How do you solve “there is not enough usable free space” issue to successfully extend, shrink or create volume in Windows 10/8/7? Maybe you need solutions mentioned below.
By Teresa / Last Updated February 25, 2020
“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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
list volume
select volume n (where n is the number of partition you want to convert)
format fs=ntfs
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.
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:
Reboot is required because system drive is involved.
AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional allows you to allocate free space from one partition to another directly. Upgrade to learn more.
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.
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