fdisk Cheatsheet
Basic Usage
Open a disk or print partition tables.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
sudo fdisk /dev/sdX
|
Open a disk in interactive mode |
sudo fdisk -l |
List all detected partition tables |
sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdX |
List one disk partition table |
sudo fdisk --help |
Show command-line options |
sudo fdisk --version |
Show fdisk version |
List Disks
Identify the correct device before changing partitions.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
lsblk |
Show disks, partitions, and mount points |
lsblk -d -o NAME,SIZE,MODEL |
Show whole disks only |
lsblk -f |
Show filesystems and UUIDs |
sudo fdisk -l |
Show partition tables with disk labels |
sudo fdisk -x /dev/sdX |
Show detailed partition information |
Interactive Commands
Commands used inside the fdisk prompt.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
m |
Show help menu |
p |
Print the current partition table |
n |
Create a new partition |
d |
Delete a partition |
t |
Change partition type |
l |
List available partition types |
w |
Write changes and exit |
q |
Quit without saving |
Partition Tables
Create a new disk label before adding partitions on a blank disk.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
g |
Create a new GPT partition table |
o |
Create a new MBR (DOS) partition table |
p |
Review the current table before saving |
w |
Write the new table to disk |
q |
Exit without writing changes |
Create Partitions
Common answers while creating a new partition with n.
| Input | Description |
|---|---|
n |
Start a new partition |
Enter |
Accept the default partition number |
Enter |
Accept the default first sector |
+1G |
Create a 1 GiB partition |
+100G |
Create a 100 GiB partition |
Enter |
Use the rest of the available disk space |
p |
Print the proposed layout |
w |
Save the changes |
Partition Types
Set the partition type when the partition is not a regular Linux data partition.
| Input | Description |
|---|---|
l |
List partition types |
t |
Change a partition type |
Linux filesystem |
Regular Linux data partition (GPT) |
Linux swap |
Swap partition (GPT) |
EFI System |
EFI System partition (GPT) |
Linux LVM |
LVM physical volume (GPT) |
Linux RAID |
Linux RAID member (GPT) |
83 |
Regular Linux partition (MBR) |
82 |
Swap partition (MBR) |
8e |
LVM partition (MBR) |
Review and Save
Check the in-memory table before writing it to disk.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
p |
Print the pending partition table |
v |
Verify the partition table |
i |
Show details about a partition |
w |
Write changes to disk and exit |
q |
Quit without saving changes |
Format and Mount
After writing the partition table, create a filesystem and mount the partition.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
sudo mkfs.ext4 /dev/sdX1 |
Format a partition as ext4 |
sudo mkswap /dev/sdX2 |
Create swap on a partition |
sudo swapon /dev/sdX2 |
Enable swap |
sudo mkdir -p /mnt/data |
Create a mount point |
sudo mount /dev/sdX1 /mnt/data |
Mount the partition |
lsblk -f |
Confirm filesystem and mount details |
Safety Checks
Commands that help avoid editing the wrong disk.
| Command | Description |
|---|---|
lsblk -d -o NAME,SIZE,MODEL |
Compare disk names, sizes, and models |
lsblk -f |
Check existing filesystems and mount points |
sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdX |
Review the current table before editing |
mount | grep /dev/sdX |
Check whether partitions are mounted |
sudo umount /dev/sdX1 |
Unmount a partition before changing it |
sudo partprobe /dev/sdX |
Ask the kernel to re-read the table |
AI Assistant
