See how to burn a DVD disc in Windows with Microsoft's native Windows Disc Image Burner.
An ISO file (or IMG file) is a disc image that encapsulates in a single file the contents and structure of a disc, whether it's a CD, DVD, Blu-Ray disc, hard disk drive, or USB flash drive.
Windows 10 and Windows 11 have a built-in application called Windows Disc Image Burner that can be used to burn disc images.
The application is easy to use and useful, eliminating the need for third-party applications that were present in Windows 7 and later. Here's how to burn ISO files (and other disc images) to Blu-Ray, DVD, or CD in both Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Windows Disk Image Burner: What is it?
Windows Disc Image Burner is an application that can help you burn disc images for free without installing third-party software.
The process of opening Windows Disc Image Burner is different in Windows 10 and Windows 11. However, the first step is to have an ISO file available on your computer that you want to burn.
Then read the appropriate section depending on the version of Windows you are using.
How to open Windows Disc Image Burner in Windows 10
Step 1: On a Windows 10 PC, open File Explorer and navigate to the ISO file you want to burn. Select it with a left click on its name.
Step 2: Next, click the “Disk Image Tools” tab located on the ribbon, and then click the Burn button.
Step 3: This action opens the Windows Disc Image Burner application.
Another way to open Windows Disc Image Burner is to right-click on the ISO file and select “Burn Disc Image”.
Step 4: Then skip the next section and follow the instructions for burning a disc image with Windows Disc Image Burner.
How to open Windows Disc Image Burner in Windows 11
Step 1: In Windows 11, open File Explorer and navigate to the ISO file you want to burn. Select it by left clicking on it.
Step 2: In the menu bar at the top, click on “Show more” (three dots) and select “Register” in the menu that opens. If the File Explorer window is maximized, you may see the Burn button right next to Mount in the menu bar.
IMPORTANT: Do not select Burn to disc. This option copies the ISO file to disc. it does not write the contents of the ISO file to disk. Therefore, the result will be a DVD or Blu-Ray disc with the ISO file from your computer.
Step 3: The Windows Disc Image Burner application will open, as shown in the screenshot below.
Another way to open Windows Disc Image Burner is to right-click on the ISO file you want to burn and then select “Show more options”.
The classic right-click menu appears, where you can find the “Burn Disc Image” option. Click or tap on it.
Step 4: Follow the instructions from the next section on how to burn your chosen disc image.
How to burn a disc image
Step 5: When you see the Windows Disc Image Burner window, select the drive you want to use to burn the disc in the “Disc burner” box and check if you want to verify the disc after registration.
This check is useful because it confirms that everything went well and you can use the Blu-Ray, DVD or CD you created on other computers and devices. To start the disc burning process, click or tap “Burn”.
The application first writes the disc image to the recordable disc (Blu-Ray, DVD, CD). It then finalizes the disk and verifies it (if you have selected this option). For each step, you see a progress bar.
Step 6: When everything is done, the “Status” section informs you that “The disc image was successfully written to the disc”. You also see the progress bar reaching its end, and it's all green.
Your computer automatically ejects the disc to which you have burned the contents of the ISO file. Take it out and close the disk player door.
Register via Command Line
If you like the Command Prompt, you can use either Command Prompt, PowerShell, or Windows Terminal. So open CMD, or launch PowerShell or Windows Terminal, depending on your preference.
The command to use to write disk images is:
isoburn ή isoburn.exe
If you want to familiarize yourself with its parameters, type isoburn and press Enter. You should see a Windows Disc Image Burner Usage help message like the one below.
The completed command should have the following parameters:
isoburn.exe /q [γράμμα μονάδας εγγραφής δίσκου] [Διαδρομή προς το αρχείο ISO]
The command is case-insensitive, meaning that it doesn't matter if the path you enter has uppercase letters.
Also, if your computer only has one drive that writes Blu-Ray or DVD discs, you don't need to specify the drive letter. Windows already knows this. This letter is required when you have two or more disc recorders.
The /q parameter is important because it tells Windows that you want to see the disk burning window and monitor the progress of the whole process. If you don't use it, you won't see anything.
An example of using the command with Command Prompt to burn the ISO file “Windows_10_gr_64.iso” to a Blu-Ray disc, could look something like this:
isoburn.exe /q D:\dimitris\iguru\Windows_10_gr_64.iso
After you hit Enter , you can watch Windows Disc Image Burner do its job. The only downside is that you cannot use this command to verify the disk after the burn process is complete. It has no parameter for this attribute.
