How can you extend the system drive in Windows 11/10? This article covers three available disk management tools to make Windows 11 extend system partition easily and efficiently.
Yes, it is possible for Windows 11 to extend the system partition, provided there is unallocated space available on the same disk. The system partition, typically the C: drive, can be expanded to accommodate more data or speed up performance. However, the process may depend on the specific system configuration, disk structure, and available tools. While Windows 11 includes built-in utilities to manage partitions, extending the system partition may sometimes require third-party software, especially if unallocated space is not adjacent to the system partition. Additionally, users should proceed with caution, as modifying partitions can result in data loss if not done correctly.
First, open Disk Management to check if there is any unallocated space behind your target system drive. If there is, you can use any one of the following methods; if not, the first way will assist you in increasing the size of C drive.
There's no need to worry if the unallocated space isn't located behind your C drive, or if your disk doesn't have any unallocated space at all. AOMEI Partition Assistant is a powerful partition management tool that works on Windows 11/10/8/7. It comes with multiple features to extend partition in different situations, ensuring your data remains fully protected throughout the entire process.
Simply follow the guide provided here to successfully and efficiently extend your system drive in Windows 11.
If your C drive is running out of space and you're receiving low disk space warnings, don’t worry, the “1-Click Adjust Space” feature of AOMEI Partition Assistant can help you easily solve it. This function enables you to resize multiple partitions at the same time, which means you can easily extend system partition in Windows 11 without (continuous) unallocated space. You can follow the steps below to see how it works:
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".
Step 2. 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: at the same time. Then click "OK".
Tips: 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".
Step 4. The process will start and you can check the progress. It might take time to finish the operation.
Step 5. Wait for the operation to be finished. After it is completed successfully, you will find D: is enlarged and both D: and F: are adjusted.
In addition to the “1-Click Adjust Space” feature, you can also turn to “Merge Partition” to make it when there is no This feature is welcomed by millions of users because it can simply merge non-continuous unallocated space into a partition with a few clicks. Here is the guide on how to extend C drive in Windows 11 with unallocated space that is not adjacent:
Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant. In this example, there is an unallocated space behind D: partition. Right-click the partition (here is D:) where you want to merge unallocated space to and click "Advanced" and then select the "Merge Partitions" feature in the drop-down menu.
Step 2. In the pop-up window, tick the check boxes of which are in front of the partition and the unallocated space, and then click "OK" to continue. In this case, you cannot specify the target partition because D: is selected as the target partition in default and there is no other choice.
Step 3. You can preview changes. To start the operation, please click "Apply" on the toolbar. Then, you can preview the conversion under "Pending Operations". Then, you can click "Proceed" to start the merge operation.
Step 4. Wait for the process to be finished. Once it is finished, you will find the unallocated space is merged into D:.
What should you do if there is no unallocated space on your system disk? If you have free, unused space in other partitions, you can also use AOMEI Partition Assistant's "Allocate Free Space" feature to extend your system drive directly.
This feature allows you to transfer free space from larger volumes to your C drive to perform Windows 11 extend system partition without losing data. We'll use reallocating space from the D drive to the C drive as an example to guide you through the process. Here's how to do it:
Step 1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant, right-click the partition which you want to allocate free space from, and select "Allocate Free Space". (As you can see from the following screenshot, I choose the D: partition as the source partition.)
Step 2. Type in the size of the free space which you want to cut from the D: partition and this free space will be directly added to the destination partition. (Take the following screenshot as an example - I will allocate 50GB’s free space from the D: partition to the C: partition.)
Step 3. You can preview the shrink operation by viewing the "Pending Operations". To commit the "Pending Operations", please click "Apply" and "Proceed". You can also tick "Check partitions before execution" to go through the partition in case of any error in it. In default, this option is ticked.
Step 4. The process will start. Please wait until it is finished. Then, you can close the program to exit.
Disk Management is another tool you can use to extend the system drive with free unallocated space behind the C drive.
To extend the system partition in Windows 11/10 using Disk Management, there must be contiguous unallocated space directly behind the system partition. Without this, you won't be able to extend the system partition.
Here's how to extend your Windows 11/10 system partition in Disk Management:
Step 1. Open Disk Management by right-clicking the Windows icon and selecting "Disk Management".
Step 2. Right-click on the system partition you want to extend and choose "Extend Volume" from the menu.
Step 3. Click "Next" and specify the amount of unallocated space you wish to add to the C drive. Then, click "Next" to proceed.
Step 4. Finally, click "Finish" to complete the process.
In addition to Disk Management, another built-in tool in Windows, DiskPart, offers a powerful partition management feature that can help you extend the system C drive in Windows 11/10.
Keep in mind that DiskPart will only work if the unallocated space is directly behind the system C drive. Here are the steps to follow:
Step 1. Right-click the Windows icon, select "Search," type cmd, and press Enter.
Step 2. Type diskpart and press Enter. Click "Yes" to open DiskPart.
Step 3. Enter the following commands, pressing Enter after each one:
list volume
select volume 1 (Replace 1 with the volume number of your C drive.)
extend
Step 4. Alternatively, you can use these commands:
list disk
select disk 0 (Replace 0 with the disk number of your system disk.)
list partition
select partition 4 (Replace 4 with the partition number of your system drive.)
extend size=100 (Replace 100 with the size of unallocated space in MB.)
When the process is complete, type exit to close DiskPart.
This page presents three partition management tools—AOMEI Partition Assistant, Disk Management, and DiskPart—to help you efficiently make Windows 11 extend system partition or on other systems, whether or not there is unallocated space.
For a simple and beginner-friendly option, AOMEI Partition Assistant is highly recommended. It also offers many other powerful features to help you manage disks and partitions better, including resizing/moving partitions, converting MBR to GPT, cloning larger drive to smaller drive, and so on.