#831·VeraCrypt

Hidden OS on GPT/EFI

Author: saraoemCreated Sep 29, 2021Updated Sep 15, 2026

Current behavior

"System - Create Hidden OS" option is disabled (greyed out). No explanation. Nothing mentioned in the limitations page. Plenty of people have been struggling with this problem before, often without getting any answer at all: https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/discussion/general/thread/9918b71b/ https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/discussion/technical/thread/85d0e3774d/ https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/discussion/technical/thread/3feb2d46/ https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/discussion/technical/thread/f90bcf05/ https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/discussion/technical/thread/fc02b6b39a/ https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/discussion/general/thread/e69625d993/ https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/discussion/technical/thread/829fcf2c24/ https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/discussion/general/thread/3d7ce769e6/ https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/discussion/general/thread/284f480aa9/ https://sourceforge.net/p/veracrypt/discussion/technical/thread/aaeeb26b/ I see that the thing blocking it for most is the GPT formatted disk. However, newer systems are often coming without a Legacy option, and EFI makes GPT the only option for booting Win10. At least for average user.

Desired behavior

  1. it would be nice to have an explanation instead of just a greyed out button. Maybe a notice about GPT on mouseover? There are probably other things that cause it to be disabled, but still...
  2. obviously it would be best to have this option (creating Hidden OS while on EFI/GPT) available. I understand that this is no small feat to achieve, but with Windows 11 upon us, it's even more pressing than before.

Your Environment

VeraCrypt version: 1.24-Update7

Operating system and version: Windows 10 build 19043