Want to move partition using DiskPart in Windows 11/10/8/7? This article details how to move a partition to the left or right side of the disk using the Command Line in Windows efficiently.
In most cases, after you buy a new computer, the hard drive may have been partitioned by the manufacturer. But a single partition may not satisfy you. That’s why so many users want to resize partition by themselves. And in some cases, moving partition is needed.
Generally, people would like to move a partition on a hard disk out for the following reasons:
● Move unallocated space. If you want to use Windows built-in tools to extend the partition, you should know that the unallocated space must be adjacent to the target partition. ● Some user wants to move the system drive to the start of the disk or move a certain volume to the end of the disk for better management. In fact, if there is a hidden partition like system reserved partition or EFI partition at the beginning of the disk, moving them may cause boot issues because those partitions usually contain boot files or system files. Thus, it is not recommended to take action on them.
You may get other reasons to move a partition to the left or right, but how do you complete it?
DiskPart, a Windows in-built hard drive partition manage tool, helps people do many operations such as format partition, resize partition, assign drive letter, clean disk, convert between MBR and GPT, etc. Well, will it be able to move a partition for you?
Unfortunately, the answer is No. Type diskpart > help and all available commands will be listed as below. You may find there is no “Move” command.
Microsoft thinks it is a bad idea to change volumes’ location especially the first sector of a partition, so it throws away the function. Indeed, it is a little bit dangerous for common user who has less computer experiences to move partition.
However, if you know exactly what you’re doing and the need is urgent, or you’re moving a partition on a non-system disk, you can try this way to make it. It will help you move partition in Windows 11/10/8/7 easily.
AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional is a powerful hard drive partition manager that you could rely on. With its embedded utility, Partassist.exe, you can move partition in CMD to the left or right side with simple steps. More important, it will align partition to optimize reading and writing speed while moving.
To be specific, it allows you to move not only partitions including recovery partitions but also unallocated spaces. You can move a partition through drive letter as well as volume number. Besides, you have options to enter how much size you want to move or leave it entirely moved. By default, the specified size is in MB yet GB is available as well.
Further, if you just want to allocate free space from one partition to another, the software will definitely help you. Steps are quite easy and here comes the full guide.
1. Install AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional on your computer. Remember the installation path.
2. Click Start and then type command prompt in the Search box. Right click Command Prompt from the result and select Run as administrator to open an elevated command prompt.
3. At the prompt, input cd + the installation path of AOMEI Partition Assistant and press Enter. For example, cd C:\Program Files (x86)\AOMEI Partition Assistant.
4. Here are some common situations and corresponding commands to move a partition you may need. Just input one of them and then press Enter will be workable. You need to replace the disk number, volume number or drive letter when necessary.
a. Change the location of a partition by moving 1000 MB or 10 GB to the left side and align the partition to optimize reading/writing speed.
● partassist.exe /hd:0 /move:0 /left:1000 /align
● partassist.exe /move:F /left:10 GB /align
b. Move a partition to occupy all unallocated space on its left side and align the partition to optimize reading/writing speed.
● partassist.exe /hd:0 /move:0 /left:auto /align
● partassist.exe /move:F /left:auto /align
c. Change the location of a partition by moving 1000 MB or 10 GB to the right side and align the partition to optimize reading/writing speed.
● partassist.exe /hd:0 /move:0 /right:1000 /align
● partassist.exe /move:F /right:10 GB /align
d. Move a partition to occupy all unallocated space on its right side and align the partition to optimize reading/writing speed.
● partassist.exe /hd:0 /move:0 /right:auto /align
● partassist.exe /move:F /right:auto /align
Descriptions:
● /hd: followed by disk number, starts with 0.
● /move: followed by volume number or drive letter. If the specified value is drive letter, disk number can be ignored.
● /left: move to the left side or followed by specific size.
● /right: move to the right side or followed by specific size.
● /align: optimize reading and writing speed for partitions.
Tips: if you have no idea about disk number, volume number or drive letter, you can type diskpart > list disk > list volume to learn more.
5. Finally, type exit to leave the command prompt.
Apart from command line user interface, the software also provides graphical user interface (GUI), which designs for users who are not familiar with CMD operations. A partition can be dragged to the left or right side easily.
Please note that the Professional edition of AOMEI Partition Assistant works only on Windows PC operating systems. To move a partition using CMD in Windows Server OS, please refer to AOMEI Partition Assistant Server.
Although Microsoft gives some restrictions on DiskPart move partition operation, you have other approaches. AOMEI Partition Assistant is a good workaround solution. As a matter of fact, the software is capable of many other things. For instance, you can convert RAW to FAT32 using CMD, check disk with CMD, create or delete partition from command prompt, etc.