Why expand the C drive?
Generally speaking, if the computer we purchase is a complete machine or laptop, the hard disk partition will be pre divided by the staff at the factory. However, this partitioning method may not meet the actual needs of most ordinary users, which can easily lead to a situation where the C drive is full during computer use.
C drive is full
When the C drive is full, it may cause slow and sluggish system operation, inability to install new software, or inability to update and upgrade the system. So at this point, a common solution is to clean up excess files or expand the C drive.
Cleaning files goes without saying much, but we need to mention that when we perform the expansion volume task in the disk management tool, it is very likely to encounter a situation where the C disk expansion volume option is grayed out, causing Win10 C disk to be unable to expand the volume. This is also a common problem with disk management tools.
Why is the C drive expansion volume option grayed out?
So why can’t the C drive in Win11 and Win10 expand the volume? Why does the expansion volume become gray? This is because there is a limitation in the disk management tool built into the Windows system, which is that when performing the expand volume task, there needs to be an unallocated space on the adjacent right side of the target partition. Otherwise, the expand volume option will be grayed out and cannot be selected.
In addition, if the partition you want to expand is a logical partition or a partition outside of the NTFS file system, the expand volume function cannot be used.
Method 1: Use disk management tools to solve the problem of C disk being unable to expand the volume
Since we mentioned the limitations of disk management tools in the previous section, we only need to manually create an unallocated space that meets the conditions by deleting the partition to successfully complete the partition expansion task.
Attention: Deleting a partition can cause data loss in the deleted partition. If necessary, please backup the file in advance to ensure data security is not lost.
Step 1. Press Win+R to enter diskmgmt.msc and press Enter to open the disk management tool.
Step 2. Find the partition on the right adjacent to the partition you want to expand in the main interface (for example, if you want to expand partition C, please find the partition on the right adjacent to it), right-click and select “Delete Volume”.
remove volume
Step 3. Next, you will obtain an unallocated space that meets the expansion criteria. Please right-click on the C partition you want to expand, select “Expand Volume”, and follow the prompts to easily complete the partition expansion task.
Expand Volume
Method 2: Use Aomei Partition Assistant to solve the problem of C drive being unable to expand the volume
From the previous text, we can understand that the built-in disk management tools in Windows systems have some limitations, which in some cases may not help us solve problems and may even add to our troubles. So for the issue of Win11 and Win10 C disks being unable to expand their volumes, we can choose to use another more professional disk partition management software – Aomei Partition Assistant.
The partition assistant can not only ignore the limitations of the built-in tools in the system, but also easily merge two adjacent data partitions, merge non adjacent single or multiple unallocated spaces, or directly allocate available space from other partitions on the same hard drive to the partition you specify. It is a very good utility.
Quickly go to the download center to download or click the button below to download and install the Aomei Partition Assistant, and then follow our demonstration tutorial to use different methods to achieve C disk expansion for two different situations!
Download for free now
Win 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
Scenario 1: Unallocated space in the hard drive
If there is unallocated space on your hard drive, you can choose to use the “Merge Partitions” feature of the Partition Assistant, which can help you merge any single or multiple unallocated spaces on the same hard drive into the partition you specify, thereby achieving the goal of expanding partitions.
Step 1. Open the Aomei Partition Assistant, right-click on the partition you want to expand in the main interface, and then select “Merge Partitions”.
Merge partitions
Step 2. Select the unallocated space you want to merge in the pop-up window, and then click “OK”.
Select the unallocated space you want to merge
Step 3. Return to the main interface, click the “Submit” button in the upper left corner to preview the upcoming task, confirm it is correct, and then click “Execute” to merge non adjacent unallocated space into the partition you specified, thereby solving the problem of Win11 and Win10 C disks being unable to expand the volume.
Start executing merge partition task
A little tip about merging partition functions:
① The partition assistant can only merge two adjacent normally used data partitions at a time, but if you want to merge unallocated space, there are no quantity or location restrictions.
② You can merge data partitions into system partitions, but you cannot merge system partitions into data partitions.
Scenario 2: There is no unallocated space on the hard drive
If there is no unallocated space on your hard drive, how can you adjust the hard drive partition size without loss? The “allocate free space” function of the partition assistant may be a good choice. It can help you directly allocate the available space from any partition in the same hard drive to any partition you specify, which is simple, rough, fast, and effective, with a wider range of applications.
Step 1. Open the Aumei Partition Assistant, right-click on the partition with available space on the same hard drive in the main interface, and then select “Allocate Free Space”.
Allocate free space
Step 2. Select how much space you want to allocate to which partition in the pop-up window, and then click “OK”.
Choose how much space you want to allocate to which partition
Step 3. Return to the main interface, click the “Submit” button in the upper left corner to preview the upcoming task, confirm it is correct, and then click “Execute” to start executing the space allocation task.
Start executing space allocation task
conclusion
This article focuses on the issue of Win11 and Win10 C drives being unable to expand their volumes. It briefly introduces why the C drive expansion volume option is grayed out, and provides three different solutions. You can choose a partition expansion method that is more suitable for your actual situation. We hope it will be helpful to you!
In addition, the partition assistant also has many practical disk partition management functions, such as lossless conversion of MBR and GPT disks, adjusting partition size, migrating the system to a new hard drive, formatting hard drive partitions, etc. Download now and give it a try yourself!
