Windows 10: Shrink Volume or Partition in Windows 10

How to: Shrink Volume or Partition in Windows 10

How to Shrink a Volume or Partition in Windows 10


Information In Windows, you can decrease the space used by primary partitions and logical drives by shrinking them into adjacent, contiguous unallocated space on the same disk. This unallocated space could then be used to create a new simple volume (partition) on the disk.

This tutorial will show you different ways on how to shrink a volume or partition on a basic disk in Windows 10.

You must be signed in as an administrator to shrink a volume or partition.


Tip How to Read Shrink Volume Log in Event Viewer in Windows 10

CONTENTS:

• Option One: Shrink Volume or Partition on Disk in Disk Management
• Option Two: Shrink Volume or Partition on Disk in Command Prompt
• Option Three: Shrink Volume or Partition on Disk in PowerShell

OPTION ONE [/i] Shrink Volume or Partition on Disk in Disk Management
1. Right click on the Start *Start button to open the Win+X menu, and click/tap on Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc).

2. Right click or press and hold on the partition/volume (ex: "D") you want to shrink, and click/tap on Shrink Volume. (see screenshot below)


Note If Shrink Volume is grayed out, then it is not supported for the partition/volume.



3. Type in how many MB you want to shrink the partition/volume by, and click/tap on Shrink. (see screenshot below)


Note You can compare the given Size of available shrink and Total size after shrink to help determine the amount of space you want to shrink this partition/volume by.

You can only shrink a partition/volume if it has enough free space.

1024 MB = 1 Gb
1024 GB = 1 TB



4. If successful, you can now create a New Simple Volume with the Unallocated space if you like. (see screenshot below)








OPTION TWO [/i] Shrink Volume or Partition on Disk in Command Prompt
1. Open an command prompt at boot.

2. Type the commands below one at a time into the command prompt, and press Enter after each command. Make note of the volume number (ex: "4") of the drive letter (ex: "D") you want to shrink. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow diskpart

*Arrow list volume




3. Type the commands below one at a time into the command prompt, and press Enter after each command. Make note of the maximum number of reclaimable bytes (ex: "1427659" MB) that you can shrink by. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow select volume <number>

*Arrow shrink querymax



Note Substitute <number> in the top command above with the actual volume number (ex: "4") you want to shrink from step 2 above.

For example: select volume 4



4. Type the command below you want to use into the command prompt, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
(To shrink by maximum size allowed)
*Arrow shrink

OR

(To shrink by specified size)
*Arrow shrink desired=<size in MB>



Note Substitute <size in MB> in the command above with the actual size in MB (ex: "71680") you want to shrink the partition/volume (ex: "D") by. You will not be able to shrink the partition/volume more than the maximum number of reclaimable bytes given from step 3 above.

1024 MB = 1 Gb
1024 GB = 1 TB

For example: shrink desired=71680



5. When finished, you can close the elevated command prompt, or create a New Simple Volume with the unallocated space if you like.





OPTION THREE [/i] Shrink Volume or Partition on Disk in PowerShell


Note To see more usage options for the Resize-Partition command, see: Resize-Partition - Microsoft Docs

1. Open an elevated PowerShell.

2. Type the Get-Partition command into the elevated PowerShell, press Enter, and make note of the drive letter (ex: "D") of the partition/volume you want to shrink on a disk. (see screenshot below)



3. Type the command below into the elevated PowerShell, and press Enter. Make note of the supported SizeMin (minimum size) and SizeMax (maximum size) in bytes to resize the partition/volume. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow Get-PartitionSupportedSize -DriveLetter <Drive Letter>



Note Substitute <Drive Letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter (ex: "D") you want to resize from step 2 above.

For example: Get-PartitionSupportedSize -DriveLetter D



4. Type the command below you want to use into the elevated PowerShell, and press Enter. (see screenshot below)
(To shrink by size in Bytes)
*Arrow Resize-Partition -DriveLetter "<Drive Letter>" -Size <Size>

OR

(To shrink by size in KB)
*Arrow Resize-Partition -DriveLetter "<Drive Letter>" -Size <Size>KB

OR

(To shrink by size in MB)
*Arrow Resize-Partition -DriveLetter "<Drive Letter>" -Size <Size>MB

OR

(To shrink by size in GB)
*Arrow Resize-Partition -DriveLetter "<Drive Letter>" -Size <Size>GB

OR

(To shrink by size in TB)
*Arrow Resize-Partition -DriveLetter "<Drive Letter>" -Size <Size>TB



Note Substitute <Drive Letter> in the command above with the actual drive letter (ex: "D") you want to resize from step 2 above.

Substitute <Size> in the command above with the actual size (ex: "1327" in GB) you want to resize the partition/volume (ex: "D") by. You will not be able to resize the partition/volume more than the supported SizeMin (minimum size) and SizeMax (maximum size) given from step 3 above.

The left over space (SizeMax-resize) after resizing the partition/volume will be how much you shrink the partition/volume by for the unallocated space.

1000 Bytes = 1 KB
1024 KB = 1 MB
1024 MB = 1 Gb
1024 GB = 1 TB

For example: Resize-Partition -DriveLetter "D" -Size 1327GB



5. When finished, you can close the elevated PowerShell, or create a New Simple Volume with the unallocated space if you like.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Read Shrink Volume Log in Event Viewer in Windows 10
• How to Format a Disk or Drive in Windows 10
• How to Erase a Disk using Diskpart Clean Command in Windows 10
• How to Delete Volume or Partition in Windows 10
• How to Extend Volume or Partition in Windows 10
• How to Rename Drive Label in Windows 10
• How to Change a Drive Icon in Windows 10
• How to Change and Assign Drive Letter in Windows 10

:)

 

undo partition shrink

Hi,

If you accidentally shrink the volume of your SSD partition, there is an option to extend the volume as well. To extend the volume of your SSD partition, follow the steps below:

• Press Windows key + X on your keyboard and select Disk Management.
• Right-click the partition that you want to expand and click Extend Volume.
• Select the amount of space that you want to extend.

Keep us in the loop with the result.

 

Shrinking a volume

Hi tfd3

Close Disk Management

Click your Start Button, then just type cmd

From the resulting list, right click Command Prompt and choose 'Run as Administrator'

Paste this command and hit Enter:

diskpart

Paste this command and hit Enter:

list volume

(note down the number of the Volume you intend to shrink)

Paste this command and hit Enter (replace x with correct volume number)

select volume x

extend filesystem

When that completes, close Command Prompt and try shrinking that partition again in Disk Management

 

Shrinking a volume

Hi, Dave. I followed your instructions. All seemed to go well, but Disk Management still reports "The parameter is incorrect" when I try to shrink the volume.

Tom ()

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Need help shrinking a volume

It's not because of the RAID. You are trying to shrink the system partition. Get yourself Acronis Disk Manager (or any other disk management software) and try with it. Windows (XP or Vista) won't allow you to change the volume of the system partition with it's inbuilt tools.

 

No option to shrink volume

Hi,

The OEM partition is a company created partition wherein the copy of your Windows and other software are stored. In the event you need to reinstall your Operating System or restore to factory settings, you don't have to use an installation disk. You may
delete the OEM partition if you don't plan to restore your device to factory settings anymore. However, we suggest leaving it as is.

The Primary partition is also the same with OEM partition. The only difference is we create it during Windows fresh installation.

You have two ways to create a partition:

• Clean Install Windows 10
• You may use 3rd party software to manage your disk partition without reinstalling your Windows.

Let us know if you have other concerns.