How to Repartition USB Drive without Data Loss in Windows 10, 8, 7?

Why repartition USB drive (into 2 partitions)?

USB flash drive is a popular data storage device for users to transfer data to/from a computer thanks to its compact and portable size. Besides, USB flash drives are relatively durable since they don’t have moving parts.

Generally, the USB drive has only one partition. However, the capacity of USB flash drive gets larger and larger nowadays; so many users want to repartition USB drive into at least 2 partitions, which allows users to save different types of folders and files in different partitions so that they will be able to quickly find out what they need when necessary.

Can a USB drive have multiple partitions?

Before repartitioning USB drive into several partitions, you might ponder whether a USB drive can has more than one partition. Indeed, the Windows system sets a restriction on the partition number of USB flash drive and other removable media. No matter how many partitions you create on the USB stick, Windows can only recognize the first primary partition. Consequently, you cannot see, not to mention accessing the extra partitions on the USB stick in File Explorer.

However, times are changing. This limitation is removed since Windows 10 Creators Update that supports multiple partitions on removable disks. It allows Windows 10 users to see and access all partitions on the USB flash drive in File Explorer. So, starting from Windows 10 version 1703 with ADK installed, users can add more partitions to USB sticks and normally use them for storing data.

How to repartition USB drive without data loss in Windows?

To repartition hard drives, Windows Disk Management can be useful. But for repartitioning removable disks such as USB flash drive, memory card, SD card, etc, it cannot help you because it does not allow you to shrink or delete volumes on removable storage devices. Even if you can shrink USB flash drive volume in Diskpart, you still cannot create a new partition from the generated unallocated space.

Therefore, you need a disk partition manager like AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. It is able to shrink volume as well as delete volume on USB flash drive. So, with it, you can first shrink an existing partition on the USB drive, and then create a new partition using the generated unallocated space. By comparison, its other two features are more recommended to repartition USB flash drive in Windows PC.

1. Split Partition: divide a large partition into two smaller partitions and it will reallocate files if you meet unmovable files during the process.

2. Quick Partition: quickly partition a new disk into multiple volumes with one click.

Steps to repartition USB flash drives

Now, we will demonstrate how to repartition a USB flash drive into 2 partitions step by step. Before proceeding, you can first check the USB drive for possible errors via the “Check Partition” feature of AOMEI Partition Assistant, which can check errors on the partition and fix them.

Method 1. Split USB drive partition

If your USB drive already has a partition and you want to add a new one, you can use the “Split Partition” function to repartition it.

Step 1. Install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Right click the single partition on your USB drive and select “Split Partition”.

Step 2. In this window, you can specify the size and location of the new partition as you need. Then click “OK”.

Step 3. Back to the main interface, click “Apply” to commit the pending operation.

Method 2. Quick Partition USB drive

If your USB flash drive is empty without any partitions on, the “Quick Partition” function is proper.

Step 1. Right click the USB flash drive and click “Quick Partition”. 

Step 2. In the new window, you can set the partition number, disk type (MBR or GPT), partition label, partition size as you like. Then click “Start Partitioning”.

Final Words

Above is how to repartition USB drive into two or more partitions in Windows 10/8/7 via AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Besides partitioning hard drives in Windows PC, it comes with other amazing functions for managing partitions conveniently and flexibly. For example, it can wipe USB flash drive completely, format 64GB USB to FAT32, copy recovery partition to USB, clone USB drive, etc. If you are running Windows Server, you can try AOMEI Partition Assistant Server.