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Why You Might Need to Extend C Drive
When c drive is full
When your C drive is running out of space, Windows may start showing signs like slow boot time, random freezes, low-storage warnings. This can lead to lagging issues or problems when installing new software and updates. At that point, you need to free up storage on the C drive. However, sometimes you can’t delete any files because the data is important. In this case, the best solution is to extend c drive.
Before You Start: Important Things to Know
To extend the C drive without Disk Management, you’ll need to install MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition on your computer.
If you haven’t installed it yet, follow this guide:
Once you’ve successfully installed MiniTool Partition Wizard, you can proceed with the steps to extend the C drive.
Methods to Extend C Drive
There are four methods to extend C drive without losing data.
- Extend C drive with any Hard Disk Utility Software
- Extend C drive with Windows Disk Management tool
- Extend C drive with CMD
- Extend C drive with Diskpart
In this tutorial, we’ll use MiniTool Partition Wizard to expand the C drive.
Warning: Always back up your important files before making changes to your disk partitions.
How to Extend C Drive Using MiniTool Partition Wizard
My C drive is currently full and showing a red bar. To fix this, I’m going to extend it by taking some available space from the E drive. In my case, I have only 6GB free on Local Disk E, so I’ll allocate 5GB to the C drive. You can choose any amount of free space from the next partition based on how much you have available.
Step 1: Open Minitool Partition Wizard
Note: Close all running programs
Run MiniTool Partition Wizard as Administrator
(Right click → “Run as administrator”)
Step 2: Expand C drive Partition
- Select C: Drive (Windows Partition) from the bottom section.
- Then click “Extend Partition” option in the left sidebar
Step 3: Select the partition you want to take space from
A new window will appear where you can:
Choose a partition with available free space.
In my case, I’m selecting the E: drive, but you can choose any drive that has enough free space.
You can Drag This and take how much space you want.
You can drag this button from right in my case I’ve only 5.32 GB and I’m choosing 5.00 GB from E: drive after that 5GB space will be added to C: drive and our Current E:drive is 18.99 GB – 5GB it will be 13.99 GB.
Click OK when done.
You’ll now see the C drive expanded in the preview (but not applied yet).
Step 4: Apply the Changes
Click the “Apply” button in the bottom-left corner to confirm the changes.
When the confirmation window appears, click the “Yes” button to apply the changes.
Now, wait until the process completes 100%.
Congratulations! Your C drive has been successfully extended.
You can now see the extra space that was added from the other partition.
Why MiniTool Partition Wizard Is Better Than Disk Management
There are few limitations in Disk Management, listed below.
| Feature | Disk Management | MiniTool Partition Wizard |
|---|---|---|
| Extend C drive without unallocated space | ❌ Not possible | ✅ Yes |
| Move partitions | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Works when “Extend Volume” is greyed out | ❌ No | ✅ Yes |
| Extend system partition while Windows is running | ❌ Rare | ✅ Yes |
| Beginner-friendly UI | ❌ Not really | ✅ Yes |
If you want to extend your C drive using the Windows Disk Management tool, you might run into these common issues:
- “Extend Volume” option is greyed out in Windows 11 Disk Management
- Unable to extend the C drive even when unallocated space is available
- Partition is not NTFS
- Recovery partition blocking expansion
In this guide, we’ll show you the correct method to extend your C drive, even if you’re facing any of these issues. This Method will work reliably and resolve all of these problems.
How to Extend other Partitions
The process we just followed to extend the C: drive also applies to any NTFS partition, not just the C: drive. To extend any other partition, simply select that partition and follow the same steps.
Other Hard Disk Utility Tools
If you prefer other software or need different features, here are some alternatives:
EaseUS Partition Master
A popular tool with free and paid editions. It supports extending, shrinking, moving and merging partitions, including system partitions. It can also allocate space from one drive to another. EaseUS provides a guided wizard for extending partitions similar to MiniTool. Download from the EaseUS Official site.
AOMEI Partition Assistant
A free partition manager with a simple interface. The Standard edition lets you resize, move, extend, shrink and merge partitions without data loss. It also has features like disk cloning and MBR/GPT conversion. Download from the AOMEI’s Official site.
Windows Disk Management
This is built-in windows tool. You can shrink, extend and do many other Disk Operations. But it only extends, when the unallocated space is next to the drive you want to Extend, and filesystem also should be NTFS. It cannot move partitions so it often requires third party tools.
Frequently Asked Questions
In Disk Management, the option becomes greyed out when there is no unallocated space next to the C drive, or a recovery partition is blocking it. Disk Management only extends NTFS partitions and requires the free space to be adjacent, which is why many users cannot extend their C drive using the built-in tool.
Yes. Using tools like MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition, you can safely extend the C drive without deleting or formatting any partitions. Just make sure to follow the steps and apply the changes carefully.
Disk Management requires unallocated space right next to the C drive, but MiniTool Partition Wizard does not. It can take free space from any other partition and directly add it to the C drive.
Yes. MiniTool is a trusted third-party partition management software that millions of Windows users rely on. As long as you download it from the official site and follow instructions properly, it’s safe.
Sometimes, yes. If the system partition (C drive) is being modified, MiniTool may ask for a reboot to complete the operation. This is completely normal.
Conclusion
Whether your C drive is low on storage or you simply want to give it more room for programs and updates, this tool provides a simple, reliable, beginner-friendly solution. Just follow the steps carefully, apply the changes, and your PC will be back to running smoothly.
Extending your C drive in Windows 11 doesn’t have to be complicated and you don’t need to rely on Disk Management, especially when “Extend Volume” is greyed out. With MiniTool Partition Wizard Free Edition, you can easily take space from any other partition and expand your system drive safely, even if the unallocated space isn’t adjacent to the C drive.
