Add space to C drive in Windows Server 2019
It can’t be better if you can add more disk space to C drive when it is getting full, otherwise, you have to recreate partitions and restore everything. In that case, server will be offline for such as long time. Both Unallocated space and free space inside of other volumes in the same disk can be added into C drive, but first you’d better select a safe partition software.
In this article, I’ll show you how to add disk space to C drive on Windows Server 2019 without losing data.
Add Unallocated space to C drive
Unallocated space does not belong to any allocated drives. You can get Unallocated space by deleting or shrinking a partition.
In Windows Server 2019 native Disk Management, there is built-in Shrink Volume, which can shrink a partition and produce Unallocated space on the right side. Just because it can only produce Unallocated space on the right side, it causes a common issue. After shrinking drive D, Unallocated space is on the right side of D, so you can’t extend C drive except that you can move this space on the left side of D.
From Microsoft explanation, to expand a drive with Extend Volume functionality, there must be Unallocated space on the right side. What to do if you have shrank D? Luckily, you can add Unallocated space to C drive in Windows Server 2019 with partition management software.
Download NIUBI Partition Editor, you’ll see all single partitions on the top and all disks with drive layout on the bottom. In my test server, there is 20GB Unallocated space which is shrank from D. I can add it into C drive with just 2 steps.
Unallocated space is moved to the left side of drive D.
As you see, Unallocated space is added to C drive. Remember to click Apply on top left to execute.
Add free space to C drive
Actually, few server machines have such existing Unallocated space, but it doesn’t matter. Free space in other drives also can be added to C drive, but these drives should be in the same hard disk. In my test server, I can get free space from drive D and E.
Better than Server 2019 Disk Management utility, NIUBI Partition Editor can shrink a drive and produce Unallocated space on either side. That means, you can shrink D to extend C drive without moving Unallocated space.
Return the Unallocated space to drive D and start from scratch. Original drive D is 50GB.
Right click drive D and select Resize/Move Volume, in the pop-up window, drag left border rightwards.
Unallocated space is produced on the left side of D drive. (If I drag right border leftwards, Unallocated space will be produced on the right side.)
Now, simply right click C drive, select Resize feature, and then drag right border to combine the adjacent Unallocated space.
Video guide
If there is not plenty of free space in adjacent drive D, just transfer free space from drive E. Watch the video how to add free space to C drive in Windows Server 2019.
In Summary
With NIUBI Partition Editor, you can add disk space to C drive on Windows Server 2019 easily. Both Unallocated space and free space in other drives can be added, no matter they are contiguous or not. As the safest disk partitioning software, NIUBI Partition Editor is integrated with innovative 1 Second Rollback technology to ensure system and data intact. It creates snapshot of the disk drives after starting. If anything goes wrong while resizing and moving partitions, it rolls back to original snapshot automatically and rapidly. Backup software can protect system and data, but it costs a long time to restore if any damage occur, so as I said in the beginning, it is important to select a safe partition tool.