An ISO image is also known as an ISO file and it’s a type of disc image that can be used as an archive file and contain all sector data on an optical disc. The file extension is .iso which is taken from the ISO 9660 file system used on a CD-ROM media and also universal Disk Format (UDF) which is a file system used on DVD. If you have an ISO image now you don’t need a third-party tool to extract it, Microsoft has added features that support this from Windows 8. In this guide, you will learn how to mount an ISO image in Windows 10 and 11. You may want to learn How to put multiple OS ISO files in one Bootable USB Drive, and how to create a Windows 10 or 11 bootable USB with UEFI support,

When you mount an ISO file, your PC will treat the file like a CD or DVD that is inserted into the disc drive. But you need to exercise some caution when mounting these files as they can contain some malicious programs. So there is a need to have an anti-virus program installed on your system to scan through any iso files that you may want to mount to your computer.

Many software companies use ISO images in the distribution of their applications to users, an example is Microsoft which make use of ISO image to distribute different trial versions of their operating systems. Here are some more guides: How to create Windows 11 Bootable USB drive with the Media Creation Tool, How to create a bootable USB using Rufus on Windows.

How to mount ISO images with File Explorer on Windows 10 and 11

1: Browse to the folder with the ISO image. Double-click on the .iso file to mount it.

On Windows 10, immediately you double-click the iso you will get the below message and when you click Open the iso image will open just like a folder and you can see the files.

The iso image gets attached to the computer like a drive immediately and you can extract your files from it. Windows 11 may not pop up this message and will open up immediately.

How to Mount ISO image from the context menu on Windows 10 and 11

2. Browse to the folder with the ISO image. Right-click the .iso file and from the context menu select the Mount option. Once that is done you will be able to access all the ISO files.

On Windows 10

Follow the steps below to mount an ISO image in Windows 10

Mount ISO on Windows 11

Kindly follow the steps below to mount the ISO image on Windows 11

How to Mount an image from the ribbon menu on Windows 10 and 11

3. Browse to the folder with the ISO image and Select the .iso file. On the Disk Image Tools tab click the Mount button.

On Windows 10

Mount an ISO Image on Windows 11

How to Unmount an ISO image

4. Just as it’s easy to mount it is easier to unmount after finding out you no longer need the image. Just right-click the virtual drive and select the Eject option.

To unount an ISO Image Windows 10, please follow these steps below

On Windows 11

How to mount and unmount ISO Images with PowerShell

5. Open PowerShell as administrator and type this command to mount an ISO image and hit the enter key: Mount-DiskImage -ImagePath "PATH\TO\ISOFILE"

Replace the “PATH\TO\ISOFILE” with the actual location path of your .iso file.

Mounting PowerShell

6. Use the below command to unmount:

Dismount-DiskImage -ImagePath "PATH\TO\ISOFILE"

Unmounting PowerShell

I hope you found this blog post on how to Mount an ISO image in Windows 10 and 11 interesting and helpful. In case you have any questions do not hesitate to ask in the comment section.