2021 Tutorial: How to Resize C Drive in Windows 11/10/8/7
To resize your C drive in Windows 10, you can follow these 3 free methods to effectively extend or shrink the drive space without losing any data or reinstalling the OS.
3 Free Tools for Resizing C Drive in Windows 10/8/7
To resize the C drive to a larger size, you can use the built-in Disk Management tool in Windows. First, open the Disk Management tool by searching for it in the Start menu. Then, select the disk that contains the C drive and click on the "Extend" option to extend the volume.
To resize C drive to a smaller size, you can follow these steps:
To resize your C drive, you can allocate space from your D drive to your C drive. This process involves using the Disk Management tool in Windows, which allows you to shrink the D drive and expand the C drive.
Why Do You Need to Resize C: Drive
The C: drive is the primary drive that stores the operating system and essential files required to boot up the computer, making it the system partition.
You may need to resize and change the C drive space if the size of your C: drive is not sufficient for your needs, regardless of the operating system installed. This can occur in various situations, such as when you need to install new software, free up space for files, or upgrade your operating system.
- Windows updates are consuming an increasingly large amount of space on my C drive.
- C drive full: C: drive is running out of place.
- You need to free up space on your C drive to make room for other data drives, so you're looking to reduce its size.
- Computer goes slow, computer performance declines.
To resolve issues related to the size of the C drive on your computer, you can use a reliable partition resizing tool to change the size of the C drive. This will help resolve the issues.
3 Free Tools for Resizing C Drive in Windows 10/8/7
While Microsoft offers two built-in disk utility tools, Windows Disk Management and DiskPart Utility, for free, they may not be the most reliable options for managing partitions on a computer.
Here are the top 3 partition management tools to change the C drive space for free in Windows 10/8/7:
| Comparison | Qiling Partition Master | Disk Management | DiskPart Utility |
|---|---|---|---|
| Extend C Drive (without Unallocated Space) | √ | × (Can't extend volume without unallocated space) | × (Can't extend volume without unallocated space) |
| Reduce C Drive | √ | √ | √ |
| Designed for All Levels of Users | √ | × (Not for Beginners) | × (Not for Beginners) |
| Difficulty Level | Easiest | Medium | Hard |
The comparison table reveals that Disk Management and DiskPart can only extend a partition if there is adjacent unallocated space next to the target volume.
It's clear that the third-Qiling Partition Master is a top-rated partition manager software that allows users to resize their system partition, specifically the C: drive, making it a reliable choice for those seeking to optimize their disk space.
To resize your C drive, follow the next two parts, where we'll show you how to do it for free using the three tools recommended here. We'll guide you through the process step by step.
The methods provided can be used to resize or change partition size in Windows Server computers and Windows XP/Vista, similar to their application in Windows 7/8/10.
Part 1. How to Resize C Drive to A Larger Size
The size of the C drive should be at least 1/3 of the total capacity of the disk.
To free up space on your C drive, consider resizing it to take up a larger portion of your disk, especially if your disk is 500GB or larger. This can be done by allocating 150GB or more to the C drive, depending on your specific needs. To achieve this, you can follow a step-by-step process from easy to complex methods, which include resizing the disk, moving files to other drives, and using disk cleanup tools.
To extend the C drive, you can follow these steps: Firstly, go to Disk Management by pressing the Windows key + R, typing "diskmgmt.msc" and pressing Enter.
To resize C drive to a larger size using Qiling Partition Master, follow these steps: First, download and install Qiling Partition Master on your computer. Then, launch the software and select the disk where the C drive is located. Next, click on the "Resize/Move Partition" button and select the C drive.
#2. Resize C Drive to Bigger Space with Disk Management
#3. Extend C Drive with DiskPart Utility
If your computer disk doesn't have unallocated space, you may need to resize the C drive to a bigger size by following Method 1, which involves resizing the C drive to free up unallocated space.
Method 1. How to Resize C: Drive to Larger Size with Qiling Partition Master
Qiling Partition Master is a comprehensive hard disk partition management software that offers powerful functions to easily manage partitions, making it a magic partition software.
- Resize and Move partitions
- Copy Disk, Copy Partition
- Create partition
- Delete, Format partitions, merge partitions, and split partitions
- Disk Conversion - MBR disk to GPT disk, or vice versa, etc.
To extend the system partition (C: drive), download Qiling partition manager and follow its step-by-step instructions.
Step-by-Step Guide to Resize and Extend C Drive
Step 1: Free up unallocated space for C drive.
1. If there's no free space on the system disk, select a partition next to the C: drive and choose "Resize/Move" in the Disk management page.
2. To resize the partition, drag the left panel to shrink and leave unallocated space behind the system C: drive, then click "Proceed" to start the resize process.
Step 2: Increase C drive space.
1. To resize or move a partition on your C: drive, click on the C: drive in the Disk Management page and select the "Resize/Move" option.
2. To expand the C: drive, drag the system partition end into the unallocated space, allowing for the addition of space to the C: drive. After making the necessary adjustments, click "Proceed" to initiate the process.
Method 2. Resize C Drive to Bigger Space with Disk Management
To resize the C drive on Windows 10, open Disk Management by pressing the Windows key + R, typing "diskmgmt.msc," and pressing Enter.
