Meet the problem extend volume greyed out or can’t shrink volume while resize partition on Windows 11? Here you can learn how to solve “can’t resize partition Windows 11” without losing data.
Scenario 1:
▶ " My computer system is Windows 11 and recently my C drive always received a low disk space warning. When I right-clicked the C drive and planned to add the free space into it with Disk Management, the "Extend Volume" greyed out. Why this situation happens and what can I do to the C drive?"
Scenario 2:
▶ " There’s only one partition in my system disk, but I sometimes deleted important data by mistake. So I decided to shrink the volume with Disk Management, then create a new volume to store the other data and avoid losing those data accidentally. But I realized I can’t shrink volume on Windows 11 with this tool. How can I deal with this problem?"
If you are also facing the problem experienced by users in the scenario, then you will find the answer in the next part.
What caused the problems that "Extend Volume" greyed out or you can’t shrink volume on Windows 11? Here are the reasons:
● Extend Volume grayed out
☞ The "Extend Volume" function will be disabled if the unallocated space isn’t on the adjacent right side of the partition you want to extend. ☞ Disk Management only supports NTFS and RAW partitions. ☞ The Extend Volume feature is released on Disk Management since Windows 7. So, you can’t use this function before Windows Vista.
● Shrink Volume grayed out
☞ Once there’re unmovable files such as Page files and system protections in the target partition, the function Shrink Volume won’t work. ☞ As mentioned in the "Extend Volume greyed out" part, the file systems and operating systems also can be the limitations.
Now, I’m going to provide you with two free ways to deal with those problems described above.
There’re several ways on Windows 11 to change partition size, and Diskpart can be one of the most powerful methods. It is a Windows built-in tool, which can help you to shrink or extend the volume you select with command lines. Please follow the steps to resize your partitions.
Warning: Please be careful when typing these commands and check before proceeding. Prevent the loss of important data caused by the wrong operation.
Step 1. Press "WIN+ R" at the same time, then type "diskpart" to open it.
Step 2. Input the following commands one by one and press "Enter".
• list disk • select disk 0 (0 is the disk where the partition located) • list partition • select partition 4 (4 is the target partition) • extend size=100 (100 is the size in MB of the partition you want to extend)
Step 3. Type "exit" and press "Enter" after it reminds you that Diskpart successfully extended the partition.
Notes: ✍ If there is no adjacent unallocated free space closely next to the target partition, you will receive the warning "Diskpart failed to extend the volume". ✍ The selected partition must be a RAW or NTFS file system.
Here are the detailed steps to shrink a volume with Diskpart:
Step 1. Press " WIN+ R" at the same time, then type "diskpart" to open it.
Step 2. Type the following commands in turn, then press "Enter" after each input.
• list volume • select volume 6("6" refers to the partition you selected) • shrink desired=10240 (you can replace 10240 with any size that is smaller than the current one)
Step 3. Type "exit" and press "Enter" to leave this window after seeing the sentence "Diskpart successfully shrunk the volume by...".
Notes: ✐ You cannot shrink volume with unmovable files in the selected partition using Diskpart. ✐ Diskpart won’t work if there are some bad clusters. ✐ The file system of the target partition must be NTFS or RAW.
Although you can solve the problem that you can’t resize partition on Windows 11 with Diskpart, complex and professional instructions may cause headaches for many users. Besides, it inhibits you from resizing partitions through limitations such as the file system must be NTFS or RAW. What's more, there is a risk of data loss if the wrong command is entered. In fact, it doesn’t break the restrictions set by Disk Management.
In order to resize partitions on Windows 11 safely and easily, a free partition software for Windows 11- AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard can help you. Different from Disk Management and Diskpart, this free software has a friendly interface and detailed guidance. You can resize partitions on Windows 11 without any limitation or risk.
Please download this free tool to resize partitions on Windows 11.
Step 1. Right-click the target partition and hit "Resize/Move Partition".
Step 2.1. (Shrink a partition) Put your mouse on the little circle of the right border and move the double-headed arrow leftward to shrink the partition selected. Then, click "OK".
Step 2.2. (Extend a partition) You should move the double-headed arrow rightward if there is an adjacent partition next to the target partition. Then, click "OK".
Step 3. Click "Apply" to preview the result and then click "Proceed" to execute the operation.
Further Tip: If there's no adjacent unallocated space next to the target partition, you can try Merge Partitions feature to merge target partitions and nonadjacent unallocated space. Please follow the steps to do it safely:
Step 1. Right-click the partition you need to merge, and choose Advanced> Merge Partitions.
Step 2. Select the partition that need to be merged and click OK.
Step 3. click Apply and Proceed to commit it.
Note: This powerful partition adjustment tool also allows you to resize encrypted partition in a few clicks.
Meet the problem that can’t resize partition on Windows 11 without losing data? After reading this article, you may have known the reasons and learned some solutions. By the way, you can try to allocate free space from one drive to another if there is no unallocated space on the disk. If you can’t resize partition on Windows Server 2022, 2019, 2016, 2012(R2), 2008(R2), and 2003, please switch to Server Version.