Auto-mounting an NTFS partition in Ubuntu is really easy — and really useful if, for instance, you have a dedicated NTFS drive you use to keep files on that you access in both Windows and Linux.

Out of the box, Ubuntu won’t automatically mount non-system partitions, but you can get it to so in a number of different ways, including manually editing hidden system files.

I don’t want to do that, so install I use a GUI tool I found in the Ubuntu repos and use that to manage my mount preferences instead, making my Windows partition accessible out of the box when I log in.

If you’d like to do that too, here’s how I set it up.

Get NTFS Partition to Auto-Mount on Ubuntu

Note: this guide assumes you have the ntfsprogs package installed, which is a perquisite for accessing NTFS drives on most Linux distributions, including Ubuntu. If you don’t have it, install it first – use Synaptic or run sudo apt-get install ntfsprogs.

First step is to install a small utility, called NTFS Configuration Tool because… Well, because it does what it says: it’s a tool to configure NTFS mounts!

Installing it on Ubuntu is easy:

  • Go to Applications > Add/Remove
  • In Synaptic, search for ‘NTFS Configuration Tool’
  • Click Install to install it

Once installed can proceed to configuration.

First, make sure any drive you want to auto-mount is unmounted. Yes, unmanned. You can do this by manually ejecting the drive from the Nautilus file manager or terminal or, if you’re unable to do that, just restart your computer and login.

Then, open the ‘NTFS Configuration Tool’. On Ubuntu you’ll find it in the System > Administration menu.

When the app opens it automatically detects any NTFS partitions (on internal or external drives). In the dialog that is shown simple tick the box next to the drive(s) you wish to automount on login and click “Ok”.

Pick your drives from the list shown

A new window will appear.

Select the ‘Enable write support for Internal Device’ option if your NTFS partition is on the same drive as your Ubuntu (or other Linux) install — this is what I have done and it means I can read and write to my NTFS partitions without issue.

Select the appropriate options

Your milage may vary, of course — if you have any question or comments on this, shout them out below.