How to Delete Unallocated Space in Windows 10 [3 Effective Ways]

Updated By

Tracy King 

Written By

Cici 

Last Updated on April 22, 2024

Unallocated space refers to the area on a computer that is not part of any partition and cannot be used. It is an area where no program can write files or data to the disk. Furthermore, unallocated space will not be automatically assigned by the computer to other partitions.

Many users want to delete unallocated space to make better use of the hard drive. Can unallocated space be deleted? How to delete unallocated space? This article will lead you to find the detailed answers.

Can I delete unallocated space?

You cannot directly delete unallocated space. This is because unallocated space does not exist as a file or volume in your operating system, so there is nothing to delete. Fortunately, there are two ways to delete or remove unallocated space:

1. Create a new partition in the unallocated space

2. Extend unallocated space to an existing partition

Once unallocated space is assigned to a partition, you can easily delete it, if need be. This way, you can make the best use of unallocated space. Let's see how to delete unallocated space with the steps below.

How to Delete Unallocated Space [3 Effective Ways]

In Windows 10, you can delete unallocated space using Disk Management, Command Prompt, or third-party software. Choose the method that suits you best. Here's a quick comparison of the three options.

Disk Management and Diskpart might be more suitable for users proficient in computer operations. However, Partition Master is a professional disk management tool with more powerful features and a simpler operation process. Even if you're not good at computers, you can easily delete unallocated space.

The following sections will teach you how to use any of these three tools to delete unallocated space, create new partitions, and extend existing ones into the unallocated space.

Create a New Partition Guide 1: Create a New Partition on Unallocated Space

Creating a new partition on the unallocated space is a good way to delete unallocated space, so let's start with that.

Method 1: Create New Partition with Partition Master Tool

AOMEI Partition Assistant is a feature-rich disk management tool that supports Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7 and Windows XP. It allows you to easily create partitions and expand non-contiguous unallocated space. You can download this free software to try deleting the unallocated partition in Windows 10.

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant. On the main interface, right-click on the "Unallocated" space on the hard drive or external storage device and select "Create".

Step 2. Adjust the size of the new partition, the file system (select a file system as needed), label, etc., and click OK to continue.

Step 3. Click the Run 1 Task button, and then click Apply to create the new partition.

Watch the following video tutorial to learn how to create a partition on an NTFS, FAT, or EXT file system.

Method 2: Create a New Partition Using Disk Management

Disk Management is a built-in Windows tool that allows you to manage, partition, format, and resize hard drives. Use it to delete unallocated space by following these steps.

Step 1. Press the "Windows+R" keys, then type "diskmgmt.msc" to open Disk Management.

Step 2: Right-click on the unallocated space.

Step 3: Select “New Simple Volume.” Follow the wizard to set the drive letter, file system, and other options.

4. Click “Finish” to create the partition on the unallocated space.

Method 3: Create a New Partition with Diskpart

`Diskpart` is a command-line tool that can be used to create and delete unallocated space. When using `Diskpart`, it's crucial to double-check your commands to avoid errors. To delete unallocated space, you first need to create it. Here are the steps involved: 1. **Open the Command Prompt**: - Press `Win + X` and choose 'Command Prompt (Admin)' or 'Windows PowerShell (Admin)' to run it with administrative privileges. 2. **Run Diskpart**: - In the Command Prompt, type `diskpart` and press Enter. This will start the Diskpart utility. 3. **List Disks**: - Inside Diskpart, type `list disk` and hit Enter. This will display all the disks connected to your system. 4. **Select the Disk**: - Identify the disk where you want to manage unallocated space and type `select disk n`, replacing 'n' with the disk number. For example, if your target disk is Disk 1, you would type `select disk 1`. 5. **Create Unallocated Space** (if needed): - If you want to create unallocated space, you'll need to shrink an existing partition. Type `shrink desired=size`, replacing 'size' with the amount of space in MB you want to make unallocated. For example, `shrink desired=10240` will free up 10GB. 6. **Delete Unallocated Space**: - If you want to delete an unallocated partition, you cannot directly do this with Diskpart. Instead, you'll need to use other tools like Disk Management or third-party software to merge the unallocated space with an adjacent partition. 7. **Exit Diskpart**: - After you're done, type `exit` to leave Diskpart and then another `exit` to close the Command Prompt. Remember, always backup important data before making any changes to your disk partitions.

Step 1: Open the "Run" window and type "cmd" to open the Command Prompt. Type "diskpart" and hit "Enter."

Step 2: Type the following commands, pressing Enter after each one.

Guide 2: Extend unallocated space to an existing partition

All three can also extend unallocated space to an existing partition. Let's see how each of these tools shrinks an unallocated space.

Method 1: Extend Unallocated Partition with Partition Master

Here are the steps to extend unallocated space using the Partition Master tool:

Step 1: Identify the Target Region

Please go to “Partition Manager” and choose “Resize/Move Partition”.

Select the partition to extend

Step 2: Extend the Target Partition

Drag the partition to the right or left to add unallocated space to the current one, and then click “OK” to confirm.

Extra option: Get space from another drive

If there isn't enough unallocated space, right-click on a large partition with enough space and select “Allocate Space.”

Then, in the “Allocate to” column, select the partition you want to extend.

Step 3: Perform the operation to expand the partition

Drag the dot for the target partition to the “Unallocated” space, and then click OK.

Click the Run Task button, and then click Apply to save all your changes.

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In addition to creating and extending partitions on unallocated space with the Partition Master tool, it also supports other operations on unallocated space.

Method 2: Extend Unallocated Space with Disk Management

Step 1: Right-click on the unallocated space and open Disk Management.

Step 2: Click “Extend Volume,” and then follow the instructions to add the unallocated space to your existing partition.

Method 3: Extend an Unallocated Partition with Diskpart

Here are the steps to extend an unallocated partition into an existing one using CMD, with the encoding format UTF-8:

Step 1: Open the Run window, type "cmd" to open the Command Prompt window.

Step 2: To extend the partition, type each of the following commands followed by Enter.

If you'd like to delete a partition with Diskpart, you can refer to the detailed steps in the link below.

How to Delete All Partitions in Windows with DiskPart?

This article will guide you on how to clean a drive for free using DiskPart. Here, besides deleting volumes, you'll also learn more command lines to create, extend, and format volumes with this tool.

Conclusions

This guide will show you three ways to delete unallocated space. Unallocated space isn't part of any partition, so you can't simply delete it. You'll need to create a new partition with the unallocated space or extend an existing partition into the unallocated space.

AOMEI Partition Assistant is a powerful and user-friendly tool that can help resolve issues you encounter with disk management or Diskpart in Windows. If you have further questions, proceed to the next section.

Frequently Asked Questions About "Delete Unallocated Space"

If you have further questions about unallocated space, please continue to ask.

Why can't I delete unallocated space?

Unallocated space refers to unused space on a hard drive that does not belong to any partition and contains no data. Hence, it cannot be deleted. You can create a new partition on the unallocated space or extend an existing partition into the unallocated space.

What happens if you delete unallocated space?

If you attempt to delete unallocated space, nothing will happen because you cannot delete unallocated space.

3. Why do I have so much unallocated space?

There are several scenarios that can lead to unallocated space, such as:

Initialize Disk Delete Partition Accidental deletion or virus attack

Unallocated space refers to unused space on a hard drive. You can increase the utilization of unallocated disk space by creating a new partition or extending it into another partition.