this post was submitted on 09 Jun 2025
15 points (94.1% liked)

Linux Mint

2488 readers
6 users here now

Linux Mint is a free Linux-based operating system designed for use on desktop and laptop computers.

Want to see the latest news from the blog? Set the Firefox homepage to:

linuxmint.com/start/

where is a current or past release. Here's an example using release 21.1 'Vera':

https://linuxmint.com/start/vera/

founded 4 years ago
MODERATORS
 

Hi guys, wanted to know what the best way a newbie like me learn to do disk management stuff (like adding devices, managing formats and partitions and so on) in Linux mint. gui is prefered but I'm willing to learn the terminal way too if it has benefits and more control. Thank you for your time

all 17 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] [email protected] 9 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I usually use GNOME Disks (gnome-disk-utility) when I need a GUI for disk management. If you're not doing anything complicated or scripting disk manipulation the GUI is probably sufficient.

[–] aprehendedmerlin 1 points 1 week ago

Thank you I'll try it for sure

[–] [email protected] 5 points 1 week ago (3 children)

The Arch Wiki article for Partitioning is a good starting point.

Additionally, you can run man [command name] to find the manual for each command that you're trying to use.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Man pages are a headache for me a lot of the time. Even with using / to search through it.

https://tldr.sh/

Alternatively install the tldr client and just run tldr command

Or another method

curl cheat.sh/topic There's also a client for it as well

[–] [email protected] 1 points 2 days ago

That's fair. I have 14 years of experience reading man pages, thanks for sharing the tools!

[–] [email protected] 6 points 1 week ago (1 children)

GParted is a good graphical option that helps you finalize what's going on, as well.

[–] aprehendedmerlin 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Is gparted installed on mint by default? If not can I install it with a simple "apt install gparted" or it has a custom repo?

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 week ago

It is, but it's usually only available on the live version running off a USB to make it easier to modify the drives.

[–] aprehendedmerlin 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Then Arch wiki it is. Although I hope it's not too technical

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Let me know if you have more questions!

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 week ago (1 children)

For general maintenance, just the Disks utility that comes bundled. Otherwise, a live ISO of GParted that I keep in case something's up. All GUI and intuitive.

[–] aprehendedmerlin 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

So gparted is a GUI app I can search and open which is available only in live USB environment for disk management. Am I got it right?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

Not quite. Almost. You can install GParted on your Linux Mint, I have it on mine. But to actually do changes to your disk partitions, that partition cannot be mounted (in use). So if you need to change the partition you're currently using, that doesn't help.

So you can download a live USB mini-distro that GParted makes that has GParted in it as well as other recovery tools. So if you need to change your disk or run into issues and need to troubleshoot, boot into that USB stick and you're good.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I just use kde's build in gui partition tool. It's pretty similar to Windows, except you make all the changes then finalize everything instead of finalizing every choice at each step.

[–] aprehendedmerlin 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Cool what's it called. Can I install it on mint?

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 week ago

KDE partition manager. And I believe so. Not sure if you need full KDE plasma, or if you can just install kde-applications package