Resolved: SSD Not Displaying Full Capacity After Cloning

Updated by

Linda 

Written by

Sherly 

Updated on April 22, 2024

Did you clone your old drive, and now your SSD isn't showing the full capacity? If so, you've come to the right place. This article from Tools will guide you through resolving the cloning issue and enable you to access your SSD with its full capacity without any problems.

SSDs are crucial for all contemporary PCs and provide a significant performance enhancement. Furthermore, they are reasonably priced and should be incorporated into all new PC builds. Hence, if you've acquired a new SSD and are encountering issues with displaying the total capacity after cloning your hard drive, proceed with the solutions below.

Why Does SSD Show Less Than Full Capacity After Cloning?

Why does your SSD not show full capacity after the cloning process? Upgrading to a larger and faster SSD can greatly enhance your computer's performance. Nevertheless, you might encounter several issues, and your SSD might remain stuck with the same capacity or size as the original cloned drive.

This issue typically arises when you copy all contents, including Windows boot records, local files, system settings, and applications from the previous drive to the new SSD. As a consequence, a partition is created on your new SSD that matches the size of the partition on your original drive. Consequently, an exact replica of your source drive is made, which is why the full capacity of your SSD is not displayed.

Any extra space that goes beyond the size of your original drive will remain unallocated. Unfortunately, unallocated disk space is not visible in Windows File Explorer, so you won't be able to access it or write any new data.

However, there are some ways to resolve this issue. Follow the fixes below to make your SSD display its full capacity. Feel free to share these solutions to assist others.

3 Solutions for SSD Not Showing Full Capacity After Cloning

Although the solutions below will help address your SSD issue, they each take different approaches. Therefore, it's essential to select the one that best fits your requirements. Here's a table comparing the pros and cons of each fix:

Having said that, I highly recommend utilizing the Partition Master tool for fixing this issue, as it is the most straightforward and quickest method. You won't need to learn any coding or use the terminal to resolve your SSD problem.

Fix 1: Solve SSD Not Showing Full Capacity After Clone via Tools - Partition Master

Fixing your SSD partition is simple with the help of Partition Master tools. The application allows you to format the unallocated space as a standard usable partition using the "Extend Volume" function. To begin, follow these steps:

Step 1. Locate the Target Partition.

Go to Partition Manager and locate the target partition, then select “Resize/Move”.

Step 2. Extend the Target Partition.

Drag the partition panel rightwards or leftwards to add the unallocated space into your current partition and then click “OK” to confirm.

Additional Option: Get Space from Another Drive

If there isn't enough unallocated space on your disk, right-click on a large partition with enough free space and select "Allocate Space".

Then at the “allocate space to” column, select the target partition that you want to extend.

Drag the dots of the target partition into the unallocated space and click “OK”.

Click the “Execute Task” button and then “Apply” to save all the changes.

Furthermore, Partition Master tools offer many additional features. The application assists you in managing all your drives, storage space, unused capacity, and more. Here are some of the most advantageous features that can give you an edge in disk management:

• Optimize SSD performance
• 4K alignment for SSDs
• Resolve low disk space issues
• Check SSD health on Windows 11/10/8/7
• Manage SSD drive capacity

With that said, simply access the official website and download Partition Master today to fix all your SSD capacity or performance issues.

Fix 2: Solve SSD Not Showing Full Capacity After Clone via Disk Management

Another method is by using Disk Management to allocate or extend your SSD partition with the unallocated space. This can be tricky for beginners, as you could accidentally format your SSD if you make a mistake.

So, I recommend you back up your data first, then go ahead with the steps listed below.

Step 1. Launch the built-in Disk Management app by pressing the "Windows + X" keys and selecting the "Disk Management" option.

Step 2. Now, select your drive and right-click on your new SSD.

Note: Make sure you see the gray "Unallocated" space on your SSD.

Step 3. Click on the "Extend Volume" button and follow the on-screen instructions to increase the storage space of your SSD.

Solution 3: Solve SSD Not Showing Full Capacity After Clone with Diskpart

This is the most complex solution and involves using the Windows Terminal (Command Prompt or PowerShell) to enter several commands. Therefore, I recommend this fix only if you are comfortable using the terminal and typing in some code.

