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Mounting AWS S3 Bucket on Windows Local Filesystem Using Rclone as Drive or Folder

A step-by-step guide to mounting an AWS S3 bucket as a local folder, drive letter, or background service on Windows using rclone.

Posted Updated
By Janak Shrestha
3 min read
Mounting AWS S3 Bucket on Windows Local Filesystem Using Rclone as Drive or Folder

Introduction

Amazon S3 is one of the most widely used object storage services in the cloud. But navigating the AWS Console or running CLI commands every time you need to access files can be tedious. What if your S3 bucket appeared as a regular folder or drive letter in Windows Explorer — just like a USB drive?

In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to mount an AWS S3 bucket as a local filesystem on Windows using rclone — a powerful, open-source command-line tool for managing cloud storage — paired with WinFsp, which enables FUSE-style filesystem mounting on Windows.

By the end of this guide you’ll be able to:

  • Browse and manage S3 files directly from Windows Explorer
  • Mount the bucket as a folder path or a drive letter (e.g. Z:)
  • Run the mount silently in the background
  • Auto-mount the bucket on every Windows startup

Step 1: Download and Install rclone

Go to the official rclone downloads page and grab the Windows AMD64 zip:

🔗 https://rclone.org/downloads/

Step 2: Install WinFsp

rclone requires WinFsp (Windows File System Proxy) to mount remote storage as a local filesystem. Without it, mounting will fail with:

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Fatal error: failed to mount FUSE fs: cgofuse: cannot find winfsp

Download and install the latest WinFsp release:

🔗 https://winfsp.dev/rel/

Run the installer with default settings. No reboot is required — just reopen your terminal after installation.

Step 3: Create an IAM User and Access Key

rclone needs AWS credentials to authenticate with S3. You can use an existing IAM user or create a new one.

Go to the AWS IAM Console → Users → Create user (or select an existing user).

Under Security credentials → Access keys → Create access key.

Creating an AWS Access Key

Save your Access Key ID and Secret Access Key — you’ll need them in the next step.

Step 4: Configure rclone

Run the rclone configuration wizard:

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rclone config

Follow the interactive prompts to create a new S3 remote:

rclone config step 1 rclone config step 2 rclone config step 3 rclone config step 4 rclone config step 5 rclone config step 6 rclone config step 7

Verify the remote

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rclone listremotes
# Output: js3:

rclone ls js3:janak-shrestha
# Lists the contents of your bucket

Verify remote

Tip: If you see InvalidAccessKeyId errors, open the rclone config file at C:\Users\YourName\AppData\Roaming\rclone\rclone.conf and verify the credentials are correct.

Step 5: Mount the S3 Bucket

Now the fun part. rclone supports multiple mounting styles depending on your workflow.

S3 bucket in AWS Console

Mount as a Folder

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rclone mount js3:janak-shrestha C:\Users\Jack\Desktop\My-s3bucket --vfs-cache-mode full --links
FlagDescription
--vfs-cache-mode fullEnables full local caching for read/write support
--linksTranslates symlinks so they work correctly on Windows

Mount output

The terminal window stays open while the mount is active. Do not close it — closing it unmounts the bucket.

Mount as a Drive Letter

For a more native Windows experience, mount as a drive letter:

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rclone mount js3:janak-shrestha Z: --vfs-cache-mode full --links

Your S3 bucket will appear as Z: in Windows Explorer, just like a local disk.

Drive letter mount

Run in Background (No Terminal Window)

To mount silently without keeping a terminal open, add the --no-console flag:

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rclone mount js3:janak-shrestha Z: --vfs-cache-mode full --links --no-console

Auto-Mount on Windows Startup

To mount the bucket automatically every time you log in:

  1. Create a file named mount-s3.bat with the following content:
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@echo off
C:\rclone\rclone.exe mount js3:janak-shrestha Z: --vfs-cache-mode full --links --no-console
  1. Press Win + R, type shell:startup, and press Enter
  2. Copy mount-s3.bat into the Startup folder that opens

The bucket will now mount automatically on every login.

Conclusion

You now have your AWS S3 bucket mounted as a local filesystem on Windows using rclone. This makes it easy to drag-and-drop files, open S3 objects in any Windows application, and manage cloud storage without touching the AWS Console.

What we covered:

  1. Downloading and installing rclone and WinFsp
  2. Creating an IAM user with the correct S3 permissions
  3. Configuring rclone with AWS credentials
  4. Mounting the bucket as a folder, drive letter, and background service
  5. Setting up auto-mount on startup

References

Storage
Rclone AWS S3
This post is licensed under CC BY 4.0 by the author.