Incomputing,label is acommand included with someoperating systems (e.g.,DOS,^[1]IBMOS/2,^[2]MicrosoftWindows^[3] andReactOS^[4]). It is used to create, change, or delete avolume label on alogical drive, such as ahard disk partition or afloppy disk. Used without parameters,label changes the current volume label or deletes the existing label.

The command was originally designed to label floppy disks as a reminder of which one is in the machine. However, it can also be applied to other types of drive such as mapped drives.^[5]

It is available inMS-DOS versions 3.1 and later andIBM PC DOS releases 3 and later.^[6]It is an external command. MS-DOS 4.0x and earlier usedlabel.com as the external file. MS-DOS 5.0 and Windows uselabel.exe as the external file.^[7]DR DOS 6.0 includes an implementation of thelabel command.^[8] TheFreeDOS version was developed by Joe Cosentino and is licensed under theGPL.^[9]

In modern versions ofMicrosoft Windows, changing the disk label requireselevated permissions.^[5] The Windowsdir command displays the volume label and serial number (if it has one) as part of the directory listing.

InUnix and otherUnix-like operating systems, the name of the equivalent command differs fromfile system to file system. For instance, the commande2label can be used forext2 partitions.

LABEL [drive:][label]LABEL [/MP] [volume] [label]

Arguments:

• drive: Thiscommand-line argument specifies thedrive letter of a drive.
• label Specifies the label of the volume.
• volume Specifies thedrive letter (followed by a colon),mount point, or volume name.

Flags:

• /MP Specifies that the volume should be treated as a mount point or volume name.

Note: Ifvolume name is specified, the/MP flag is unnecessary.

C:\Users\root>label D: Backup

• FAT12
• FAT16
• FAT32
• exFAT
• NTFS

FAT volumes have the following limitations:^[5]

• Volume labels can contain as many as 11 character bytes and can include spaces, but no tabs. The characters are in theOEM code page of the system that created the label.
• Volume labels cannot contain the following characters: ? / \ | . , ; : + = [ ] < > "
• Volume labels are stored as upper-case regardless of whether they contain lower-case letters.

• NTFS volume labels can contain as many as 32Unicode characters.^[5]

• Vol (command) — Displays the disk volume label and serial number.
• List of DOS commands

• Cooper, Jim (2001).Special Edition Using MS-DOS 6.22, Third Edition.Que Publishing.ISBN 978-0789725738.
• Tim O'Reilly; Troy Mott; Walter Glenn (1999).Windows 98 in a Nutshell: A Desktop Quick Reference.O'Reilly.ISBN 978-1565924864.
• John Paul Mueller (2007).Windows Administration at the Command Line for Windows Vista, Windows 2003, Windows XP, and Windows 2000.John Wiley & Sons.ISBN 978-0470165799.

Wikibooks has a book on the topic of:Guide to Windows Commands

• label | Microsoft Docs

• Windows commands
• External DOS commands
• OS/2 commands
• ReactOS commands
• Microcomputer software
• Windows administration

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