Diskpart: there is not enough usable free space on specified
disk
“I planned to extend my system drive because it is sort of small for me. In Diskpart,
I typed following orders: list volume > select volume 1 (where 1 is my boot
drive) > extend. And then I get following prompts implying that I was failed to
extend volume. The message is: There is not enough usable free space on specified
disk(s) to extend the volume. Why would that happen because I do have unallocated
space on the disk? What should I do to settle down this issue?”

Did you come across similar problems? That “not enough free space” message is likely
to show up when you shrink volume or create new simple volume in Windows 10/8/7. In
Disk Management, you may get this almost the same prompting: There is not enough
space available on the disk(s) to complete this operation. Chances are that the
message appears also in Windows Server 2008 or Server 2012.

Well, what caused that “not enough space” issue and how could you resolve it?
What accounts for Diskpart not enough usable free space issue?
Certainly, there are factors that prevent volume from been extended, shrunk, or
created. Following possible reasons may relieve your confusions.
Free space is not adjacent to the selected volume which you want to
extend.
Selected volume does not be formatted with NTFS file system.
Selected volume locates on a dynamic disk. For Dynamic Volumes, the
unallocated space can be any empty area on any Dynamic disk on the system.
Windows does not detect usable free space. If Windows doesn’t scan hard drive
correctly, it is likely to give such errors.
Receiving the error in Windows Server 2003. In Server 2003, only data volumes
can be extended. That is to say, you cannot extend system or boot drive with
Windows tools.
An awkward situation would be it prompts not enough usable free space to extend
volume but there is. That could be explained with design limitation of Windows
partition manager. In a nutshell, you need to find solutions to let Windows complete
those operations.
How to solve “there is not enough space on the disk” in Windows 10/8/7?
To solve “Diskpart extend not enough usable free space” issue and similar issues, you
need different cures for different causes. Check out solutions below to see if it
helps.
Rescan hard drive for Windows
If the error is caused by hard drive status not analyzed correctly, you can rescan
hard drive in Windows.
1. Press Windows key and R key to open Run. Type diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter to open
Disk Management.
2. Click Action at the top console and then click on Rescan
Disks. It will rescan hard disks immediately.

Tips: The method solves “there is not enough space available on the
disk(s) to complete this operation” trouble on Windows Server 2012, Server 2008 and
Server 2003 as well.
If rescan disk does not help in extending or creating volume on Dynamic disks, an
accept way is to convert it back to Basic disk, and then convert Basic to Dynamic
after you complete the operation. Please note that Disk Management only supports
convert an empty Dynamic disk to Basic, so you need to delete all volumes
beforehand. To convert
dynamic disk to basic without data loss, it is suggested to turn to
professional tools.
Convert file system on selected drive to NTFS
If extend partition with non-NTFS file system formatted, like FAT32, by using
Diskpart, probably you’ll get such prompting: Virtual Disk Service error: The volume
cannot be extended because the file system does not support it.
In that case, changing file system to NTFS is workable. With Diskpart, you can
achieve the goal with commands below. Please note that all data on selected drive
will be formatted. Backup files
before reformatting if necessary.

You’ll find it prompts formatting successfully. After that, try volume extending
again. However, you can convert FAT32 to NTFS without data loss. AOMEI Partition
Assistant Pro is such powerful partition manager that can do you a big
favor. User-friendly interface and easy-to-use wizards will walk you through the
steps smoothly even if you’re a beginner.
1. Install and
run AOMEI Partition Assistant. Select All Tools and then NTFS
to FAT32 Converter.

2. You’ll get into following window. Choose FAT32
to NTFS option here. Click Next to continue.

3. Choose FAT32 partition from given list. If you have more than 1 FAT32 formatted
partition, distinguish them with drive letter and partition size. ClickNext to enter this confirming page. Click Proceedto start converting.

Extend volume with free Diskpart alternative
Aforementioned AOMEI Partition
Assistant Standard version helps you resizing volumes without losing data as
well. To be specific, you can move unallocated space from one location to another on
the same disk. Once they become contiguous, extending will be much easier.
In addition, you can merge unallocated space to existing partition directly, without
the necessary of moving partition around. Learn detailed steps in following parts to
fix “Diskpart: there is not enough usable space for this operation” problem.
1. Download and launch AOMEI
Partition Assistant Standard. Right click the partition you want to extend and
select Merge Partitions.
2. In the pop-up window, tick the unallocated space and click OK.
You can choose more than 1 unallocated space simultaneously.

3. View the virtual result. Click Apply to execute pending
operations.

Tips:
Learn causes, find solutions and problems settled. AOMEI Partition Assistant has also
Server edition, which helps you solve “Diskpart: there is not enough usable free
space” on Windows Server 2012, 2008, 2003, etc.