AOMEI Partition Assistant
3 Methods: Extend SSD C Drive Windows 10, 8, 7
Are there any pragmatic ways to extend SSD C drive Windows 10? Over time, the SSD C partition will become almost full, and in this case, you will need to extend it. So, in this tutorial, 3 most effective ways will be introduced to help get it done.
By Michael / Updated on May 12, 2023
Question
How to extend SSD C drive Windows 10? If you still have no idea how to do that, don’t worry, in this article, you’ll learn the top 3 ways to extend the C partition Windows 10 on SSD.
- Question from microsoft.com
Why should we extend SSD C drive Windows 10?
SSD is short for Solid-State Drive, uses microchips to store data, so it is much faster than HDD. That’s why many computer owners tend to migrate Windows OS to SSD. However, at the same price, the size of an SSD is usually smaller than that of an HDD. So, after migrating the OS from HDD to SSD there could be no more enough space on the C drive of the SSD. Moreover, over time, the data written to the C drive could also make the storage space run out. And based on the official news, Windows 11 upgrade will ask for 64GB or greater free space on your C drive. In this case, it should be necessary for users to extend SSD C drive Windows 10.
How to extend the C drive Windows 10 on SSD?
If you still have no idea how to extend SSD C drive on Windows 10, then, don’t worry, because we have rounded up 3 effective methods for your reference. Just read on.
Method 1. Use Disk Management
When it comes to C partition extension, the most basic should be Windows’ most famous inbuilt utility – Disk Management. It’s a program that enables you to manage your disks by formatting, shrinking, extending, and so on. This program is totally free but has its own limit – the C partition can only be extended on condition that there is a piece of unallocated space on its right and contiguous to it. Sometimes, to meet this requirement, you have to delete the partition next to the partition you’re going to extend.
1. On the desktop of your PC, right-click on “This PC” and select “Manage”.
2. On the left below the tab “Storage”, click on “Disk Management”, then the information of your SSD disk and partitions will appear on the right side.
3. Right-click on the partition on the right side of the C drive, select “Delete Volume”, and click on “Yes”. After that, you will get adjacent unallocated space behind the system drive.
Tip: if there is already adjacent unallocated space behind the system partition, just skip this step.
4. Right-click on the C drive and select “Extend Volume”. Follow the wizard and do what it tells you until you click on “Finish”.
Now, check the C drive and you will find it’s successfully enlarged.
Method 2. Try DiskPart
Since I have mentioned Disk Management above, it’s necessary to recommend another powerful program for more professional users called DiskPart. It’s also a Windows inbuilt utility that executes your orders of command lines. It enables you to delete partition, create partition, and also extend partition quickly. However, DiskPart suffers from the same limit of Disk Management – there must be a piece of unallocated space contiguously next to the partition you’re going to extend.
1. Type “list volume” and hit “ENTER”.
2. Type “select volume x” and hit “ENTER”. “x” represents the number of the partition you’re going to delete.
3. Type “delete volume” and hit “ENTER”.
Tip: If there is already a piece of unallocated space behind the C drive, you don’t need to execute the “select volume x” and “delete volume” commands.
4. Type “select volume #” and hit “ENTER”. “#” represents the number of the C drive.
5. Type “extend” and hit “ENTER”.
Method 3. Resort to third-party freeware
In the content above, you can see Disk Management and Disk Part share a common limit that forces you to delete a partition in some cases. Thus, there is a risk of data loss. To stay out of trouble, you need to find an alternative way to extend SSD C drive Windows 10. After trying various tools on market, finally, I found this third-party freeware – AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard – that is able to extend SSD C drive even there is not a piece of contiguous unallocated space. Besides this functionality, this powerful software also helps resize encrypted partition, migrate OS from MBR to MBR, clone one partition to another, and create partitions.
Free download the best disk manager software to extend SSD C partition on Windows 10 with ease.
Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. Then, all disks and partitions will appear on the main interface.
Step 2. To extend the C drive of the SSD, first, you need to create a piece of unallocated space. Right-click on the partition you want to create the unallocated space from and select “Resize/Move Partition”.
Step 3. Adjust the length of the green bar by dragging the rings on both sides to determine the size of the unallocated space. After it’s completed, click on “OK”. Now, you’ll see there is an extra piece of unallocated space on the interface.
Tip: If there is already a piece of unallocated space next to the C drive, just skip the shrinking step and proceed to step 4.
Step 4. Right-click on the C drive and select “Merge Partitions”.
Step 5. Tick off the unallocated space you just created and hit “OK” to return to the main interface.
Step 6. Hit “Apply” on the upper left of the interface and then, hit “Proceed” to start the merging process.
In a few seconds, you’ll notice the SSD C drive gets much bigger.
Conclusion
How do I extend my SSD C drive once for all? You must have found the answer after going through the entire tutorial. Disk Management, DiskPart, and AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard are all professional tools that can help you quickly get it done. However, for the data safety’s sake, I prefer the third one because there is no risk of data loss. To furtherly enhance the performance of your SSD, you can consider executing 4K alignment on SSD drive, and in this case, you must upgrade the freeware to the pro version.
