Shrink a Partition

In the Disk Management screen, just right-click on the partition that you want to shrink,
and select “Shrink Volume” from the menu.

In the Shrink dialog, you will want to enter the amount you want to shrink by, not the
new size. For example, if you want to shrink your 50gb partition by roughly 10gb so that
it will now be roughly 40gb, enter 10000 into the box:
Extend a Partition

In the Disk Management screen, just right-click on the partition that you want to shrink,
and select “Extend Volume” from the menu.

On this screen, you can specify the amount that you want to increase the partition by. In
this case, I’m going to extend it back to the roughly 50GB size that it was before.
Note that the extend partition feature only works with contiguous space.

Shrink a Basic Volume

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 R2

You can decrease the space used by primary partitions and logical drives by shrinking
them into adjacent, contiguous space on the same disk. For example, if you discover that
you need an additional partition but do not have additional disks, you can shrink the
existing partition from the end of the volume to create new unallocated space that can
then be used for a new partition. The shrink operation can be blocked by the presence of
certain file types; see Additional considerations for more information.

When you shrink a partition, any ordinary files are automatically relocated on the disk to
create the new unallocated space. There is no need to reformat the disk to shrink the
partition.

Membership in Backup Operators or Administrators, or equivalent, is the minimum

required to complete this procedures.

To shrink a basic volume using the Windows interface

1. In Disk Manager, right-click the basic volume you want to shrink.

2. Click Shrink Volume.
3. Follow the instructions on your screen.

Note
You can only shrink basic volumes that have no file system or use the NTFS file
system.
Additional considerations

• When you shrink a partition, certain files (for example, the paging file or the
shadow copy storage area) cannot be automatically relocated and you cannot
decrease the allocated space beyond the point where the unmovable files are
located. If the shrink operation fails, check the Application Log for Event 259,
which will identify the unmovable file. If you know the cluster or clusters
associated with the file that is preventing the shrink operation, you can also use
the fsutil command at a command prompt (type fsutil volume querycluster /? for
usage). When you provide the querycluster parameter, the command output will
identify the unmovable file that is preventing the shrink operation from
succeeding.

In some cases, you can relocate the file temporarily. For example, if the
unmovable file is the paging file, you can use Control Panel to move it to another
disk, shrink the volume, and then move the page file back to the disk.

• If the number of bad clusters detected by dynamic bad-cluster remapping is too

high, you cannot shrink the partition. If this occurs, you should consider moving
the data and replacing the disk.

Do not use a block-level copy to transfer the data. This will also copy the bad
sector table and the new disk will treat the same sectors as bad even though they
are normal.

• You can shrink primary partitions and logical drives on raw partitions (those
without a file system) or partitions using the NTFS file system.

To shrink a basic volume using a command line

1. Open a command prompt and type diskpart.

2. At the DISKPART prompt, type list volume. Make note of the number of the
simple volume you want to shrink.
3. At the DISKPART prompt, type select volume <volumenumber>. Selects the
simple volume volumenumber you want to shrink.
4. At the DISKPART prompt, type shrink [desired=<desiredsize>]
[minimum=<minimumsize>]. Shrinks the selected volume to desiredsize in
megabytes (MB) if possible, or to minimumsize if desiredsize is too large.
 Value Description
list volume Displays a list of basic and dynamic volumes on all disks.
Selects the specified volume, where volumenumber is the volume number,
and gives it focus. If no volume is specified, the select command lists the
select volume current volume with focus. You can specify the volume by number, drive
letter, or mount point path. On a basic disk, selecting a volume also gives
the corresponding partition focus.
Shrinks the volume with focus to create unallocated space.

shrink No data loss occurs. If the partition includes unmovable files (such as the
page file or the shadow copy storage area), the volume will shrink to the
point where the unmovable files are located.
desired=
The amount of space, in megabytes, to recover to the current partition.
desiredsize
The minimum amount of space, in megabytes, to recover to the current
minimum=
partition. If you do not specify a desired or minimum size, the command
minimumsize
will reclaim the maximum amount of space possible.

Additional considerations

• When you shrink a partition, unmovable files (for example, the paging file or the
shadow copy storage area) are not automatically relocated and you cannot
decrease the allocated space beyond the point where the unmovable files are
located. If you need to shrink the partition further, move the paging file to another
disk, delete the stored shadow copies, shrink the volume, and then move the
paging file back to the disk.

• If the number of bad clusters detected by dynamic bad-cluster remapping is too

high, you cannot shrink the partition. If this occurs, you should consider moving
the data and replacing the disk.

Do not use a block-level copy to transfer the data. This will also copy the bad
sector table and the new disk will treat the same sectors as bad even though they
are normal.

• You can shrink primary partitions and logical drives on raw partitions (those
without a file system) or partitions using the NTFS file system.