How to Format Unallocated Disk [Step-by-Step Guide]

PAGE CONTENT:

Why Format Unallocated Disk
How to Format Unallocated Disk [Three Ways]

Do you know how to format unallocated disk on Windows? If you are searching for a detailed guide to formatting the unallocated disk, you are in the right place. In this passage, we will talk about three ways to format the unallocated disk. Hope you can get the best answer from this article!

Why Format Unallocated Disk

Before we know why we format the unallocated disk, we need to figure out what an unallocated disk is.

A computer describes any physical space on a hard drive that doesn't belong to a partition as unallocated. This means that no programs can write in the space. For all practical purposes, the space doesn't exist to the operating system. - from Chron

unallocated space

From the above definition, we know that an unallocated space is a space that is not yet used. It can be used to place files, but no application can write files and data to this program. Unallocated space is not available on the disk because there are no partitions on the disk. To improve disk performance and utilization, unallocated space must be formatted before the disk can be used.

You may also like to know the following:

Use and Allocate Unallocated Space Convert Unallocated Space to Free Space

How to Format Unallocated Disk [Three Ways]

There are three ways to format unallocated disks on Windows. You can use Windows built-in tools: Disk Management and Diskpart command, or choose a professional third-party tool: Qiling Partition Master Free. Which one is best? You can follow the table to find the most suitable method for you.

Comparison	Qiling Partition Master	Disk Management	Diskpart - CMD
Operation Difficulty	Easy to use	Medium difficulty	Hard to use
Suitable Users	For beginners	For experienced users	For professionals

Qiling Partition Master is the best way to format unallocated disks. And if you are not skilled in computers, Qiling Partition Master is your best choice.

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Let's look at how the three methods work on formatting the unallocated disk on Windows.

Method 1. Format Unallocated Disk Using Qiling Partition Master

Qiling Partition Master is the best free disk manager which can support Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 and Windows XP/Vista. You can easily format the unallocated disk space to FAT32, NTFS, exFAT, and Ext2/3/4 to work with different operating systems. Download it, and you can learn how to format unallocated disks.

You can format the unallocated disk by creating a partition on the unallocated space and choosing the wanted file system format during the process. Let's look at how it works.

Step 1. Launch Qiling Partition Master. On the main window, right-click on the unallocated space on your hard drive or external storage device and select "Create".

Step 2. Adjust the partition size, file system (Choose the file system based on your need), label, etc. for the new partition.

Step 3. Click on the "Proceed" button to create a new partition.

Watch the following video tutorial and learn how to create a partition in NTFS, FAT, or EXT file system.

Other Functions of Qiling Partition Master

Qiling Partition Master is specialized in computer partition management, it has many other features except for formatting unallocated disks.

It can merge unallocated space to a data partition.
It can recover partitions from unallocated space.
It can convert MBR to GPT without data loss.
It can resize/delete/merge/create partitions.

Free Download
Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Method 2. Format Unallocated Disk Using Disk Management

Disk Management is the Windows built-in tool that can easily initialize, format, or partition hard disks. You can format the unallocated disk by creating a new simple volume. Here are the steps:

Step 1. Select Disk Management on your computer and open it. Or press "Windows + R" and type "diskmgmt.msc".

open disk management

Step 2. Find the disk and right-click the unallocated space.

Step 3. Select "New Simple Volume" and click "Next."

new simple volume

Step 4. Set the new volume's size, choose a letter to assign the drive, and click "Next."

Step 5. Choose "Format the Volume with the Following Settings" and set the right format and appropriate parameters.

Step 6. Click "Next" after choosing the correct parameters. And then click "Finish" to format the unallocated space on the disk.

finish the format unallocated disk

Method 3. Format Unallocated Disk Using CMD

Diskpart is a free utility on Windows. It offers multiple functions for Windows users, such as managing disk partitions and fixing device errors. It can also format the unallocated disk when using CMD. But you need to be careful when typing the command. Let's look at the detailed instructions.

Step 1. Open the run windows and type "cmd."

type cmd

Step 2. Type "diskpart" and press "Enter" to open this program.

Step 3. Type the following commands in order and press "Enter" after each command to execute the program.

list disk – list all the disks in the system
select disk 0 – 0 refers to the number of the unallocated disk you want to format
create partition primary size=20480
assign letter=H – H refers to the number of the partition
format fs=ntfs quick– fat32 refers to the format. You can change it based on your needs

create partition using cmd

Step 4. Close the window and finish formatting the unallocated disk.

Conclusion

According to this guide, we can learn how to format unallocated disk on Windows. Three methods are offered. Both Disk Management and Diskpart are available to format the unallocated disk. But I highly recommend Qiling Partition Master for its powerful functions and simple operations. It is a good helper for your computer and can meet the different needs of your disks.

FAQs About How to Format Unallocated Disk

1. How do I format an unallocated drive in Windows 10?

It is easy to format an unallocated drive in Windows 10. Qiling Partition Master or CMD can format the unallocated drive in this guide. Here is a simple step for using Disk Management to format an unallocated drive in Windows 10:

Step 1. Input "diskmgmt.msc" in the run window and open Disk Management.

Step 2. Right-click the unallocated disk and choose "New Simple Volume."

Step 3. Set the parameter and format of the unallocated drive and click "Finish."

2. Why I can't delete unallocated space?

Because the unallocated space is not part of the partition, you can't use or delete the unallocated space. If you want to use it, you can create a new partition on the unallocated space or extend it to an existing partition.

3. Can you format unallocated space?

Of course, you can format the unallocated space. If you want to format the unallocated space, you need to create a new partition on the disk and then choose the right format for the unallocated space.