Updated by

Sherly

Written by

Tracy King

Last updated on April 22, 2024

Quick navigation:

While it's necessary and important to partition your disk when installing an operating system, have you ever thought about the need to modify partitions after OS installation? Unfortunately, you can't go back to the setup screen to partition or repartition. That's where a disk partition manager comes in handy.

GParted is one of the widely used tools, and we found it to be an excellent choice for the best disk partition manager. So, let's try to understand how GParted works and the available alternatives to GParted.

What is GParted?

GParted is one of the most popular choices for a GUI partition manager. Some distributions come with it pre-installed. If yours does not, it can be installed relatively quickly.

GParted is one of the practical choices to enjoy the best experience of a free partition editor. It offers you rich experience in managing users' disk partitions under the Windows operating system. The software rates high as an excellent option to meet almost all your needs, whether it's shrinking or expanding partition size, deleting or creating partitions, and even allocating new partition areas for a new operating system.

Resizing or moving partitions on your own on a Windows machine is also a good option. This should be quite okay for you if you're not entirely familiar with the proper risk management, and it will meet most of your expectations.

Is GParted free?

Yes, GParted is completely free and will not cost you anything. Additionally, it is cross-platform and can run on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS X. It's a fully featured, free partition manager that offers you all the options to resize, copy, and move partitions without losing data.

Where can I get GParted? GParted supports several platforms. However, we recommend downloading it from the GParted official website.

How do I use GParted to resize GPT partitions?

Resizing a GPT partition using GParted should be a straightforward process. Here's a step-by-step guide: 1. Download the GParted ISO image: Visit the official GParted website (https://gparted.org/) and download the latest version of the GParted Live ISO file. 2. Create a bootable medium: Use a tool like Rufus, Etcher, or UNetbootin to burn the ISO image onto a USB drive or DVD. 3. Boot your computer: Restart your PC and enter the BIOS/UEFI settings, setting USB or DVD as the preferred boot option. 4. Start GParted: Depending on your computer model, you may need to press a specific key (like F2, F10, F12, or Esc) to access the boot menu, select your bootable media, and proceed to start the GParted Live environment. 5. Launch GParted: In the GParted Live environment, open the GParted partition editor application. 6. Check disks and partitions: In the GParted interface, examine your hard disk and GPT partitions. Make sure you correctly identify the partition you want to resize. 7. Shrink the partition (if necessary): Right-click the partition you want to shrink and choose "Resize/Move." Enter the amount of space you want to release, then click "Apply" to execute the operation. 8. Enlarge the partition: Next to the freed space, locate the partition you want to expand. Right-click it, select "Resize/Move," drag the partition boundary to occupy the available space, and click "Apply." 9. Confirm changes: Before applying any changes, GParted will show a preview. Review it for accuracy, and click "Apply" to save the adjustments. 10. Exit and restart: After resizing the partition, close GParted and restart your computer. Your GPT partition should now be resized as expected. Please note that resizing partitions can result in data loss, so make sure to back up important files before beginning.

Prerequisites -

Step 1. Download the GParted ISO image

You can download the ISO image directly to your device using their download page. You can then copy the ISO image's download link and use the wget command to download it.

Download the GParted ISO image

Step 2: Boot from the GParted Live media

You can boot your system from a GParted live installation medium such as a CD or DVD. You can even boot from a USB device or ISO image while running GParted live.

Select GParted Live (default settings) and press Enter.

Boot the system with the GParted Live media Boot the system with the GParted Live media

Step 3: Select the keyboard

Select the keyboard you want to use, and then click OK.

Step 4: Choose a Language

Press the Enter key after selecting the language you want to use. The software defaults to 33 for American English.

Select Language

Step 5: Choose the working mode

Select the mode to use with GParted. By default, the number 0 is selected for the GUI mode.

The GParted interface

Once the GParted Live screen loads successfully, it displays the active partitions on your system. The interface looks something like this –

GParted main interface

To resize a disk or partition, follow these steps:

Step 1: Select the partition that you want to resize.

Step 2: Click on “Resize/Move” button, then you can adjust the size of the selected partition.

Resize and move partition

Step 3: Enter the dimensions you need on the interface.

Step 4. Confirm your partition resizing options according to your preferences and choices.

Step 5. Once that's done, choose what you want to do next:

    • e2fsck - e2fsck is a file system checker that can automatically fix bad sectors and I/O errors related to HDDs.
    • resize2fs - The resize2fs utility is used to adjust the size of an ext2, ext3, or ext4 file system. It can be used to grow or shrink an unmounted file system on a device.
    • e2image - The e2image program saves critical metadata of an ext2, ext3, or ext4 file system on a device to a file specified by image-file.

Best GParted Alternative – Partition Master Tool

Although GParted works on Windows, Linux, and Mac OS, it may not be the best option for resizing or moving partitions. Some users have also found that extending NFS partitions takes an unusually long time. These are some of the reasons you might want a GParted alternative.

We believe that Partition Master is one of the excellent choices to meet most of your expectations and requirements. It has been proven to be the best alternative to GParted and almost meets all your expectations.

The software is 100% free and safe. The secure platform offers better features, including resizing or moving partitions, deleting or creating partitions, converting disks to MBR/GPT, transferring system, and even upgrading HDD to SSD. These make it an excellent option for partitioning Windows disks as needed.

Download the free Partition Master now and follow the guide below to learn how to resize GPT partition.

Step 1: In Partition Master, go to "Partition Management," right-click the target GPT partition, and choose "Resize/Move Partition".

Step 2: Resize the GPT partition.

#1. Extended Partition:

Drag the GPT partition handle into the unallocated space. Click “OK” to confirm.

#2. Shrink partitions

Resize the handle of the GPT partition to shrink its size. Click OK to confirm.

Step 3: Click "Apply" and "Execute Task" to save the changes and resize the GPT partition.

Thought for the End

Check out the various options to get a GParted alternative with enhanced performance. You'll also find tools like Partition Master that bring the same powerful software features for all your needs.

With a user-friendly approach, the option to preview changes, and a great deal of useful operations, it should ideally be one of the most reliable tools of its kind. Give it a try, and we're sure you'll make it your go-to partition manager.