How to Create or Merge Disk Partitions in Windows 11

Key Takeaways 

• Windows lets you divide your storage into different partitions to manage files and folders better.
• The Windows Disk Management utility is a built-in tool that allows storage manipulation of the operating system.

How to Create Hard Drive Partitions on Windows 11

Windows offers the Disk Management utility to undertake any storage-related tasks on your Windows PC. It’s a solid go-to option to format a storage drive or create a new partition. Here are the steps to create a disk partition using the Disk Management utility on your Windows 11 PC:

Step 1: Press the Windows + X keys to access the Power User Menu and click on Disk Management.

Step 2: Right-click on the disk to create a partition. Then, click on Shrink volume.

Step 3: Type the amount of space to shrink in MB to determine the partition size. Be mindful of the number you enter. Next, click on Shrink.

Step 4: Right-click on the newly created unallocated partition (one with the grey lines) and select New Simple Volume.

Step 5: When a New Simple Volume Wizard window appears on the screen, click Next.

Step 6: If you plan on creating additional partitions, specify the size you want to create. Then, click on Next.

Step 7: Click on the Assign the following drive letter drop-down list to select a drive letter for your partition. Then, click on Next.

Step 8: Select an applicable File system (by default, choose NTFS) and type a name in the box next to Volume label. Then, click on Next.

After that, a File Explorer window will show you the newly created drive partitions. In our case, they were New Volume (D:) and New Volume (E:). Repeat the process to create more partitions.

How to Merge Hard Drive Partitions on Windows 11

While this is convenient, the partitions sometimes remain unutilized or underutilized. In such cases, you may need to merge your existing hard drive partitions to create a larger space to store more files in a single partition. Here’s how to easily merge hard drive partitions on your Windows 11 PC:

Step 1: Press the Windows + X keys to access the Power User Menu and click on Disk Management.

Step 2: Right-click on the secondary partition (New Volume D: in our case) and select Delete Volume.

Step 3: If you have backed up the data in the chosen partition, click Yes. Meanwhile, if you haven’t taken a backup of the files present on the secondary partition, click on No, and repeat steps 1, 2, and 3 after creating a backup.

Step 4: The tool labels the deleted partition Unallocated. After deleting that partition, right-click on the primary partition you want to extend and click on Extend Volume.

Step 5: When the Extend Volume Wizard appears on the screen, click Next.

Step 6: If you want to merge the entire partition, click Next directly.

However, if you want to merge only a part of it, enter a specific size in the Select the amount of space in MB text box and click on Next.

Step 7: Click on Finish.

After you click finish, the Disk Management utility will merge the unallocated partition with the existing partition.