How to Increase/Extend C Drive Space in Windows 11(Fixed)
What Is Windows 11
Windows 11 is the name given to Microsoft's latest operating system, which combines the strengths of Windows 10, offering a network-centric approach for PCs and devices ranging from tablets to the data center. Instead of following with another incremental revision -- Microsoft has come up with something entirely different that it hopes PC users will find compelling.
Windows 11, the latest iteration of the desktop operating system, is focused on simplicity, speed, and security, with a new look for apps and icons. Microsoft's design team has once again embarked on a complete overhaul of the Windows user experience. For example, window snapping—the ability to drag a window from any side of the screen until it sticks there—has been enhanced to make moving two windows next to each other more straightforward.
| Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
|---|---|
| Fix 1. Use Qiling Partition Master | Run Qiling Partition Master > Right-click partition and choose "Resize...Full steps |
| Fix 2. Increase C Drive Space with Disk Management | Open Disk Management > Figure out two situations > Choose...Full steps |
| Fix 3. Increase C Drive Space with CMD | Open CMD and choose Run as administrator...Full steps |
Why Do You Need to Increase C Drive Space
A computer's internal hard drive is a storage device that can provide a lot of space for your essential data. The hard disk that takes up the bulk of the storage in your machine is usually the C drive. If you have been using your computer for the past few days/weeks/months, there is unquestionably a need to increase the C drive space as you have already used up all the available space. In addition, if you want to install new applications or games on your machine, there could be a requirement for additional C drive space.
1) Low C disk drive space issue: To run your Windows 11 PC smoothly - there should be enough space left in your computer's C drive. In other words, it has been said that "the C drive is the heart of a PC." But with the development of time, We are likely to install more and more programs and data on the C drive so that there may not be sufficient space left in it.
What happens when the C drive is running out of disk space? It would be a disaster for the computer system. And then, how could we deal with it? Well, the first consideration should be extending the storage of the hard disk, while the second should be optimizing computer systems and removing unwanted files and folders on the C drive.
2) Slow Windows performance issue: When your computer experiences heavy storage usage, the hard drive will start fragmenting, which makes the running speed of Windows OS and the performance of your computer drag. The speed decrease is very gradual and not noticeable at first. However, as time goes by, it will also affect your day-to-day PC activities. And sometimes, you may find that your computer freezes for a second or two.
Slow computer performance is annoying. How to bypass this problem? So, what about free up space on the local drive? It is possible to extend volume space on a C drive using free disk space, which is difficult for ordinary users to do without the help of a professional partition extension tool. it
One convenient way to increase your C drive's free space is to extend drive space using the Qiling Partition Master program. Even though the built-in Windows 11 disk management tool to extend the C drive space is good enough for experienced users but has fewer capabilities. Disk management makes it harder to extend the drive space if there is no unallocated space in the partition. Qiling Partition Master is easier to use and comes in handy in this situation.
How to Expand C Drive in Windows 11
Method 1. Use Qiling Partition Master
Qiling Partition Master Free is an excellent partition manager that can expand C drive space without losing the data. It allows you to manage, reorganize and maintain your disk partitions. Qiling partition manager for Windows 11 also allows you to merge two adjacent partitions and create a new larger one.
With Qiling Partition Master, the partition becomes more flexible. It can extend volume without unallocated space and migrate OS to SSD/HDD without reinstalling the system. While it also allows you to merge partitions easily.
Step 1: Free up unallocated space for C drive.
If there is no unallocated space on the system disk, right-click on a partition next to the C: drive and select "Resize/Move".
Drag left panel of the partition to shrink and leave unallocated space behind the system C: drive and click "Proceed".
Step 2: Increase C drive space.
1. Click on C: drive and select "Resize/Move".
2. Drag the system partition end into unallocated space so to add space to C: drive.
Step 3: Keep all changes to extend C: drive.
Click the "Proceed" to keep all changes so to extend the system C: drive.
Whether you're a novice or advanced user, you can manage partitions without risk with the Qiling partition manager. It fully supports all Windows operating systems, including Windows 11. It also supports more advanced functions, including creating bootable discs, modifying partitions' system files on the fly, etc. Above all, the user interface of the Qiling partition manager is specially built for the everyday user so that all operations are easier. This software doesn't limit the number of partitions for data storage purposes, while it allows users to create disk partitions of virtually any size.
