By Lydia | Last Updated
Q: I have a drive with multiple partitions. However, when I’m going to extend one of them to create more space for data with disk management, I find that the Extend Volume option is greyed out and cannot be clicked. And I’ve already got unallocated space just sitting there, ready to use. Why isn’t this working? How to deal with it?
Many people have encountered the same problem as above, here I’m to break down why this happens and more importantly, illustrate how to fix Extend Volume Greyed Out issue without losing your data.
There’re many reasons why Extend Volume is greyed out in Disk Management. The key factors include:
1. No Unallocated Space Next to the Partition: Disk Management allows you to extend a partition only if unallocated space exists immediately adjacent to the partition you want to extend, typically on the right-hand side.
2. Incompatible File System: The "Extend Volume" option is only available for NTFS-formatted partitions. If the partition is using FAT32 or another file system, you will not be able to extend it.
3. Corrupted or Invalid Disk: If the partition table is damaged or if the disk is not initialized, the "Extend Volume" option may not work properly.
4. Mismatched Disk Types (HDD vs SSD): If the unallocated space is on a different physical disk type (for instance, an SSD versus an HDD), Windows will not allow you to extend the partition across the two different disk types.
5. Insufficient Space: If there isn’t enough unallocated space on the disk, you won’t be able to extend the volume.
The first thing you need to check is whether there is unallocated space next to the partition that you want to extend. Disk Management allows you to extend a volume only if unallocated space exists immediately adjacent (to the right) of the partition.
To fix this, you can delete the partition on the right-side:
Step 1: Before start, backup the partition before deletion. Then Press `Win + X` and choose Disk Management from the list.
Step 2: Right-click on the partition, select Delete Volume.
Step 3: When prompted, click on Yes to confirm to delete the volume (it will erase all data stored on it).
Step 4: Now the F: drive becomes an unallocated space. You can extend G: drive with the Extend Volume option directly.
Step 5: Follow the wizard to finish the process, now the G: drive has been successfully extended.
You can also use commands to achieve this with Diskpart command-line tool:
Step 1: Type `cmd` in the Windows Search box, then choose Run as administrator.
Step 2: Execute the following command to list partitions in disk (Replace the disk number with yours):
diskpart
list disk
select disk 3
Step 3: Select the volume and delete it:
list partition
select partition 2
delete partition override
Step 4: Then extend the partition:
list partition
select partition 3
extend
Step 5: Lastly, check if the partition has successfully extended.
list partition
Step 6: And then exit Diskpart:
exit
Sometimes we may encounter that even there’s unallocated space adjacent to the volume on the right, but the Extend Volume option is still greyed out. At this time, you can directly extend it with commands:
Step 1: Type ‘cmd’ in the Windows search box, then select Run as administrator.
Step 2: Execute the following command (Repalce the disk number and partition number with yours):
diskpart
list disk
select disk 2
list partition
select partition 1
extend
Now, the problem has been solved:
As mentioned earlier, the "Extend Volume" option is only available for partitions that are formatted with the NTFS file system. If your partition is formatted as FAT32 or exFAT, you will not be able to Extend Volume or Shrink Volume using the built-in tools.
However, with the following command, you can directly convert it to NTFX file system without formatting:
Step 1: Open Command Prompt as Administrator. Type the following command and press Enter:
convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs
# Replace `drive_letter` with the volume letter which you want to convert.
Step 2: You may be prompted to enter current volume label for drive. Check the Volume Label in the File Explorer.
Step 3: After the conversion process completes, back to Disk Management window, you’ll find that Extend Volume is able to use now.
If there are errors or corruption on your disk, it could prevent the "Extend Volume" feature from functioning properly. Running a disk check can resolve many issues related to disk corruption.
Steps: Run a Command Prompt as Administrator. Type the following command and press Enter to check the disk for errors:
chkdsk X: /f
Replace `X:` with the letter of your affected drive.
Notes: If errors are found, the system will attempt to fix them automatically. Once the repair process is complete, check if the "Extend Volume" option is now available.
In some cases, if you are trying to extend a partition on a large disk (greater than 2TB), the disk may need to be converted from MBR (Master Boot Record) to GPT (GUID Partition Table).
Steps: Run Command Prompt as Administrator. Then type and execute the following command (replace ‘X’ with your own disk number):
diskpart
select disk X
convert gpt
Note: This will convert the disk to GPT format, removing all data, so make sure to back up important files before proceeding.
In general, you cannot directly move the unallocated space to the right in Disk Management before extending the volume. To achieve this, follow these steps:
Step 1: Back up the volume on the right with iSunshare ClonGo.
Step 2: After backup, right-click on the volume, select Delete Volume in Disk Management.
Step 3: Right-click on the unallocated space, select New Simple Volume.
Step 4: Follow the wizard to set the volume.
Step 5: Now you get a complete volume here.
Step 6: Then open the iSunshare CloneGo, go to Restore section. Check the drive, and select the backup file from the file explorer. Click Start to begin the process.
Now, you've successfully extend unallocated volume on the left.
If you’ve reinstalled your Windows system before, your C drive might have hidden recovery partitions, which can prevent the C drive from being extended.
To fix C drive extend volume greyed out, you just need to delete the recovery partitions first:
Step 1: Firstly, press Windows + R shortcut key to open the run dialog. Type "diskpart.exe" and press Enter.
Step 2: Type 'rescan' to scan the computer configuration.
Step 3: Then execute the following command, replace the disk number with your c drive disk number:
list disk
select disk 0
list partition
Step 4: Then select your recovery partitions and delete them:
select partition 4
delete partition override
Step 5: Back to Disk Management windows, you can extend the c drive now.
Follow the Extend Volume wizard to extend C drive correctly.
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