Forum Discussion
ReFS volume inaccessible after update from Windows 10 22H2 to Windows 11 23H2
Since opening this thread in December, I'd like to share two "solutions" (workarounds):
1) As mentioned before, I attached the ReFS 3.4 volume which wouldn't read on Windows 11, to a Windows Server 2022 system, which auto-updated it to ReFS 3.7. Moving the disks back to the Windows 11 system, I can confirm that they now work fine. Storage Spaces on Windows 11 prompted to upgrade the pool, but the data was readable both before and after this upgrade. The ReFS version remained unchanged at 3.7. This solution does not require purchasing new disks, but it does require access to a Windows Server 2022 system.
2) The other method is to get new disks and copy the data, using an OS version like Windows 10, which can read the ReFS 3.4 volume which became unreadable after the upgrade to Windows 11.
Could this be our scenario (if it means that 3.4 has been dumped from the latest Windows 11/Server 2022), and if so why is it not documented anywhere?
Per the original post, I am unable to mount a 3.4 volume (which mounts fine on Windows 10) after an upgrade to Windows 11, and it seems like this is not an isolated case.
Because I saw it mentioned in the linked GitHub post, I'd like to add that the affected system does not have RefsDisableVolumeUpgrade set. The volume also is not read-only.
Thanks stephc_msft RajDas_FS
Update... Out of curiosity, I attached the same ReFS 3.4 (mirrored storage space) volume which won't mount on Windows 11 (but works fine on Windows 10), to a Windows Server 2022 system. Not only it mounts fine, but it auto-updated to ReFS 3.7 (per fsutil fsinfo refsinfo x:)
Right now I can't power off the Windows 11 box to see if the disks mount fine there as well after the update to 3.7, but I will post an update. There is some hope that the updated volume can now be seen by Windows 11 without requiring the lengthy copy process. Still a waste of money and time on new disks and troubleshooting before Christmas, while there has been no official answer here in more than two weeks...
Since opening this thread in December, I'd like to share two "solutions" (workarounds):
1) As mentioned before, I attached the ReFS 3.4 volume which wouldn't read on Windows 11, to a Windows Server 2022 system, which auto-updated it to ReFS 3.7. Moving the disks back to the Windows 11 system, I can confirm that they now work fine. Storage Spaces on Windows 11 prompted to upgrade the pool, but the data was readable both before and after this upgrade. The ReFS version remained unchanged at 3.7. This solution does not require purchasing new disks, but it does require access to a Windows Server 2022 system.
2) The other method is to get new disks and copy the data, using an OS version like Windows 10, which can read the ReFS 3.4 volume which became unreadable after the upgrade to Windows 11.I made the mistake of upgrading the *storage pool* in Windows 11, BEFORE connecting the drives to Windows Server 2022 to try to upgrade ReFS 3.4. Now Windows Server 2022 (nor does Windows 10) doesn't recognize the disks as belonging to any storage pool, Windows 11 recognizes the storage pool but can't deal with ReFS 3.4! I'm stuck...
kirbyzhang MikeLabatt I am quite confused by the last bit.
Windows 10 22H2 already had the support for ReFS 3.4, infact since release 1803.
Are you sure you meant ReFS 3.4 here and not a later version? In place upgrades, including Storage Spaces shall upgrade the ReFS volumes from current version to the latest ReFS version automatically.
While optionally / and recommended Storage Spaces version requires a manual update.
ReFS volumes will be upgraded (no easy OS rollback possible, and do not expect ReFS would downgrade, too) when they are mounted and have read / write permissions (read only flag may not be set via diskpart).
ReFS 3.9 should be the version that comes with W10 22H2 or Windows 11 22H2
ReFS 3.7 for Windows Server 2022 since it is matches with W10 21H2.
Thank you for further information, while I appreciate the "best answer" I am confused about the unexpected complexity you are facing here. Trying to help to find out on the why + if this is a bug trying to repro his.
Kindly asking for repro steps.
MikeLabatt I ended up installing Windows Server 2022 and both ReFS drives were fixed in seconds. Then I switched back to Windows 11 and it works fine. Thanks for the working solution.
I don't understand why MS couldn't put functionality that converts ReFS to a newer version to Windows 11 as well.- They are still the same issues when using Windows Server 2025 preview and Windows 11 (preview). this is by design of different used ReFS version.
- Hi, thank you very much! I have the same problem, Windows 10 was automatically upgraded to Windows 11 and I can't access the ReFS disks. This is very strange behavior. Is there a way to fix this directly in Windows 11 or do I have to install Windows Server 2022? I still can't believe this happened.
- I am having a similar issue with two 4 TB mirrored drive (formatted as RefS) that I moved from a windows 10 to windows 11 machine. In eventvwr I get the error: Volume 😧 is formatted as ReFS but ReFS is unable to mount it; ReFS encountered status The file system encountered a metadata file with inconsistent data.
I can see the drive in storage spaces but cannot view files.Using fsutil fsino I get the error: A local REFS volume is required for this operation. IN partition manager, the drive D shows as RAW.
Have you had any success solving this issue?I solved my issue by creating a new Hyper-V virtual machine with Win10 on the existing Win11 machine and connected the storage pool to the virtual machine. Interestingly, the storage pool shows as a simple drive machine. Previously, I had to take the pool drive offline from the main Win11 machine in order to connect it to the virtual machine. Now I can backup the data and no longer use RefS on a storage pool. Simply not reliable to me.
