open source nor free. The cost of the license is $20. Whether it’s worth it depends on your needs, but I tested it and it works really well.
Once installed, the Linux partitions connected to the system will be detected and installed automatically. It will also be added to your startup programs. This basically lets you plug and play with any Ext2, Ext3 or Ext4 format external drive you can plug in.
Of course, if you don’t want the drive to mount automatically, you can always disable this feature. You can also disable “Load in Read/Write Mode” if you are concerned about accidentally damaging your data.
warning: Linux file systems for Windows also have built-in tools for formatting partitions. Formatting the partition will permanently erase all data stored on it, so be prepared. Unless you are sure about it[フォーマット]Don’t click if you are using it, make sure to change the default format from “Ext2” to “Ext4”.
If the drive is not detected, tap the three dots in the middle and[サービスを再起動]Click.
Paragon’s Linux File System for Windows installs Linux partitions in File Explorer just like any other internal or external storage device and assigns them a matching character. Not a required feature, but very useful.
This means that you can seamlessly interact with anything on your Linux partition using all the usual Windows controls and shortcuts.
Related: It’s Time to Shut Down Linux and Windows Dual Boot
Whether the $20 IS is really worth it depends on how often you need to use your Linux partition with Windows. Probably not worth the money if it’s just a one-time processing of Linux partitions of Windows. If that’s what you plan to do on a regular basis – especially if you’re going to read When $20 is a very attractive value if you are writing to a Linux section on a Linux-equipped computer.