If you’ve ever lost an ESXi host or just need to recover a single VMDK from a dead server, you know the struggle: Windows cannot natively read VMFS 6 . Unlike VMFS 5, which had some legacy workarounds, VMFS 6 is leaner, meaner, and locked down.
When mounting VMFS 6 on Windows, ensure it is set to read-only. Writing to a VMFS 6 volume from Windows can cause corruption that renders the LUN unreadable by ESXi.
What is your ultimate goal? (e.g., or a permanent storage mount ?) AI responses may include mistakes. Learn more Share public link
| Method | Read/Write Support | Ease of Use | Best For | Cost | | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | Read-only | Moderate | Quick, one-time data extraction from healthy drives. | Free | | DiskInternals VMFS Recovery | Read-only | Easy (Wizard-based) | Recovery scenarios where the VMFS volume is corrupted. | Paid (Trial available) | | Mounting on another ESXi host | Read/Write | Complex (requires hardware) | Enterprise recovery where another ESXi server is available. | N/A | mount vmfs 6 windows hot
The Ultimate Guide to Mounting VMFS 6 on Windows (Hot & Read-Only)
To mount a datastore on Windows —often required when a host is down and you need to "hot-plug" the drive to recover files—you generally need third-party tools because Windows cannot natively read this VMware proprietary file system. Best Methods for VMFS 6 on Windows
Passmark’s OSFMount can mount disk images, but you need a VMFS driver. A community-developed tool, (by Zertodata), works with OSFMount. If you’ve ever lost an ESXi host or
How to Mount VMFS 6 on Windows: A Complete Technical Guide Can you mount a VMware VMFS 6 filesystem directly onto a Windows operating system while the server is running? The short answer is .
Before proceeding, it is critical to understand the limitations of these methods.
(bottom left). Click it.
The disk must be visible in Windows Disk Management as a raw partition. Do not initialize or format the disk if prompted by Windows.
| Method | Reboot Required? | Read Speed | Write Support | VMFS 6 Support | |--------|----------------|------------|---------------|----------------| | StarWind V2V | | 180 MB/s | No | Full | | 7-Zip User Mode | No | 40 MB/s | No | Partial | | vmfs6-tools | Once (test mode) | 200 MB/s | No | Full | | DiskInternals | No | 220 MB/s | Yes (dangerous) | Full | | VMware DiskMount (legacy) | Yes | N/A | No | No (only VMFS5) |
Method 1: Using Diskinternals VMFS Recovery (Recommended for Data Extraction) Writing to a VMFS 6 volume from Windows