How to mount disk and partition in Linux

To use the data stored on a disk or partition in Linux, you need to mount it to a folder or mount point. After it's mounted, you can explore the filesystem and read or write files and folders.

You can choose to manually mount disks and partitions whenever necessary, or you can set them to mount automatically when your system starts by creating an entry in the /etc/fstab file. You can mount the disk or partition using its device name, label, or UUID.

1. Open the terminal.
2. Find the disk or partition you want to mount.

   $ lsblk
   NAME   MAJ:MIN RM   SIZE RO TYPE MOUNTPOINT
   loop0    7:0    0  55.4M  1 loop /snap/core18/1944
   loop1    7:1    0  55.4M  1 loop /snap/core18/1932
   loop2    7:2    0 217.9M  1 loop /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/60
   loop3    7:3    0   219M  1 loop /snap/gnome-3-34-1804/66
   loop4    7:4    0  64.8M  1 loop /snap/gtk-common-themes/1514
   loop5    7:5    0    51M  1 loop /snap/snap-store/518
   loop6    7:6    0  62.1M  1 loop /snap/gtk-common-themes/1506
   loop7    7:7    0    51M  1 loop /snap/snap-store/498
   loop8    7:8    0  31.1M  1 loop /snap/snapd/10707
   loop9    7:9    0  31.1M  1 loop /snap/snapd/10492
   sda      8:0    0    20G  0 disk 
   ├─sda1   8:1    0     1M  0 part 
   ├─sda2   8:2    0   513M  0 part /boot/efi
   └─sda3   8:3    0  19.5G  0 part /
   sdb      8:16   0    20G  0 disk 
   └─sdb1   8:17   0    20G  0 part 
   sr0     11:0    1  1024M  0 rom

3. Figure out the filesystem type for the disk or partition.

   $ blkid /dev/sdb1
   /dev/sdb1: UUID="ccab0f8d-3b5b-4189-9da3-23c49159c318" BLOCK_SIZE="4096" TYPE="ext4" PARTUUID="c088a647-01"

4. Make a directory for the mount point if it's not already there.

   $ mkdir disk

5. Use the mount command to mount the partition temporarily.

   $ sudo mount -t ext4 /dev/sdb1 disk
   [sudo] password for user:

6. Check if the drive was mounted successfully.

   $ df -h
   Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
   tmpfs           391M  1.8M  389M   1% /run
   /dev/sda3        20G  7.1G   12G  39% /
   tmpfs           2.0G     0  2.0G   0% /dev/shm
   tmpfs           5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
   tmpfs           4.0M     0  4.0M   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
   /dev/sda2       512M  7.8M  505M   2% /boot/efi
   tmpfs           391M  112K  391M   1% /run/user/1000
   /dev/sdb1        20G   45M   19G   1% /home/user/disk

7. Unmount the previously mounted drive.

   $ sudo umount /dev/sdb1

8. Open /etc/fstab using your preferred text editor.

   $ sudo vi /etc/fstab

9. Add a new entry for the mount point.

   /dev/sdb1       /home/user/disk ext4    defaults        0       0

10. Mount all filesystems listed in the /etc/fstab file.

    $ sudo mount -a

11. Verify if the drive or filesystem has been mounted successfully.

    $ df -h
    Filesystem      Size  Used Avail Use% Mounted on
    tmpfs           391M  1.8M  389M   1% /run
    /dev/sda3        20G  7.1G   12G  39% /
    tmpfs           2.0G     0  2.0G   0% /dev/shm
    tmpfs           5.0M     0  5.0M   0% /run/lock
    tmpfs           4.0M     0  4.0M   0% /sys/fs/cgroup
    /dev/sda2       512M  7.8M  505M   2% /boot/efi
    tmpfs           391M  112K  391M   1% /run/user/1000
    /dev/sdb1        20G   45M   19G   1% /home/user/disk