How to Burn a CD/DVD on Windows 10? Check the 8 Best CD/DVD Burners

Imagine this: You just wrapped up editing a highlight video of your family's recent vacation—a perfect mix of beach sunsets, laughter, and drone shots. You want to surprise your parents with a physical copy they can play on their old DVD player without fiddling with USBs or cloud links. Or maybe you're a musician, and after months of late-night recordings, you're finally ready to share your demo tracks with friends—on a CD, just like the good old days.

Whether it's for backing up files, creating a music mix, or sharing videos with loved ones, burning a CD or DVD on Windows 10 is still a handy skill. Let's explore how to do it easily using tools you already have on your computer and some advanced third-party solutions.

What Do You Need to Burn CD Windows 10?

Burning a CD on a Windows 10 computer is a pretty straightforward process. However, there are some essential tools and steps you will need to follow in order to successfully accomplish this task. They are as follows:

• CD/DVD Burning Software: Windows 10 has a built-in feature to burn CDs. However, if you want more functionalities then you might consider using third party software like DVDFab DVD Creator and Ashampoo.
• Blank CD: You'll need a writable CD (CD-R or CD-RW). A CD-R can be used only once while you can erase and re-write on a CD-RW.
• CD/DVD Optical Drive: Ensure your Windows 10 computer has an optical media drive that can write to the disc type chosen. Your optical drive can be internal, or a drive plugged into the PC by using a USB.
• Data to Burn: Of course you'll need the data (music, photos, videos, files etc.) you want to burn onto the CD.

How to Burn a CD/DVD on Windows 10 Without Any Software?

Using Windows 10 CD/DVD Burner

Windows 10 has an in-built CD/DVD burning feature that allows you to burn data onto a disc without having to install any third-party application. It is quite convenient and very straightforward to use. Whether you want to burn pictures, music, documents or any other type of file, you can easily do so using this feature.

How to Burn a CD Disc Using Windows 10 Built-in Feature

First, launch your windows machine to get started. Insert a black CD that is recordable into the optical drive. Once you insert the CD, a pop-up titled "Burn a Disc" will appear on the window screen. The pop-up asks you the option you want to use to handle the writing process of your disc. The following are the options to handle the writing:

a. Writing like a USB flash drive

It easily allows you to write and erase files to the disc easily by using a live file system. When you are using a CD-R disc that allows write-only, immediately you erase a file, it will no longer appear in windows, but the space in the disc will be taken up. However, when you use both a read and writable CD disc, you will be able to erase files stepwise without the need to wipe your disc at once.

b. Writing with a CD player

It's an ancient method of burning discs. When you are copying files to the drive, they get copied on a staging area in a hard drive disc. Once the copying is done, files are written at once when one selects "Burn" in the File Explorer. Such discs are more compatible with older versions of windows.

Once you decide on the writing method to use, select it immediately. Enter your desired disc title in the title section and click "Next".

The next step after clicking "Next" will depend on the option you choose; each will be handled separately as below:

How to Burn a CD on Windows 10 with a Live File System using a USB Flash Drive

If you select "Write with a USB flash drive, " no extra steps are required to write on your CD. The file explorer window to the disc drive will open; write all your files directly in File Explorer. You can either copy and paste or drag and drop your files to the windows

Once done, you can delete your files. When you decide to use "Writing with a CD player", your windows will erase the files. Your disc space can be recovered by deleting the files. Once done, you can eject your disc.

How to Burn a Mastered CD Windows 10 Using a CD Player

1. When you select "Writing with a CD player, " your optical drive immediately opens a File Explorer window. On the opened Window, you will see a header labelled "Files Ready to Be Written to the Disc."

2. As you select the files you need, they will be copied to the staging area. The files will be moved to the actual disc when you select burn on File Explorer. When you are done with copying the files, it's time to do the writing to the disc. Go ahead to select "Drive tools" in the toolbar menu on the File Explorer window and select "Finish Burning." You can also right-click and select "Burn to Disc."

3. A burning disc will appear, enter the file title, select the speed you need, then select "Next."

4. You will see the burning process as it happens until it's done.

5. When the process is done, the disc will eject itself from the media drive. Another wizard will appear asking if you want to burn more files to another drive; you can select yes once you are done and click on "Finish" to exit the process. The burned CD will be ready for use.

How to Burn a CD/DVD on Windows 10 with the Best CD Burner?

While using Windows 10 built-in software for burning CDs/DVDs is certainly convenient, it does come with its limitations. The features are quite basic, giving users limited control over the burning process. Moreover, it may not always provide the highest quality for your burn CDs or DVDs. With that in mind, turning to a more professional CD burner tool can be a worthwhile consideration.

