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Last updated on April 22, 2024

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Many computer users are unaware of the system reserved partition, so it helps to know what this term means. In this article, you'll learn all about the SSD System Reserved Partition.

What is "SSD System Reserved"?

The “System Reserved” partition is created when you install Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10, and it takes up a certain amount of space on your hard drive – for example, 100 MB in Windows 7, 350 MB in Windows 8, and 500 MB in Windows 10. This partition is closely tied to the startup process, as it stores the Boot Configuration Database (BCD), boot manager code, the Windows Recovery Environment, and holds space for BitLocker boot files, just in case you use the BitLocker Drive Encryption feature.

ssd system reserved partition

In short, the System Reserved partition contains one of the following:

    • Bootable Windows data
    • Bitlocker boot files

How do I delete the System Reserved Partition?

So, is it safe to delete the partition in either of these cases? Well, in certain situations, you can safely remove the SSD System Reserved partition without causing any boot failure issues.

Sometimes, a "Reserved" SSD partition might not actually be the one that contains the boot files. To check if it's the correct one, you can try using the built-in Windows Disk Management (This PC → Manage → Disk Management) to test it by doing the following:

    Inspect the partition contents

Right-click the partition and select “Change Drive Letter and Paths.” Assign an unused drive letter to it and browse its contents. You should be able to search through the files you find here easily to see if they're related to the System Reserved partition.

    Eject the drive from your computer

After disconnecting, try booting the machine to make sure it starts up normally. If it does, you can assume that removing the partition did no harm.

In this case, you can safely delete the “Reserved” SSD partition. Since Windows Disk Management doesn't allow operations on the Reserved SSD partition, it's better to use a free partition manager to delete the System Reserved Partition without harming the normal system boot process. Download the tool Partition Master and learn how to delete a partition:

Step 1: Run Partition Master and click “Partition Manager”.

Before deleting any partitions on the disk, make sure that you have backed up important data.

Step 2: Choose to delete a partition on the hard drive or delete all partitions.

    • Delete individual partition: Right-click the partition you want to delete and select "Delete". • Delete all partitions: Right-click the hard drive from which you want to delete all partitions, and select "Delete All".

Step 3: Click "OK" to confirm the removal.

4. Click on "Run xx as Task" and then click "Apply" to save the changes.

0:00 - 0:26 Remove a single volume; 0:27 - 0:53 Remove all partitions.

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You may also like: How to Regret Not Deleting the Reserved Partition on SSD – Follow This Guide.

Can I delete the SSD system reserved partition?

As the System Reserved Partition is hidden, protected, and has no drive letter, you can't delete it directly via Disk Management. As you know, this partition contains all the boot information. If it's on the same disk as your OS SSD (as shown in the picture above, both System Reserved and C drive are on Disk 0), don't delete it, or else your computer won't be able to boot.

Besides, if the purpose of deleting this partition is to release disk space, this goal cannot be achieved either, because the System Reserved Partition only occupies a small part of disk space, about 100MB to 350MB. Why not keep it?

What if the System Reserved partition is not on the SSD?

Sometimes, the System Reserved partition and the OS partition might be located on two different disks. This usually happens when you had two hard drives connected during the OS installation, which made the Windows installer unsure about which one to use as the system drive.

    How can I prevent Windows from creating this system-reserved partition?

When installing the Windows operating system, make sure no other drives are connected apart from the one you're installing it on. If other drives are available, the installer will place the recovery partition on one of them instead of the OS drive.

However, if the previous two options don't work out well, deleting the SSD reserved partition can become tricky and might be too complicated for the average user with some tech skills. In this case, we don't recommend going through with it, as the wrong move can lead to serious boot issues.

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