Method 2. Increase C Drive Space with Disk Management
#1. If you find unallocated space on your drive, follow the below steps:
Step 1. Press Windows + R keys and type diskmgmt.msc, press Enter.
Step 2. Right-click on the disk C drive, and click on "Extend Volume".
Step 3. Now, select any number of disks in the Available column and click on add to select the disks for extending the C drive space. Click "Next" to continue.
Step 4. Click on "Finish" to close the Disk Management tool.
The Disk Management tool has now successfully increased the C Drive Space in Windows 11.
#2. Look for any unallocated space behind your system C: drive. If you can't find any unallocated space, follow these steps.
Step 1. Press Windows + R keys and type diskmgmt.msc, press Enter.
Step 2. Right-click on the different partition adjacent to C drive (choose any partition which has decent space), click on "Shrink Volume".
Step 3. Enter the shrink size in MB, then click "Shrink" to confirm.
Step 4. Now, Right-click on C drive and choose "Extend Volume".
Step 5. Follow the above steps from "Step 3" and complete the process.
If you do not want to understand this process in detail and do not want to spend much time on this, I would recommend using third-party software. You can use the Qiling partition manager to quickly and safely manage partitions and create new ones without any knowledge in Windows 11.
Note: You can also use this method to expand other drives, for example, your D drive.
Method 3. Increase C Drive Space with CMD
Diskpart is a valuable tool to extend system C drive space. In the below steps, I will show you how to use this tool to extend C drive space in Windows 11.
Note: Unlike the previous two methods mentioned above, this method is more suitable for advanced users only, so use it carefully.
#1. Extend C drive When Unallocated Space is available
Step 1. Press Windows + R keys and type cmd, press ctrl + shift + Enter to run it as an administrator app.
Step 2. Type diskpart and press enter.
Now type the below commands and press enter to run the command.
- type list disk
- type select disk 0 (replace the number 0 with your system disk letter)
I have used "0" because my hard disk number is "0", as can be seen in the screenshot.
- type list partition
- type select partition 3 (replace the number 3 with your system C drive letter)
I have used "3" because my C drive partition number is "3", as can be seen in the screenshot.
- type extend
- type exit
#2. If there is no unallocated space, follow below steps:
The Virtual Disk Service error generally occurs when trying to extend a partitioned volume. It could happen because you didn't leave enough room beside a system drive, a system drive is close to being full, or the disk partition is corrupt.
Well, if you ever come across this error when your C drive is full of data with no unallocated space behind it. You can still increase the C drive space in Windows 11 using the below steps:
Step 1. Press Windows + R keys and type cmd, press ctrl + shift + Enter ( Run as administrator).
Step 2. Type diskpart and press enter.
Now type the below commands and press enter to run the command.
- list disk
- select disk 0 (replace the number 0 with your system disk letter)
- list partition
- select partition n (replace the number n with your partition number that you want to delete)
I replaced n with "11" because I want to delete that partition with "1000 MB" of space and use it to extend C drive space in windows 11.
- delete partition
- select partition n ( replace n with your C: drive letter)
- type extend
- type exit
Conclusion
It may be onerous to handle a smaller C disk on your Windows 11. Fortunately, you do not need to buy a new disk. You merely have to increase one partition to create some free space for new documents.
When your C drive partitions are full and running out of disk space, you will find it difficult to do anything on the computer. In the worst case, you may not be able to start Windows due to a lack of disk space.
While using Windows 11, if you have noticed that some compacted space is available next to the C partition, you might have wondered if you can use that partition to extend the c drive space on your laptop. Yes, this is possible. Disk Management and Diskpart tools can extend the C drive on your Windows 11 PC easily.
To expand the C drive, you need to combine the unallocated space of other partitions with the C partition. If your Windows machine is not equipped with a third-party partition tool, though, you might run into problems when trying to perform this process by hand. Qiling partition manager is the best choice.
It can help you allocate space from other partitions to the C drive without deleting them. You can also quickly expand the C drive even if the unallocated space is not adjacent to the drive.
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