Here are the distinctive features of the following software:

• DVDFab DVD Creator: Best for professional-quality DVD/Blu-ray creation with customizable menus.
• CDBurnerXP: A free, lightweight tool for burning CDs/DVDs with a simple interface.
• Burn: A basic, no-frills disc burner for macOS users.
• LiquidCD: An advanced but older Mac burning tool with extra control.
• ExpressBurn Free: A fast, no-cost CD burning tool ideal for simple audio and data disc creation.
• DeepBurner Free: A straightforward, free disc burner for Windows.
• Ashampoo Burning Studio 22: An all-in-one burning suite with backup and ripping features.

DVDFab DVD Creator

DVDFab DVD Creator is a professional DVD disc burning software suitable for both Windows 10 and Mac users. It allows users to burn any DVD disc, ISO file, or folder to create a hard copy of their videos, movies. It supports a wide range of video formats, provides excellent output quality, and offers customizable DVD menu templates. Users can also have control over playback modes. 

💻Available on:

Key Features:

• Create standard DVD disc/ISO/folder from 200+ popular video formats.
• Burn DVDs in batch with fast speed and high quality.
• Select audio tracks, subtitles, or add external subtitle.
• Customize output DVDs via professional DVD menu, built-in templates, and gadgets.
• Auto-synchronize the meta information of the original video.
• Support all DVD disc formats (DVD-9, DVD-5, DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R DL, DVD-R DL).

CDBurnerXP

One of our favorites is CDBurnerXP, as it provides its users with a smooth burn CD Windows 10 opportunity and also offers bootable disc support. You won't get any errors while doing the CD/ DVD burning process on CDBurnerXP.

Pros

• CDBurnerXP supports ISO files that most free CD burners don't offer.
• You can easily create your images, burn CDs, and get multi-language support by running this software on new and old Windows versions.

Cons

• It lacks many advanced features, and it doesn't come with a CD/ DVD ripper.
• The interface of CDBurnerXP is not as simple as it seems.

Burn

If you are looking for a CD-burning software that can also do some editing with MP3 tags and CD texts, you can try Burn. You will find all the necessary tools required for everyday audio CD burning.

Pros

• You get customized features with a simple interface that anyone with minimal knowledge about burning CDs and DVDs can understand.

Cons

• Burn is not for those looking for advanced CD burning features, so it might not be a great option for professional use.

LiquidCD

If you want to burn CD on Windows 10 and Mac, you need to try out LiquidCD because it allows you to make hybrid CDs. Even though it takes up a lot of space on your PC, you can rely on it for smooth CD burning. You can also arrange your data by making folders and saving disc profiles.

Pros

• You get multiple audio and video format support and multi-language support.
• LiquidCD allows its users to create hybrid discs, and it has a super user-friendly platform.

Cons

• One of the major disadvantages of using this CD burner is that it takes a lot of space in your computer and its installation file is also huge.

ExpressBurn Free

ExpressBurn Free by NCH Software is a lightweight and easy-to-use tool designed primarily for burning audio and data CDs. It's ideal for users who want to quickly create music CDs for car stereos, home systems, or backup important data to CD-R/CD-RW discs. The free version focuses solely on CD burning, making it a simple and effective solution for basic disc writing needs.

Pros

• Supports both audio CD (playable in traditional CD players) and data CD formats.
• Can normalize audio tracks automatically for consistent volume.
• Burns CD at high speed with minimal system impact.

Cons

• Only supports CDs – DVD and Blu-ray burning require a paid upgrade.
• Limited audio format support (mainly WAV, MP3); lacks advanced encoding options.
• No built-in CD ripping or music editing features.

DeepBurner Free

DeepBurner Free is a straightforward tool to do tasks like burn CD Windows 10. It has a portable version and has no additional features that make things complex. You cannot create DVDs with the free version, but you get that and many other advanced features with the paid version.

Pros

• One major benefit of this CD burner is that it has a completely free version, and that's quite easy to use.

Cons

• You don't get blu-ray/ DVD support, and you have very limited features options.
• You cannot expect it to create video DVDs as it is only for audio transfer and CDs creation.

Ashampoo Burning Studio 22

Lastly, we want to talk about Ashampoo Burning Studio 22, which is a completely free CD-burning software that you can use to burn DVDs and CD Windows 10. The best part about this CD burner is that it can also work as a CD ripper.

Pros

• Ashampoo Burning Studio 22 provides its users with multiple audio and video formats support.
• You get an intuitive interface and various types of data preset to burn CDs and DVDs smoothly.

Cons

• You have to sign up and provide your information to use the 'burn CD Windows 10' features of Ashampoo Burning Studio.
• The CD burner lacks multiple advanced features that are now in several burning and ripping software.

Final Words

In summary, if you have no specific requirements, the built-in tools of Windows 10 can efficiently assist you in burning CDs. However, if you desire more functions, you can try using other more best professional CD burner software that we recommend. For those seeking the most professional DVD burning option, we recommend the DVDFab DVD Creator software due to its powerful DVD burning features.