Step 1. Right-click the Windows icon and select "Disk Management".
Step 2. Right-click on the C: drive, and select "Extend Volume".
Step 3. To add unallocated space to the C drive, click "Next" after selecting the size of the unallocated space you want to add.
Then click "Finish" to complete.
Method 3. Extend C Drive with DiskPart Utility
To resize C drive to a bigger size using DiskPart in Windows 10, start by opening Command Prompt as an administrator, then type "DiskPart" and press Enter. Next, type "list disk" and press Enter to list all disks on your computer. Identify the disk that contains your C drive and note its disk number. Then, type "select disk [disk number]" and press Enter, replacing [disk number] with the actual number of your disk.
Step 1. Right-click on the Windows icon and select "Search", type: cmd and hit Enter.
Step 2. Type: diskpart and hit Enter. Click "Yes" to open DiskPart.
Step 3. Type the following command and hit Enter each time:
- list disk
- Select the disk where Windows is installed. This is usually the disk with the operating system and all your data. The disk number is usually denoted by 'C' in the list, but it can be different depending on your system configuration.
- list partition
- SELECT * FROM table_name PARTITION (2) WHERE condition; (Replace 2 with the number of your C drive.)
- To extend the size of your disk to utilize the unallocated space, you can use the command "extend size=X disk=N" in the command line, where "X" is the specific size of the unallocated space in megabytes (MB) and "N" is the disk number of your system disk. For example, if you have 1000 MB of unallocated space on disk 1, the command would be "extend size=1000 disk=1".
Step 4. Type: exit to close the DiskPart window when you finish extending the C drive.
Part 2. How to Resize C Drive to A Smaller Size
To adjust the C drive space to a smaller size by shrinking the partition, you can use the built-in Disk Management tool in Windows. This tool allows you to resize the partition, freeing up space on the C drive and potentially improving system performance. By shrinking the partition, you can make more space available on the C drive, which can be useful if you're running low on disk space.
Compressing the C drive is generally not recommended as it can lead to insufficient free space as Windows updates and files are saved to the drive, making it difficult to install future updates or save new files.
Here are three tools you can use to try and shrink the size of your C drive:
To resize the C drive to a smaller size using Qiling Partition Manager software, follow these steps:
#2. Adjust Drive to a Smaller Size using Disk Management
#3. Shrink C Drive using DiskPart Utility
To reduce space on your C drive or other partitions, follow these steps: start by creating a new partition on your computer, then move some files to the new partition to free up space on your C drive. Alternatively, you can use the built-in Disk Management tool to shrink the C drive and create a new partition.
Method 1. Resize C Drive to Smaller using Qiling Partition Manager Software
Step 1: Locate and select target partition to shrink
Click on the partition you want to shrink, select "Resize/Move" from the context menu.
Step 2: Adjust to shrink partition
To resize a partition, you can use a mouse to drag one of its ends to shrink the partition space. This allows you to reclaim some space on the disk for other uses.
You can adjust the partition size box to shrink the target partition. Once done, click "Proceed" to continue.
Method 2. Adjust Drive to a Smaller Size using Disk Management
Step 1. Type disk management in Search Box, click "Create and format hard disk partitions" to enter Disk Management.
Step 2. Right-click the C: drive and select "Shrink Volume".
Step 3. Enter the amount of space you want to shrink in MB, then click on the "Shrink" button.
Wait for the process to complete, you'll get unallocated space to extend to other partitions.
Method 3. Shrink C Drive using DiskPart Utility
Step 1. Click the "Start" button and type cmd.
Step 2. Right-click "Command Prompt" and choose "Run as administrator".
Step 3. To shrink the C drive in DiskPart, enter the following commands in order:
- diskpart
- list volume
- To shrink a partition in Windows, you need to select the volume number of the partition you want to shrink. This can be done in the Disk Management utility, which can be accessed by right-clicking on the Start menu and selecting Disk Management.
- You want to shrink your partition to 123.464 megabytes.
Step 4. When the process completes, type exit and hit Enter to close DiskPart Utility.
To free up unallocated space on your computer hard drive, you can use the built-in Disk Cleanup tool or a third-party disk cleaning software. This will help you remove temporary files, system logs, and other unnecessary data, making more space available for other uses.
Bonus Tip to Resize C Drive: Allocate Space from D Drive to C Drive
When there's no free space to expand the C drive, you can upgrade Qiling Partition Master Free to the Pro version, which allows you to use its "Allocate Space" feature.
The software allows you to allocate free space from other volumes on your computer's disk to the C drive without deleting any data.
Qiling Partition Master offers a range of features beyond resizing partitions, including Partition Recovery and Disk and Partition Copy, to help resolve disk and partition issues.
Conclusion
The C drive is a crucial part of your Windows 10/8/7 system, and running out of space on it can cause performance issues. To avoid this, it's essential to resize your C drive to free up space.
If you're a Windows beginner or prefer a hassle-free way to extend or shrink your C drive space, Qiling Partition Master Free Edition is the perfect solution. This software not only allows you to resize partitions, but also helps you resolve other disk partition issues for free, making it a great choice for those who need a straightforward and easy-to-use method.
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