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This Itechguide teaches you how to use Windows 10 Disk Management to Shrink or Extend a volume.
Option 1: Use Disk Management to Shrink Volume
- Right-click Windows 10 Start menu and select Disk Management.
- When Disk Management opens, right-click the partition you want to extract free partition from and select Shrink Volume.
When you click Shrink Volume, Disk Management will start querying the disk for available disk space – see the second image below. Then, it will display the Shrink options.
- On the Shrink window, enter the value of the size of free space you want to Shrink from the volume (partition).
In this example, I can Shrink up to 469538 MB (46 GB). However, I want to Shrink just 10 GB. So I will enter 10000.
- Once you have entered the value you want to free from the disk volume, on the bottom right of the pop-up window, click Shrink.
After a short while, the volume will become available as an Unallocated free space. You can create a new partition with this free space or install a dual boot operation system on it.
Option 2: Use Disk Management to Extend Volume
Before you can extend a volume in Windows 10, you must have a free, unallocated space on the same physical disk. If you manage a VM environment, you may have need to extend disk volumes from time to time.
The first step is to add more storage space to the disk you want to extend. Then, use the steps below to extend the volume…
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- Right-click Windows 10 Start menu and select Disk Management.
- Then, right-click the partition you want to extend and select Extend Volume. The Extend Volume Wizard will launch.
- On the first screen on the Extend Volume Wizard, click Next.
- Then, on the Select Disks screen, confirm that all the free disk spaces you want to add to the existing partition have been selected and click Next.
You may also adjust the amount of space you want to add.
- Finally, to use Windows 10 Disk Management to Extend Volume, on the Completing the Extend Volume Wizard screen, click Finish.
The free, unallocated space will be added to the existing partition – see the second screenshot below.
Why is Disk Management “Extended Volume” Grayed Out?
If Extend Volume grayed out, it could be cause by any of the following:
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- You do not have a free, unallocated and contiguous disk space to the right of the partition you wan to to extend. In the example below, I have 10 GB free space to the right of drive C. I can extend drive C. However, If I right-click Drive E, Extended Volume will be grayed out because the free volume is NOT on the right of E.
To extend drive E, backup the contents in the partition, delete the volume. It will be added to the free, unallocated space. Create a new volume with the whole space.
- Another reason Extend Volume may be grayed out is if you try to extend a non-NTFS partition.
- Finally, if you try to extend a removable drive, Extend Volume will be grayed out. Windows cannot extend removal drives.
Why is Disk Management “Shrink Volume” Grayed Out?
The main reason Shrink Volume may be grayed out is if you try to Shrink a removable drive. Windows cannot extend or Shrink an external, removal drive.
In the screenshot below, the volume I right-clicked is an external (removable) drive volume. This is why Shrink Volume is grayed out. Compare this with the second screenshot – Shrink Volume is available because drive E is on an internal drive.
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Conclusion
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Finally, for more Windows 10 Itechguides, visit our WINDOWS 10 HOW-TO page. You may also find our Work from Home page very helpful.
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