How to Partition a Hard Drive (Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, +) (2023)

This article describes how to partition a hard drive in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, Vista and XP.

What is partitioning?

Partitioning a hard disk in Windows means separating a part of it and making it available to the operating system.

In other words, a hard disk is not useful to your operating system until it is partitioned. Furthermore, it is not available foryouto store files until you format it (which is another equally simple process).

Most of the time, this "part" of the hard disk is all the usable space, but it is also possible to create multiple partitions on a hard disk so that you can store backup files in one partition, movies in another, etc.

How to Partition a Hard Drive in Windows

Don't worry if this process seems a little more complicated than you think, because it's not. Partitioning a hard drive in Windows is not difficult at all and usually only takes a few minutes to complete.

Here's how to do it:

1. Open Disk Management, the tool included in all versions of Windows that lets you partition disks, among many other things.

   

   No. Windows 11/10/8/8.1, oadvanced user menuis the easiest way to start Disk Management. You can alsoopen Disk Management via command prompton any version of Windows, but the computer management method is probably the best for most people. To checkwhat version of windows is installedon your computer if you are not sure.

2. When Disk Management opens, you should see ainitialize diskwindow with the message"You must initialize a disk before Logical Disk Manager can access it."

   

   (Video) How to Partition a Hard Drive (Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, +)

   On Windows XP, you will see aInitialize and Convert Disk Wizardscreen instead. Follow this wizard, making sure you don't select the option to "convert" the disk unless you're sure you need to. Go to Step 4 when done.

   Don't worry if this window doesn't appear. There are legitimate reasons why you might not see it; soon we will know if there is a problem or not. Go to Step 4 if you don't see this.

   See Also

   How to create, shrink, extend or delete a hard drive partition in Windows 10 | StellarHow to create partitions in Windows 10Top 10 Free Disk Partition Software ToolsWindows 10 Disk Management – ​​The Most Helpful User Guide

3. On this screen, you will be asked to choose a partition style for the new hard drive. To chooseGPTif the newly installed hard drive is 2TB or more. To chooseMBRse for inferior a 2 TB.

   To chooseACCORDINGLYafter making your selection.

   How to Check Free Hard Drive Space in Windows

4. Locate the hard drive you want to partition on the drive map at the bottom of the Disk Management window.

   You may need to maximize thedisk managementocomputer managementwindow to see all drives at the bottom. An unpartitioned drive will not appear in the list of drives at the top of the window.

   If the hard drive is new, it will probably be on a dedicated line labeled Disk 1 (or 2, etc.) and sayunassigned. If the space you want to partition is part of an existing drive, you will seeunassignednext to any existing partitions on that drive.

   If you don't see the drive you want to partition, you may have installed it incorrectly. Shut down the computer and verify that the hard disk is installed correctly.

5. Once you find the space you want to partition, press and hold or right-click anywhere and choosenew simple volume.

   

   In Windows XP, the option is callednew partition.

6. To chooseNext >about itNew Simple Volume Wizardwindow that appeared

   (Video) How to create a new Hard Drive partition on Windows 11/10/8/7 with Disk Management?

   

   No Windows XP, unSelect partition typethe screen below appears, where you must chooseprimary partition. Heextended partitionThe option is only useful if you are creating five or more partitions on a single physical hard drive. selectNext >after making the selection.

7. To chooseNext >about itSpecify volume sizestep to confirm the size of the unit you are creating.

   

   The standard size you see onSimple volume size in MB:The field must equal the value shown in theMaximum disk space in MB:field. This means that you are creating a partition equal to the total space available on your physical hard drive.

   You can create multiple partitions, which will eventually become multiple independent drives in Windows. To do this, figure out how many and how big you want these drives to be and repeat these steps to create these partitions. For example, if the drive is 61437 MB and you want to partition it, specify an initial size of 30718 to partition only half of the drive and repeat the partition again for the rest of the drive.unassignedspace.

   See Also

   How to Manage Hard Drive Partitions and Volumes in Windows 10

8. selectNext >about itAssign drive letter or pathstep, assuming the default drive letter you see is fine for you.

   

   Windows automatically assigns the first available drive letter, ignoring A and B, which on most computers will beDomi. We invite you to define theAssign the following drive letteroption for whatever is available.

   You are also welcomechange hard drive letterlater if you want.

9. To chooseDo not format this volumeabout itformat partitionstep and then selectNext >.

   

   (Video) How to Create Disk Partition on Windows 11,10,8,7

   If you know what you're doing, feel free to format the drive as part of this process. However, as this tutorial focuses ondivisiona hard disk in Windows, we leave the formatting for another tutorial, linked in the last step below.

10. Check your options onComplete the New Simple Volume Wizardscreen, which should look something like this:

    

    • volume type:volume simples
    • Selected disk:Disco 1
    • volume size:61437 megabytes
    • Drive letter or path:F:
    • file system:None
    • Size of the allocation unit:by default

    Since your computer and hard drive are unlikely to look exactly like mine, expect yourselected disk,volume size, youDrive letter or pathvalues ​​may be different from what you see here.File System: Noneit just means you've decided not to format the drive at this point as well.

11. To choosefinalizeand Windows will partition the drive, a process that will take just a few seconds on most computers.

    You may notice that your cursor is busy during this time. Once you see the new drive letter (F: in our example) listed at the top of Disk Management, you'll know the partitioning process is complete.

12. Windows will try to open the new drive automatically. However, as it is not yet formatted and cannot be used, you will see this message: "You must format the disk in the F: drive before you can use it. Do you want to format this?"

    This only happens on Windows 11, 10, 8 and 7. You won't see this on Windows Vista or Windows XP and that's perfectly fine. Skip to the last step below if you're using one of these versions of Windows.

13. selectCancel. Or if you knowHow to Format a Hard Drive in Windows, do not hesitate to choosedisk formatinstead of. If it doesn't, check out a tutorial before trying.

    

    advanced partitioning

    Windows only allows very basic partition management once you create one, but severalfree disk partition management software programsThey are there and can help if you need them.