Is it necessary to create multiple partitions on USB drive? In the following content, you’re going to understand why we should do it and 3 ways to get it done will be shared.
Nowadays, USB drive is a must in our daily life. We keep using it to store important data and files for its good portability and convenience. Over time, the storage space of the USB drive has become bigger and bigger, and since Windows 10 Version 1703, multiple partitions on removable media like USB drive have been supported. In this case, people tend to create multiple partitions on their USB drives to make the most out of them.
There are 2 benefits to doing so:
1. For people working in mixed OS environment, creating multiple USB partitions makes it easier for them to switch between different OS. For example, Your USB is coded with exFAT and you’re using it on Windows 10 but one day, you get a computer based on Linux. You have no chance to access the USB’s files on this new computer because of the incompatible file systems. Now, if you create 2 partitions on the USB – one is in exFAT and the other is in Ext 4 – the problem is solved.
2. People can make full use of the storage space of their USB by creating multiple partitions. For example, if you have to work with a USB flash drive coded with FAT32, there is only 32GB of space you can use and if the storage is large, it can be literally wasteful. The ability to create multiple partitions on USB flash drive Windows 7, 8, 10, and 11 lets you take advantage of the entire device space.
If you’re a newbie in partitioning a disk, you may find it difficult. However, in this tutorial, I’ll exhaustively explain everything. So, don’t worry, just follow me step by step.
When it comes to partitioning a disk, the first thing coming to my mind is Disk Management. It is a system program in Windows which enables you to perform advanced storage tasks.
1. On the desktop, right-click on “This PC” and on the popup menu, select “Manage”.
2. Double-click on “Storage” in the left list and hit “Disk Management”.
3. Locate your disk, right-click on the unallocated space, and select “New Simple Volume”.
4. Click on “Next” and then preset the simple volume size in MB. For example, my maximum disk space is 29590 and now, I preset the simple volume size in 10000. Then, lastly, there’ll be one partition and one piece of unallocated space appearing.
5. Click on “Next” and assign a drive letter.
6. Click on “Next”, preset file system and volume label.
7. Hit “Next” again to preview the settings.
8. Hit “Finish” to get it done.
9. Now, repeat the same steps on the unallocated space to create the second partition.
Diskpart is another Windows feature that helps you manage your disks and partitions. If you think Disk Management is too complex and dull you might as well try Diskpart which can also create multiple partitions on USB flash drive Windows 7/8/10/11.
1. Press “Windows + R” simultaneously, type “diskpart” and hit “ENTER”.
2. Enter “list disk” and then, you’ll see all your disks
3. Type “select disk * （”*” represent your USB key）> enter “clean” >create partition primary size=10000 > “list part”.
4. Type “select part 1” > enter “format fs=fat32 label=’Software’”
5. Wait for some minutes before completed.
6. To create the second partition, enter "create partition primary size=20000" and repeat the steps above to get it done.
Diskpart is a useful feature in Windows but the process can take a very long time. As for me, I waited around 30 minutes before it’s finished. Meanwhile, every step in Diskpart is irreversible and so, you must be very careful.
Why not choose another alternative to make everything easier? I searched through the internet and tried several disk management software. Finally, I found this “AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard”. It’s totally free and provides to create 1 partition plus 2 pieces of unallocated space at once. Moreover, it also gives many other options for disk management including cloning USB drive, wiping USB flash drive, partition clone, and partition format.
It’s also very easy to use and you can finish the entire process with several clicks. Now, it’s time to free download and have a try!
Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. On the main interface, you’ll find all disks and partitions.
Step 2. Right-click on the USB’s unallocated space and select “Create Partition”.
Step 3. If you want to use the entire unallocated space as the new partition, just preset the file system and click "OK".
Note: If you hope to create more partitions later, you can move the green circles on both sides and leave some unallocated space to create more partitions.
Step 4. Click on “Apply” on the upper left and then hit “Proceed” to start the partition-building process.
If you still think this method is too complicated and tedious, you might as well upgrade the software to its pro version so that you can try “Quick Partition” to create multiple partitions at once! Here are the steps:
Step 1. Right-click the disk you want to partition and then select "Quick Partition" in the drop-down menu.
Step 2. Then the "Quick Partition" window shows as below:
Step 3. You can select the disk to be partitioned, partition count, partition size, file system, and partition label, and the rest settings keep as default. And then click "Start Partitioning" to begin creating multiple partition on USB flash drive.
Up to 3 ways are given to create multiple partitions on USB drive. Each way has its own distinction but as for me, I prefer the third AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard for its great convenience. The free version helps me create multiple partitions on USB and moreover, it also helps merge partitions, wipe partitions, and so on. For the pro version, it’s much more powerful, it’s able to do things including splitting partitions and converting MBR to GPT besides creating over 3 partitions once.