How to Merge USB Drive Partitions in Windows 10/11 [New Solutions]

Updated by

Linda 

Authored by

Sherly 

Last updated on April 22, 2024

Want to merge partitions on USB drive for better management? Are you searching for effective ways to merge partitions on USB? If your answer is yes, then you have come to the right place. This article will elaborate on three effective methods to help you merge USB partitions. But first, let's learn more about partitions on a USB drive.

Do USB drives have partitions?

Yes, actually. If you're only using a USB drive for storage and moving files around, you don't really need to partition it. However, there might be times when you would want to partition a USB drive:

- Create a bootable USB drive - Encrypt a portion of the USB flash drive - Change the file system type of the USB flash drive - Manage storage volumes on the USB flash drive

You may have partitioned your USB drive based on the reasons above. However, what if you no longer need that many partitions? The answer is to merge partitions.

You may need to merge partitions on a USB drive to get more available storage space and manage your partitions more efficiently. This is because too many partitions on a USB might make it difficult for you to locate specific files. Besides, if your USB drive has 2 or more partitions, each of them might be too small to store any large files. But how to merge partitions on a USB drive? Don't worry – you'll find the answer in the next part.

How do I merge partitions on a USB drive?

This section will show you how to merge partitions on USB with both built-in Windows tools and third-party ones, including the following 3 methods:

# Method 1: Merge Partitions on a USB Drive with Partition Master Tool [No Data Loss]

Method 2: Use Disk Management to Merge Partitions on Your USB Drive [Data Loss Possible]

Method 3: Use Diskpart to merge partitions on the USB drive [Data loss possible]

If you don't know how to choose, you can refer to the following table to understand these three methods. As can be seen from the table, it is simple and easy to operate with AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Since Disk Management and Diskpart require you to delete the partition before merging, you may lose data. Back up your data first or choose a free partition manager tool to merge USB partitions without data loss.

Let's first try the simplest method to merge partitions on the USB drive.

Method 1: Merge partitions on USB drive with Partition Master Tool [No Data Loss]

As a disk management tool in the Windows system, Partition Master supports almost all Windows versions, including Windows XP/Vista/7/8/8.1/10, as well as Windows 11. Furthermore, with its clear interface and user-friendly operations, it is suitable for all users to merge partitions on a USB drive. Simply follow the instructions, and you can easily accomplish the partition merging on your USB drive with just a few clicks efficiently.

Alright, download the tool Partition Master and follow these steps to learn how to merge partitions on a USB drive.

Step 1: Select the target partition

Right-click the partition onto which you want to add space and select “Merge.”

Running a disk partition management software tool

Step 2: Select adjacent partitions to merge.

Merge with the partition that is next to the previously selected one.

Just click "OK" to proceed.

Step 3: Perform the operation to merge partitions

1. Click the "Perform Tasks" button at the top, then click "Apply".
2. The program will merge the drives and add the files from the second partition to the first one.

Select partitions to merge

After completing this process, you can merge partitions on USB drive. However, as a professional Windows disk management tool, what other practical features does Partition Assistant have? The answer is yes.

Key Features of Partition Master:

• Convert USB to bootable
• Hide or show partitions on USB drive
• Delete or create partitions on USB drive
• Combine partitions to fix "C drive out of space" issue

Thus, if you want to have a better management of your disk, USB or other external hard drives, you can download this software and give it a try.

Method 2: Merge Partitions on a USB Drive with Disk Management [Data Loss Possible]

What is Disk Management? It's a built-in disk utility for Windows. You can also use it to merge USB partitions, but there are a few things you should know first.

Now, follow the steps below to merge partitions on a USB drive using Disk Management:

Step one: Search for “Create and format hard disk partitions” to launch Disk Management.

Step 2: Right-click on the partition you want to merge with another one, and select "Delete Volume" option.

Step 3: Proceed with the deletion, then right-click on the partition you want to merge and select "Extend Volume."

Step 4: You can follow the "Extend Volume Wizard" to merge the target partition.

Sometimes, you might see the "Extend Volume" option grayed out. This is because you're on a version of Windows older than 1803, or your USB doesn't have enough unallocated space. In this case, you can opt to use a partition manager tool.

Or, if you're tech-savvy, use the Diskpart command to merge partitions on your USB drive.

Method 3: Merge partitions on the USB drive using Diskpart [Data loss possible]

Diskpart is also a good way to manage your disk partitions via command lines. But you need to be very careful when inputting commands. It's easy to lose data if you type in a wrong letter or number.

Now, try using the Diskpart command with the following steps.

Step 1: Click the search icon and type in Command Prompt.

Step 2. Press the Enter key after typing each of the following commands:

• diskpart
• list disk
• select disk 1
• list partition
• select partition 1
• delete partition

Please replace "1" with the correct number, otherwise it might result in data loss. Be really careful when entering the command.

The next sentence only needs to be translated into American English:

Step 3: Finally, type the command to merge the partition and the unallocated space: extend

Sometimes, you may receive error messages like Disk Management can't extend the volume. You can try converting FAT32 to NTFS to solve this problem or use tools like Partition Master to avoid such errors.

Conclusions

This article will introduce three methods to merge USB drive partitions and compare them in detail. Also, you will be guided through the steps of merging partitions. Apparently, using Partition Master tools is a time-saving way to merge, resize, delete, create, and extend partitions efficiently. If you have other concerns, the next part might inspire you.

Frequently Asked Questions on How to Merge Partitions on a USB Drive in UTF-8 Encoding

This text presents a problem and three answers. If you find this interesting or want to learn more, keep reading.

**Can you delete partitions on a USB drive?**

Yes, you can. To do so, use the following command to delete the partition on the USB drive:

• List Disks
• Select Disk 1
• List Partitions
• Select Partition 1
• Delete Partition

Please remember to replace 1 with the correct number.

2. How can I merge unallocated space on USB?

If you're running Windows 10 version 1803 or later, you can use Disk Management to merge unallocated space on your USB. If you're using an earlier version of Windows 10, you might need to use a tool like Partition Master to assist you.

3. How to repair a USB drive with multiple partitions?

If the USB flash drive has two or more partitions, you can back up your data and then merge or delete the extra partitions.