Extend C drive or system partition in Windows 11/10/8/7

PAGE CONTENT:

3 Ways to Increase C Drive Space in Windows 11/10
Upgrade to a Larger Hard Drive Without Data Loss
Tips to Extend C Drive in Windows 11/10
Related Questions on Extending Partition Windows 11/10

Windows 10 C drive is out of space:

When the C drive (system partition) is out of space, gets full or you get a low disk space warning, and hardware upgrades become unavailable shown as the next image, what are you going to do? How to extend C drive or system partition in Windows 10? Follow the tips below, you'll learn how to extend partition, especially to increase C drive in Windows 10.

1 - Extend C Drive or System Partition in Windows 10

For users who want to extend C drive with a professional and easy method, Qiling Partition Master is the right choice for you.

Solution 1. Let Qiling Partition Manager Software Help

As magic partition software, Qiling Partition Master is a comprehensive hard disk partition management software to let you enjoy free with all the powerful functions:

1. Extend system partition

2. Resize and Move partitions

3. Copy Partition/Disk

4. Create, Deleted, and Format partitions

5. Hide and Unhide partitions and more...

This software works perfectly with hardware even with RAID and supports all Windows Operating Systems. Your data is completely protected during all operations.

Your Reliable Choice - Qiling Partition Master

Extend partition - extend system partition to maximize computer performance, solve low disk space problems.
Shrink partition - manage disk space better for different usage.
Move partition - make the unallocated space behind the partition you want to extend.

Free Download

Tutorial 1. Smart Extend C Drive with Low Disk Space Error

Download and install Qiling Partition Master, and follow the steps below to resize a partition in Windows 11/10.

Step 1. Click "Adjust with 1-Click" to extend C drive.

When your C drive is out of space, you will see the Low Disk Space alert on Qiling Partition Master.

To start extending partition, you should first locate the target partition and select "Resize/Move".

Step 2. Extend the Target Partition

Drag the partition panel rightward or leftward to add unallocated space into your current partition and click "Proceed" to start resize the partition.

Tutorial 2. Add Space to C Drive, Extend System Drive with Space from Other Drive

Option 1. Extend System C drive with unallocated space

1. Click on the System C: drive and select "Resize/Move".

2. It will pop windows for confirm to initialize PreOS, please click "OK" to do it firstly.

3. Drag the system partition end into the unallocated space so to add it to the C: drive and click "Proceed" to start resize the partition.

4. It will reboot your PC to WinPE and reszie the System C to big partition automatically.

Option 2. Extend System C drive without unallocated space

1. Click a big partition with enough free space on the system disk, select "Resize/Move".

2. Drag the begin of this big partition drive into the partition space for shrink the partitiong. Click "Proceed" to confirm.

3. Extend System C drive with unallocated space.

The program may pop up a window to ask you to restart your computer after executing the operation, do as the software requires.

Your computer will restart with a bigger system C drive and better computer performance on your Windows 10 PC.

Besides the basic and advanced partition manager features, Qiling Partition Master also provides a powerful partition recovery wizard to recover deleted or lost partition, cleanup and optimization for optimizing hard disk and clean up disk space, wipe data to permanently erase hard drive/partition, and so on.

Solution 2. Extend C Drive Windows 10 via Disk Management

There must be unallocated space behind the partition which you want to expand with Windows built-in Disk Management utility. Otherwise, you might find that the Extend Volume option is greyed out and not available.

Step 1. Right-click My Computer and choose "Manage -> Storage -> Disk Management".

Step 2. Right-click on the partition that you want to extend, and choose "Extend Volume" to continue.

Step 3. Set and add more size to your target partition and click "Next" to continue.

Step 4. Click "Finish" to complete the process.

Solution 3. Extend C Drive Windows 10 via CMD

There is another tool named Diskpart which also enables you to manage your disk and partition. The Windows Command Prompt works the same as Disk Management. One important point is that inexperienced users should not rush to this method because a tiny mistake is able to do damage to the entire hard drive.

Step 1. Press Windows + X keys and choose "Command Prompt (Admin)".

Step 2. Type the following commands and each one ends with "Enter" key:

diskpart

list volume

select volume x

extend size =number

In my case, the system C drive is Volume 1. If there is no unallocated space, you can't extend C drive in Windows 11/10 with this method.

2 - Upgrade to a Larger Hard Drive Without Data Loss

Clone and replace the old drive with a bigger one can also solve your problem. If you don't want to migrate other data on C drive, you can only migrate the Windows operating system to a new drive.

Also Read: How to migrate OS from HDD to SSD

Free Download

If you want to replace the whole C drive both the system and the data, clone this drive with the help of Qiling Partition Master. This feature enables you to move your system and data to SSD/HDD easily and quickly. Follow the steps below to clone your drive:

1. Launch Qiling disk master software and click Clone.

2. Select the source disk you want to clone and click Next.

3. Select the destination disk and click Next.

If you clone partition to the exsiting partition, you should transfer or back up data before cloning to prevent it being overwritten.

4. Preview the disk layout to confirm the settings of the source and destination disk. Tick "Optimize for SSD" to optimize SSD's performance.

5. Click Proceed to execute disk clone.

Also Read: How to Partition A Hard Drive in Windows 10

Tips to Extend C Drive in Windows 11/10

In addition to these solutions, you may ask the way to extend C drive in Windows 10 without software. Here, you can learn some other tips to reduce the possibility of C drive full and increase C drive space.

1. Move the print spooler and page file to another drive.

2. You can also merge other partition into C drive for more space.

3. Apply professional partition manager software with the Cleanup and Optimization feature that can also speed up your slow computer, clean up those junk files and repair the Windows system. This will save you a large amount of space on the C drive and other partitions.

4. Empty recycle bin. Recycle bin is a storage room for all the files you delete from your PC. The deleted files remain there until you delete files from the recycle bin. Usually, the recycle bin takes up C drive space. That is to say, when you empty the recycle bin, you can increase a bit of disk space.

Right-click on the recycle bin icon located on your desktop and select "Empty Recycle Bin".
Or double-click on the recycle bin and click on the "Empty Recycle Bin" option located on top of the folder window.

1. Can we extend the C drive?

Yes, you can. You can use the third-party software, Disk Managemen or Diskpart to easily expand your C drive in Windows 10. Among them, Qiling partition software is my recommendation. It can extend any drive easily and quickly.

2. How do I add storage from D to C?

Let Qiling partition software help you. Launch Qiling Partition Master and locate the target partition which you would like to extend. If there is unallocated space left on your disk, use the "Resize/Move" feature to extend partition. If there is no unallocated space on your disk, use the Allocate Space feature to extend the desired partition.

Free Download

3. Why extend volume grayed out windows 11/10/8.1/7?

When you are using Disk Management to increase C drive space, you can right-click "Computer", choose "Manage" to go, then you can enter "Disk Management". If you see the Extend Volume option grayed out on your computer, it means that there is no unallocated space on your hard disk.

4. How to add space to C drive?

Launch Qiling Partition Master.
Click on the System C: drive and select "Resize/Move" in the "Disk management" page.
Drag the system partition end into the unallocated space.
Click "Proceed" to execute the changes and extend the C drive.