How to unmount a disk in Linux

Unmounting a disk in Linux means disabling access to the file system that resides on that disk. In this article, let's see how to do it correctly.

What it means to unmount a disk

While unmounting a disk, all the files and folders on the disk are closed and stored on the disk before disconnecting it. This is important to avoid data loss or damage to the disk due to improper disconnection.

This is necessary to safely remove a storage device (e.g., USB drive, CD/DVD disk), including disabling any active processes that may be using the disk. The command to unmount a disk in Linux looks like this:

umount /mnt/disk

Where `/mnt/disk` is the mount point of the disk. It is usually located in the `/mnt/` or `/media/` directory. If the mount point is not explicitly specified, you can use the `umount` command without arguments and it will automatically unmount any disks not currently in use.

What you may need it for

Unmounting a disk in Linux is necessary to safely remove removable devices or to perform maintenance on a disk without risk of data loss. When a disk is unmounted, the operating system frees all resources associated with that disk, such as file structures, cache buffers, and file descriptors. This allows you to copy or move data, make changes to the file system, check disk integrity, and perform other maintenance operations without risk of data corruption or loss.

How to unmount a disk

To unmount a disk in Linux, you need to run the umount command with the path to the mount point:

umount /path/to/mount/point

For example, if the disk was mounted to the /mnt/usb folder, the command to unmount would look like this:

umount /mnt/usb

Now you know how to properly unmount a disk in the Linux operating system.