Resize Partition with Windows 11 Disk Management and an Easier Way

How do I resize a partition in Windows 11?

✍ Scenario one: "I just got my new PC with Win 11 which is only have one partition (C drive) that is about 1.2TB. I have currently used only 250GB. How to shrink C drive partition to 300GB and leave the rest 900GB as unallocated?"

✍ Scenario two: "I upgraded the internal SSD drive to 1TB and successfully restored my original OS, however there is a 454.57GB unallocated space as seen below. I want to add it to the primary partition. What do I do?"

◈ Why need to resize partition Windows 11?

From the scenarios described above, we can see different users have different reasons for Windows 11 disk management resize partition. We have concluded the main factors that trigger the adjustment of partition size in Windows 11.

For shrinking a partition, it usually occurs when you want to release some free space from a partition with enough storage room to create a new drive or to enlarge other small partitions.

For extending a partition, it's often seen when one partition is running out of space and can't store any new data, especially when C drive is full, you may be eager to increase the size of it, otherwise, your computer will be in slow performance.

◈ How to resize partition in Windows 11 Disk Management?

When you have the needs to resize partition Windows 11, Disk Management or DiskPart comes to your mind. Both of them are Windows built-in features, allowing you to manage your computer hard drive, like shrinking/extending partition, formatting partition, delete partition, etc, However, it is generally accepted that DiskPart command line is quite difficult, if you are not proficient in it, it's easy to cause the operation failure, or system error.

Compared with DiskPart, Disk Management is more friendly to users. Just right-click Start screen and select "Disk Management" to enter the interface of this tool.

For shrinking a partition, right-click the target partition and choose "Shrink volume" from the extended menu and follow the prompts.

For extending a partition, right-click the target partition and choose "Extend volume" from the drop-down menu and follow the prompts.

Windows 11 Disk Management resize partition greyed out

Sadly, according to the user's feedback, it's common to meet some issues when using Windows 11 Disk Management resize partition size.

► Case one. Shrink volume greyed out

Sometimes, when you use Windows 11 Disk Management to reduce the size of the target partition, "Shrink Volume" button appears grey so you can't click on it. People usually encounter such problem in the following situations:

If the partition file system is FAT32 or exFAT, you will fail to shrink volume. This is because Disk Management only works on NTFS and RAW formatted drive.

If there are unmovable files at the end of the partition you plan to reduce, the button will be greyed out.

If there is some virtual memory on the target partition, the option won't be activated.

If there is disk fragment, it will stop you to shrink the partition.

► Case two. Extend volume greyed out

Another case is when you want to enlarge your partition in Disk Management Windows 11, you may find the "Extend Volume" is greyed out in the right-click menu, which restricts the user to extend the drive with low space. The "Extend Volume" will be disabled if:

The file system of target partition is not NTFS or RAW, but you can convert FAT32 to NTFS to make the drive available.

There is no unallocated space right behind the to-be-extended partition.

There is not any unallocated space on the disk.

Free alternative of Disk Management in resizing partition

As we can see, no matter whether you tend to use Disk Management or DiskPart on Windows 11 computer, the limitations are always around you and can't be completely avoided. Therefore, I will recommend you a free disk manager named AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard to replace Windows 11 Disk Management resize partition without losing data. AOMEI software is a professional partition manager designed for Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, XP and Vista users. In resizing partitions, it can do better and more than Disk Management:

Only in three clicks can you finish shrinking or extending your partition.

If there is no unallocated space on the disk, you can allocate free space from one partition to another, so that you can get more free storage room for the target partition.

If the unallocated space is non-adjacent to the target drive, "Merge Partitions" will allow you to merge it into the low space drive.

It's available to all partitions of different types, enabling you to resize encrypted partition as well as adjust the size of the system partition.

It supports almost all partition file systems like FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, RAW, etc, so it's more compatible than Windows built-in features.

No matter how your partition is, AOMEI Partition Assistant always has the relevant functions to ease it. Now, download the freeware and follow the detailed tutorial below to resize partition Windows 11 easily and safely.

▐ Part 1. Shrink partition

Shrinking a partition is quite easy, but AOMEI software can help you get it done easier. Follow the steps to have a look.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard. The home interface will display info of all hard disks and partitions. Right-click on the partition you want to shrink, and select "Resize/Move Partition".

Step 2. In the new window, drag the rings to adjust the length of the green bar to determine the size to shrink. Then hit "OK". 

Step 3. Then, click "Apply > Proceed" to start shrinking.

▐ Part 2. Extend partition

The same as Disk Management in Windows 11, if there are adjacent unallocated space right behind the target partition, you can use "Resize Partition" to enlarge the drive by dragging the green bar to the right. If not, you can use "Move Partition" to make the unallocated space and to-be-extended partition adjacent.

But in this page I'll recommend a more convenient way to you, which won't be affected by the position of the unallocated space. Here are the steps.

Step 1. Open AOMEI software, right-click the partition you want to extend, choose "Advanced" and "Merge Partitions".

Step 2. Tick the unallocated space and click on "OK".

Step 3. Click "Apply" and "Proceed" to commit the operation.

Summary

Now, from this passage, you have known that not every time when using Windows 11 Disk Management resize partition will work. The problems brought by it are always annoying, thus, it's wise and advisable to download an alternative Windows 11 partition manager like AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard mentioned above on your computer. It's featured with many useful and practical functions to help you manage your partitions better, such as migrating OS to SSD , testing the speed of your hard drive, moving folders from C drive to D drive, and so on.