How to partition a Windows portable hard drive? [2024]

There are usually two types of portable hard drives we buy back: one is those that have already been partitioned, and the other is those that have not been partitioned.

If the portable hard drive has not been partitioned, we can use the Windows built-in partitioning tool to create new partitions on the hard drive, or use the professional disk management software Aomei Partition Assistant to quickly partition the portable hard drive.

Although some of the portable hard drives have already been partitioned, it may not be the partition structure we want. In many cases, we divide the portable hard drive into one partition, but in reality, we want to create multiple partitions on the portable hard drive. So we can use Windows disk management to compress free space and create new partitions, or use the Partition Assistant to create partitions without compression.

How to partition a portable hard drive?
This article will solve the problem of how to partition mobile hard drives from two aspects: partitioned and unpartitioned, using disk management and Aomei Partition Assistant tools.

Disk management is a utility that comes with Windows systems and can help us manage disks and partitions. We can use it to make some simple basic adjustments to partitions, such as compressing volumes, expanding volumes, deleting volumes, changing drive letters, etc.

Aomei Partition Assistant is a simple, easy-to-use, and free lossless partitioning software that can help us adjust partition sizes, merge and split partitions, check hard drives, clone partitions, and more. Easy to operate, designed specifically for Windows systems, suitable for Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista/XP and Windows Server.

How to partition an unpartitioned portable hard drive?
One is to create new partitions multiple times through disk management, and the other is to create multiple partitions at once through the Aomei Partition Assistant.

Method 1. Use disk management to create a new partition

1. Press Win+R at the same time to enter diskmgmt.msc and press enter to open disk management.

Open Disk Management

2. Right click on an unpartitioned portable hard drive and select “New Simple Volume” and click “Next”. Fill in the size of the new disk in the Simple Volume Size field and continue clicking “Next”.

New Simple Volume

3. Select the hard drive disk number, and then click “Next”.

Next step

4. Select the file system format, check the “Execute Quick Format” option, and then click “Next”.

Select file system format

5. Click the “Finish” button to complete. Repeat the above steps to create multiple partitions.

complete
Method 2. Use Partition Assistant to quickly partition
The “Quick Partitioning” function of Aomei Partition Assistant can help us create multiple partitions at once, while setting partition type, size, volume label, and whether it is the primary partition. No need to repeat operations, simple and convenient.

1. Open the Aomei Partition Assistant, click on the mobile hard drive with the mouse, and then select “Quick Partition” on the left.

Quick partitioning
After entering the fast partition, click the mouse to select the number of partitions.

Select the number of partitions

3. Then set the type of hard drive. You can choose between “MBR” or “GPT” disk types.

Set the type of hard drive
After setting the hard disk type, set the basic parameters of each partition in the partition parameters, including partition type, size, volume label, and whether it is the primary partition.

After setting the hard disk type, set the basic parameters of each partition in the partition parameters
After completing the settings and checking for errors, click the “Execute” button below to proceed.

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How to partition a partitioned portable hard drive?
One method is to create new partitions by compressing them through disk management, and the other is to use the Aomei Partition Assistant to directly create new partitions.

Method 1. Use disk management to compress partitions

1. After opening disk management, right-click on the partition with free space and select “Compress Volume”.

Compressed roll

2. Then the compression interface will appear, enter the amount of compressed space, which means we will increase the size of the partition space, and then click “Compression”.

Input compressed space amount
The compressed space will become unallocated space, and then use the “New Simple Volume” function in disk management to create a new partition.

Method 2. Use Partition Assistant to Create Partitions
Using disk management requires compression before creation, which is a complex and cumbersome process. We can use the “Create Partition” function of the Aomei Partition Assistant to directly create new partitions on the partitioned hard drive.

1. Launch the Aomei Partition Assistant, right-click on the partition with extra space, and select “Create Partition”.

Create partition

2. Move the middle circle left and right to adjust the size of the partition, click “Advanced” to set the partition volume label, etc. After confirming, click “Confirm”.

Move the middle circle left and right to adjust the partition size

3. Return to the main interface, click “Submit” to view the preview of the operation, and once there are no errors, click “Execute” to proceed.

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epilogue
The above is the content on how to partition a portable hard drive. You can choose the appropriate method based on the situation of the portable hard drive. Besides being simpler than disk management, Aomei Partition Assistant also has many functions that disk management does not have, such as creating a startup USB drive, migrating the system to a solid-state drive, application migration, and so on. Download and give it a try!