Add space to C drive in Windows 10 without data loss
Windows Updates, programs and related data, browser generated files and many other kinds of files write into C drive continuously, so C drive runs out of space sooner or later. In this situation, nobody likes to start from scratch, so it can’t be better if you can add space to C drive to increase its partition size. If there is Unallocated space or free space inside of any data volumes in the same hard disk, you can add these disk space to C drive without losing data.
Unallocated space is blank and does not belong to any volumes. Free space in a drive has not been used by any files, so it also can be used to increase C drive space. To add space to C drive in Windows 10, there are two options: Windows native Disk Management and 3rd-party partition software. However, because of its inherent limitations, Disk Management only works in special disk configuration. In this article, I’ll give detailed solution of how to add space to C drive in Windows 10 with these tools.
How to add Unallocated space to C drive
Add adjacent Unallocated space
If there is Unallocated space that is adjacent and on the right side of C drive, you can add Unallocated space to C drive in Windows 10 Disk Management without software. Note: Windows Disk Management only works in this configuration.
Steps:
- Right click Windows flag on bottom left corner of the screen and select Disk Management.
- Right click C drive and select Extend Volume.
- Finish the Extend Volume Wizard by several clicks.
Add nonadjacent Unallocated space
If the Unallocated space is not next to C drive, you need to run NIUBI Partition Editor to move Unallocated space, and then repeat the steps above or extend C drive with NIUBI by dragging and dropping.
Steps:
1. Download NIUBI Partition Editor, as you see, there is 20GB Unallocated space behind drive D.
Right click drive D and select Resize/Move Volume, drag the middle position rightwards.
Unallocated space is moved to behind C drive.
2. Right click C drive and select Resize/Move Volume again, in the pop-up window, drag the right border rightwards.
Unallocated space is added to C drive.
3. Click Apply on top left to execute the pending operations. (You can undo and redo the pending operations before clicking Apply.)
How to add free space to C drive
If there is no Unallocated space, it doesn’t matter, you can still add free space to C drive with few steps.
Note: you can get free space from any drives no matter they are adjacent to C drive or not, but these drive should be in the same disk. No partition software can extend a drive by taking free space from another physical hard disk.
Steps to add free space to C drive in Windows 10:
Step 1: Right click drive D and select Resize/Move Volume, drag left border rightwards to shrink it.
20GB free space is taken out of from D and display as Unallocated behind C drive.
Step 2: Right click C drive and select Resize/Move Volume again, in the pop-up window, drag the right border rightwards to combine the Unallocated space.
Step 3: Click Apply to execute, done.
In Summary
Windows 10 Disk Management can only add right adjacent Unallocated space to C drive, in other situations you need professional partition software. Integrated with innovative 1 Second Rollback technology, NIUBI Partition Editor can help you add space to C drive in Windows 10 (32 & 64 bit) safely and easily.
If there is Unallocated space but is nonadjacent to C drive, simply move it and combine to C drive. If no Unallocated space exists, simply shrink data volume and add free space into C drive. All what you need to do is dragging and dropping on the software.