AOMEI Partition Assistant
How to Extend C Drive in Windows 11 Without Formatting (2 Methods)
If you don’t know how to extend C drive in Windows 11 without formatting, please refer to this post. We will talk about 2 methods to do it, including CMD and a third-party freeware.
By Tina / Updated on May 12, 2023
Help! How to extend C drive in Windows 11 without formatting
Hi. I tried using Disk Management to extend the C drive, but the "Extend Volume" option faded away for the C drive, but not for the other drives. Some people suggested I format the partition next to the C drive, but some important data are stored on it, so I don't want to format it. Any idea to extend the drive without formatting?
- Question from sevenforums.com
Why need to extend C drive in Windows 11 without formatting?
When the C drive becomes full, to ensure the smooth operation of the PC, many users decide to extend it. Windows built-in Disk Management may be their first choice.
However, some users claim that "Extend volume greyed out", and they are asked to format a certain partition to extend the C drive. Formatting the partition may solve the problem, but at the same time all data on the partition will be deleted, so many users are unwilling to format the partition.
Actually, when there is no unallocated space adjacent to the C drive, or if the target partition is not NFTS or RAW, extending a partition may fail. In this tutorial, we'll share some methods to extend the C drive in different conditions without formatting.
How to extend C drive in Windows 11 without formatting
How to extend C drive without formatting? In the following content, we'll share two methods for you.
★ Method 1. Using Diskpart to extend C drive without formatting
Diskpart is another Windows built-in tool, it can manage the disk with entered commands. When there's unallocated space, you can try to extend the C drive with it.
➹ When there is adjacent unallocated space to the C drive.
Step 1. Click "Start", then input "diskpart" in the search bar and press "Enter".
Step 2. In the Diskpart window, input these commands and hit "Enter" each time:
• list disk
• select disk n ( "n" is the drive letter.)
• list partition
• select partition n ( "n" is the the partition behind C drive.)
• extend
• exit
➹ When there is no unallocated space adjacent to the C drive.
In the Diskpart window, input these commands in turn and press "Enter":
• list disk
• select disk n
• list partition
• select partition n ("n" refers to the the partition behind C drive.)
• delete partition
• select partition m("m" is the C drive.)
• extend
• Exit
★ Method 2. Try a reliable freeware to extend C drive without formatting
When Windows built-in tools cannot work, how to extend C drive in Windows 11 without formatting? You can try AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, it is a free disk manager.
It offers endless possibilities for your productive PC:
✿ It is suitable for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7/Vista/XP, even if your OS is Windows Server, it provides you with a special Server version.
✿ Its operating interface is bright and clear.
✿ For different disk conditions, it designed 3 functions to extend C drive on Windows 11, including Resize Partition, Merge Partition and Allocate Free Space.
✿ It also provides more free functions, and help you better manage PC disk, such as Clone Partition, Wipe hard drive, Check Partition, etc.
Let's see how to extend the C drive in Windows 11 with unallocated space.
☀ Case 1. The unallocated space is adjacent to the C drive
When there is an unallocated space adjacent to the C drive, please extend it with the "Resize Partition" function.
Tip: If the unallocated space is not adjacent to the C drive, you can move C partition to make them next to each other.
Step 1. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant. Right click the target C drive and select "Resize/Move Partition".
Step 2. In the small window, drag the little circle to the right side, click "OK".
Step 3. Click the "Apply" to extend the C drive.
☀ Case 2. The unallocated space isn't adjacent to the C drive
If the unallocated space isn't adjacent to the C drive, you can directly merge the unallocated space with C drive. Here're the detailed steps:
Step 1. In the main interface, right-click the C drive, click "Advanced" and select "Merge Partitions".
Step 2. In the popped out window, tick C drive and the unallocated space, then click "OK".
Step 3. Finally, click "Apply" and "Proceed" to start the task.
Allocate free space to C drive from another drive
If there is no unallocated space on disk, don't worry. The "Allocate free space" function can move free space from other drives to the C drive. Just upgrade to the Professional Version, then you can enjoy it.
Step 1. Right-click the D drive with much free space, then click "Allocate Free Space".
Step 2. In the new window, reset the allocated space and C drive, then click "OK".
Step 3. Click "Apply" and "Proceed" to start this operation.
Note: This practical tool also provides other advanced function to free up the C drive, including Delete Large Files, Move programs to another drive, etc.
Epilogue
How to extend C drive in Windows 11 without formatting? In this tutorial, we have shared the methods to do it, even when there's no unallocated space. By comparison, the AOMEI Partition Assistant can meet all your needs.
