How to Add Unallocated Space to D Drive Without Data Loss
Key Takeaways:
- Disk Management allows users to find unallocated disk space in Windows 11/10, and you can easily add unallocated space to the d drive and increase D drive space from C drive.
- If you can't extend D drive with unallocated space, try another partition tool - Qiling Disk Master, regardless of whether the unallocated space is neighboring.
Unallocated space is an area of the hard disk that is not allocated to the file system for storing data and files. Usually, unallocated space is not visible on your computer. You can check for unallocated space in Disk Management on Windows computers, and it will be marked as Unllocated. Using unallocated space to expand the D drive makes efficient use of the disk and frees up space on the D drive. In this article, we will cover how to add unallocated space to the D drive.
How to add unallocated space to D drive on Windows 10/11
In this part, we will share you with 2 different options to merge unallocated space to D drive for Windows. One is Windows built-in tool Disk Management, and the other one is Qiling Disk Master, which is a free partition manager that can resize/merge partition more easily.
▶ Option 1. Alternative to add unallocated space to D drive easily - Easy for all
Qiling Disk Master Standard is a professional disk partition management tool which is designed to solve partition and disk problems in Windows 11/10/8/7/XP. With it, you can add unallocated space to any partition effortlessly. It offers you various choices, including Resize Partition and Move Partition, Merge Partition.
Besides, Qiling Disk Master Standard has much more features, including wiping partition for reuse, removing junk files for more space, Rebuild MBR, etc. Now let's see how to extend D drive with unallocated space.
Solution 1. Resize Partition and Move Partition
Step 1. Install and run Qiling Disk Master Standard on your Windows PC.
Step 2. Enter the main page, right click D partition and select Resize/Move Partition.
Step 3. Drag the D Partition to the left. Also, you can drag it to the right if there is an unallocated space.
Step 4. Click Proceed to start the pending operation.
However, it still not perfect. It requires an adjacent unallocated space (on the right or left side). Besides, here is an easier way. You can merge D drive with any unallocated space as long as it's on the same disk.
Solution 2. Merge Partition
Step 1. Enter the main page, right-click D partition, choose select Resize/Move Partition.
Step 2. Here, select the unallocated space .
Step 3. Preview the result and click Proceed to start the pending operation.
You can also refer to the steps to add unallocated space to C drive.
After switching to Qiling Disk Master Professional, there are other advanced functions to extend d drive or other drives on Windows 11/10/8/7.
1. Extend Partition Wizard: Extend your system boot partition without rebooting Windows PC and other partitions.
2. Allocate Free Space: Allocate free space from one drive to another, saving the steps to create unallocated space first.
▶ Option 2. Extend D drive by using Disk Management - for experienced
To add unallocated to D drive with Disk Management, you must pay attention to the following limitations:
① There must be one or more unallocated space.
② The unallocated space must be adjacent to the target partition.
③ The unallocated space must be at the right of the target partition.
Briefly, you can only add unallocated space to the adjacent partition which lies on its left hand. If your disk partition location meets this condition, do as the steps below.
Step 1. Right-click "This PC" and select "Manage". Then, click "Disk Management" udner "Storage" to open Disk Management.
Step 2. Click D drive, select "Extend Volume" to add unallocated space to D drive.
Step 3. The "Extend Volume Wizard" pops up, click "Next" here, and follow all defaulted settings.
Step 4. Click "Finish" to finish the process. Now the unallocated space has been added to D drive.
- ★Tip:
- However, if it does not meet all above requirements (the unallocated space is not adjacent to D drive), you will find the extend volume is disabled. In this case, a professional partition manager like Qiling Disk Master will be needed. Please turn to option 1.
Why add unallocated space to D drive?
For many computer users, the unallocated space is a very important part. Although you cannot directly write files or folders on it, you still can make full use of it to enlarge another existing partition. Typically, add unallocated space to D drive for these reasons:
✦ Increasing Storage Capacity
If your D drive is running out of space, adding unallocated space to it can increase its storage capacity. This is particularly useful if you're dealing with large files, applications, or media.
✦ Simplified File Management
Having a larger D drive means you have more room to organize and store files, which can make file management simpler and more organized.
✦ Avoiding Fragmentation
When a drive is almost full, it can become fragmented as the system tries to fit new files into available spaces. Adding unallocated space helps prevent fragmentation by providing more contiguous space for new files.
✦ Future Expansion
Having additional unallocated space allows for future expansion. You might not need it now, but as your storage needs grow, you'll have the flexibility to allocate more space without the need for major reconfigurations.
In sum, add unallocated space to drive is a great choice to solve low disk space error, and it becomes more and more necessary for users.
Summary
How to add unallocated space to D drive on Windows 7/8/10/11 is not a problem. As long as there is a right adjacent unallocated space to the target partition, you can use Disk Management. If not, you can use free partition manager Qiling Disk Master.
Qiling Disk Master can get rid of the limitation of Disk Management. You just need an unallocated space on the same disk. If the unallocated space on the right side, you can use Extend Partition Wizard. If not, you choose Resize Partition and Move Partition, Merge Partition as you like. If you want to add unallocated space to D drive in Windows Server 2022/2019/2016/2012/2008/2003, you can switch to Qiling Disk Master Server.
Related Articles
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