Having said that, here's how you can resolve the SSD not showing full capacity after cloning error using the Diskpart commands:

Step 1. Press the "Windows + X" keys and choose the "Terminal (Admin)" option.

Step 2. Type the following commands to select your disk and volume:

Here are the translations of the provided text into English:
• diskpart (enables the diskpart utility)
• list disk (displays all available disks)
• select disk 0 (Enter the target disk number, replace 0 with the actual number)
• list partition (lists the partitions on the selected disk)
• select partition 2 (Choose the desired partition, replace 2 with the appropriate number)

Important: Replace "2" with the appropriate disk and volume number. For example, disk 1 and volume 4.

Step 3. Type the following command, and Diskpart will automatically extend the volume.

Here's the translation of the given text into English: ```markdown
• extend size=10240 disk 0
``` This appears to be a command or instruction in a list, where "extend" is likely a command to expand something, "size=10240" specifies the size (in bytes or possibly kilobytes, depending on the context) to be extended by, and "disk 0" refers to the first disk in a system.

Note: Replace "10240" with the amount of MBs you want to extend the volume by. For example, size=5000.

Bonus Tip: How to Prevent SSD Not Showing Full Capacity After Cloning

If you haven't cloned your old drive yet and want to avoid the SSD not showing the full capacity issue, here's the best solution.

Make sure to use professional cloning software like Partition Master to clone your old drive to a larger SSD without losing any capacity. This will enable you to create an exact clone without encountering partition issues.

Here are the steps to use Partition Master in English:

Step 1. Select the source disk.

Here are the translations for the given languages:
• Click "Clone" from the left menu. Select "Clone OS Disk" or "Clone Data Disk" and click "Next".
• Select the source disk and click "Next".

Step 2. Select the target disk.

Translate the following sentences into English: - Select the desired HDD/SSD as your destination and click "Next" to proceed. - Read the warning message and confirm by clicking the "Yes" button.

Step 3. View the disk layout and edit the target disk partition size.

When the program warns that it will erase all data on the target disk, click “Continue.” (If the target disk contains valuable data, back it up first.)

Here, you can choose to "Autofit the disk", "Clone as source", or "Edit disk layout" to customize your disk configuration. (Select the last option if you want to allocate more space to the C drive.)

Step 4. Click "Start" to begin the disk cloning process.

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However, your SSD can encounter other issues, like not being able to boot. If you're experiencing a problem where your cloned SSD won't boot, consult our guide for resolving this error.

Conclusion

Although expanding your disk volume might appear intimidating initially, it can be easily resolved by utilizing the unallocated space on your SSD. This will enable you to fix the issue of the SSD not displaying its full capacity after the cloning error and reclaim the complete storage capacity of your SSD.

The three fixes in this article help you do just that with easy-to-follow instructions. However, I still recommend using tools like Partition Master for the job, as it makes everything much more straightforward, simpler, and faster.

Download the software and follow the steps above. This will expand the volume of your SSD or even help you clone the drive without encountering the SSD not showing full capacity after cloning issue.

"SSD Not Showing Full Capacity After Clone" FAQs

I hope the solutions provided above have assisted you in resolving the issue. However, if you still have questions or concerns regarding the problems, please refer to the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) below.

**1. Why does the partition size on the destination disk remain unchanged by default?**

When you clone a drive, the objective is to create an exact replica of the original drive. This entails preserving the data on your old disk, the partition, and the complete disk structure, ensuring it mirrors the source partition.

2. How to use the unallocated space on the larger destination SSD after cloning?

You can utilize the unallocated space on the larger SSD after cloning through several methods. Simply follow the steps below to get started:

Step 1. Press the 'Windows + X' keys and choose 'Disk Management' from the options.

Step 2. Next, select the drive and right-click on it to choose the 'Extend Volume' option.

Step 3. Follow the on-screen instructions to extend the SSD drive.

However, this can feel a bit challenging for beginners. So, I highly recommend using a third-party tool like tools Partition Master to expand your SSD's storage space.

3. How to fix a hard drive showing incorrect capacity on Windows 10?

If your hard drive displays an incorrect capacity on Windows 10, there could be several reasons behind it. However, you can address this issue using the Diskpart command, Disk Management utility, or the Partition Master application.