HOW TO CREATE A NEW PARTITION ON YOUR HARD DRIVE, by EliNnko Tech on YouTube. 2 min 54 s.
- Video length
- 2 min 54 s
- Time to do it
- 10 minutes
- Difficulty
- Easy
- Steps
- 9
What you need
Steps
Back up important files to an external drive or cloud folder before you change anything. Shrinking and creating partitions can wipe data if you pick the wrong volume.
Right-click the Start button and choose Disk Management, or press Windows+X then press K. The window lists every drive and its partitions.
Right-click the volume you want to shrink, usually C:, and choose Shrink Volume. Wait while Windows checks how much space can be freed.
Type the amount to shrink in MB in the box. 1024 MB equals 1 GB, so enter 10240 for a 10 GB partition. Click Shrink.
Check that new unallocated space appears next to the volume. It shows as a black block in the bar at the bottom.
Right-click the unallocated space and choose New Simple Volume. The wizard opens, so click Next.
Accept the suggested size, or type a smaller one, then click Next. Assign a drive letter such as D and click Next.
Keep the file system as NTFS and leave the allocation unit size on default. Type a name in the Volume label box, then click Next.
Click Finish. The new drive appears in File Explorer with its letter and is ready to use.
Tips and common mistakes
You cannot shrink a volume past unmovable files, so disabling hibernation or defragmenting first can free more space.
Only unallocated space directly to the right of a volume can extend it, so plan the order before you start.
Never delete or format a partition you do not recognise, because it may hold Windows recovery files.
Pick a drive letter far down the alphabet, like M, so USB sticks do not clash with it later.
Questions
Will shrinking my C: drive delete my files?
No. Shrinking only takes the free space at the end of the volume, so your files stay where they are. Back up anyway in case something goes wrong.
How many MB should I enter for 1 GB?
1024 MB is 1 GB, so enter 51200 for roughly 50 GB. The wizard also shows the size in GB as you type.
Can I undo the partition later?
Yes. Delete the new volume to turn it back into unallocated space, then extend the original volume if that space sits directly next to it.
This guide was drafted from the video's details and general task knowledge. It has not been checked against the full video. Check the video and relevant product instructions before following a procedure. Report a correction.
