AOMEI Partition Assistant
How to Extend C Drive with Healthy Recovery Partition
Some users wish to know how to extend C drive with healthy recovery partition because they find it takes up too much free space on the disk. In this post, you’ll see several ways to safely extend C drive via recovery partition.
By Lucas / Updated on January 7, 2025
About the recovery partition in Windows system
Many users encounter issues related to the recovery partition due to a limited understanding of its purpose and functionality. Some systems may have two recovery partitions, while others might have only one that occupies significant disk space. Let’s explore the recovery partition in more detail.
In Windows, there are generally two types of recovery partitions: the Windows recovery partition and the OEM recovery partition (created by the computer manufacturer).
The Windows recovery partition allows users to boot into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) and restore their system in case of glitches or other issues. On the other hand, the OEM recovery partition, designed by manufacturers, provides an option to restore the computer to its factory default settings using a specific key (commonly F9 for HP and F12 for Dell).
These partitions differ in the disk space they require. The OEM recovery partition typically needs between 7GB and 20GB, whereas the Windows recovery partition occupies a much smaller space, usually ranging from 100MB to 450MB.
Why extend C drive with recovery partition?
Users want to extend their C drive using the recovery partition because the C drive, which typically holds the operating system and user applications, may run out of space over time. This can lead to system performance issues, such as slow operation and insufficient storage for updates or new applications.
As we’ve mentioned on some Windows computers, the recovery partition may take up 20GB size on the hard disk. Users might see this as wasted space and consider merging it with the C drive to increase available storage, especially if they have already backed up their system or no longer need the recovery functionality.
How to extend C drive with healthy recovery partition on Windows 11/10
To use the recovery partition enlarging C drive, you can delete the recovery partition to make it an unallocated space if it’s right behind the C drive on your disk (only the unallocated space right behind the C drive can be added into the C drive). But, we must note that users can erase the recovery partition, once deleted, Windows RE and the factory default settings are unreachable. Thus, deleting the recovery partition is risky unless you create a recovery disk with your USB drive in case you need it after removing the recovery sector.
Part 1. Check recovery partition in Disk Management
In Disk Management, we will determine which of your disk's partitions are recovery partitions. Please remember the size of the recovery partition so that you can identify it in the Diskpart.
Part 2. Delete recovery partition via Diskpart
Step 1. Type “CMD” in the search box and press “Enter” to open it. Then type “diskpart” and hit “Enter”.
Step 2. Type “list disk” to list all your disks. Then, type “select disk x” (x is the number of the target disk with the recovery partition) and hit “Enter” to choose it.
Step 3. Type “list partition” to show all partitions on the selected disk, and type “select partition x” (x is the number of the recovery partition to delete) to choose the recovery partition. Then type “delete partition override”.
Step 4. Then in the new partition list, you can see the second partition has been removed. If your disk only has one recovery partition, you can close Diskpart.
As the example we show, there are two recovery partitions, if your disk also has two, and you wish to delete all, please continue the operation as the picture shows.
Easily extend C drive with healthy recovery partition without deleting any partition
It is indeed a risky operation for users who aren’t familiar with CMD commands, they may cause computer boot failure or other serious problems that may cause your Windows to fail. And also, if users can’t create a recovery USB, they will be not allowed to use Startup Repair or Auto Repair features when the system needs WinRE.
In this case, we suggest you try AOMEI Partition Assistant, a Windows disk/partition manager for Windows 11/10/8/8.1/7 PC with various helpful features. To extend C drive with recovery partition, you can use the “1-Click Adjust Space” feature of this handy tool. This function is much more flexible to adjust a partition space by simply dragging the dots next to the partitions' head and tail. In this way, you can easily and quickly change the disk layout.
100% SecureNotes:
1. Do not forcibly terminate the tasks or cut off the power otherwise you might lose your data.
2. Close all running applications on the partitions you want to resize.
Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant. Right-click a partition (here is D: partition) you want to adjust space and select "1-Click Adjust Space".
Tip: It cannot select unallocated space to adjust because the feature is just for partition space adjustment.
Step 2. For example, if you want to use the space on F: to expand D:, you can simply drag the dot near the partition F: head backward to shrink the partition F: and enlarge the partition D: simultaneously. Then click "OK".
You can simultaneously drag the dot near the partition C: tail forward to shrink the partition C: so the D: will also be enlarged with the space of C: at the same time. In this case, you can adjust all partition space (C:, D:, and F:) on the disk.
Step 3. You can preview the operation by viewing the "Pending Operations". To commit the "Pending Operations", please click "Apply" and "Proceed".
The process will start and you can check the progress. It might take time to finish the operation.
Wait for the operation to be finished, your computer will restart after you change the size of C drive.
To sum up
Windows Disk Management is a great built-in tool to adjust partitions and change the disk settings, however, when you need to modify the C drive and recover partition, this tool can’t help you. AOMEI Partition Assistant is an all-around alternative to system tool for users to organize the disks and partitions. In this post, you can learn how to extend C drive with healthy recovery partition after you deleting it or without deletion. We hope you can successfully solve the problem.
Also, this tool has “Allocate Free Space” function to help you directly use partition space on the same disk to extend C drive. And you can choose the Server edition or other advanced editions for multiple device management.
