How to Extend/Resize Recovery Partition in Windows 10/11 (Fix Update Error)

Scenario: Windows update failed because small recovery partition

▶ Case 1. Windows 10 latest version update failed
"When I upgraded my Windows 10 to the latest version, it informed me that the 'partition G:' was full. I examined that partition, which is a 450MB partition with 400MB used. It's probably a recovery partition. Can I get rid of it? If not, how can I expand the partition space?”

▶ Case 2. Windows 10 KB5034441 update failed
"Microsoft has published an annoying update called KB5034441(0x80070643), which cannot be installed by the average user. It requires extending virtual memory in a highly technical and professional manner. Can somebody explain how to install it simply? Or how can I permanently avoid this annoying update? I am running Windows 10 Pro version 22H2."

Overview of recovery partition in Windows 10

In both scenarios, the users mentioned that the recovery partition was almost full when they tried to update the OS. If you know enough about the recovery partition, you can manage it more easily. So, first, let’s learn some basics of the recovery partition.

▶ What is a recovery partition?

The recovery partition allows you to restore Windows OS to a previous state. When you install Windows on a GPT drive, Windows will generate a recovery partition and an EFI system partition. If problems arise, users can boot into the Windows recovery environment (WinRE) and restore their PC using the Windows recovery partition.

Windows recovery partition often takes up nearly 450MB. There is another recovery partition on Windows 10 called the OEM recovery partition, which requires 7-20GB.

▶ Why KB5034441 update failed?

Windows requires at least 250MB free space in the recovery partition to install security updates. That's why users may meet Windows update errors. KB5034441 is a security update released by Microsoft for Windows 10 versions 21H2 and 22H2. The main purpose of this update is to fix a security vulnerability that could allow an attacker to bypass Bitlocker encryption by leveraging the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).

However, some administrator users are encountering the error message "0x80070643 – ERROR_INSTALL_FAILURE" when trying to install this update, causing the update to fail to install.

Now, Microsoft has confirmed the issue and stated that this error code occurs because the recovery partition is not large enough. This update will require Windows recovery partition to have at least 500MB of available space.

▶ Can I remove recovery partition?

Since the recovery partition stores the data of the Windows recovery environment, we don’t suggest you remove or move it, which will cause you to be unable to boot into WinRE when your computer needs repair.

▶ May I resize recovery partition?

Of course, you can resize the recovery partition, if you also confront the problem like the users in the scenario, especially if your PC can't finish KB5034441 security update, you can extend Windows recovery partition via the correct method.

How to resize the recovery partition in Windows 10?

When it comes to partition expansion, most people think of the Windows built-in Disk Management and Diskpart - two useful drive management tools. However, a partition may only be expanded if there is unallocated space directly behind it; otherwise, the partition expansion would fail. Also, "Extend Volume" is greyed out in Disk Management because Recovery Partitions areprotected and usually lack adjacent unallocated space.

To ensure can flexibly extend and shrink recovery partition in Windows 10, you can turn to an efficient alternative, AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. It is a disk and partition management tool that supports Windows 11/10/8/8.1/7/XP PC to resize/delete/clone/check/ partition, resize BitLocker partition, merge partition, and so on.

This software allows users to extend a partition with nonadjacent unallocated space or share free space from one partition to another. And if you need, you can shrink a partition and use the new space to create a new partition.

Here, we’ll separately show you how to extend and shrink recovery partition with this user-friendly tool.

1. Extend recovery partition

We’ll use the “Allocate Free Space” feature to share free space with the target partition as an example. If your disk has unallocated space, you can select the “Merge Partition” feature to merge it into your recovery partition.

Step 1. Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. Right-click on a partition that has enough storage space, and selects the "Allocate Free Space" feature. 

Step 2. Preset the amount of free space you wish to allocate and choose the recovery partition as the destination. Hit "OK".

Step 3. Hit "Apply > Proceed" to execute the operation.

2. Shrink recovery partition

If you find your recovery partition takes up too much space (some users may have a recovery partition that occupies 15GB or more) and you’re sure that there’s sufficient space on the recovery partition, you can also shrink this partition to get unallocated space.

Step 1. Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant. In the main console, you could view the whole partition configuration. Right-click the recovery partition, and choose “Resize/Move Partition”.

Step 2. In the pop-up window, position the mouse pointer and drag the border leftwards to shrink the recovery partition. Then click "OK".

Step 3. Then it will back to the main console and you could preview the partition be shrunk. Click the "Apply" on the toolbar to commit the operation.

Further reading: Remove drive letter of recovery partition to skip Windows checking

If you receive the low space warning as the user in the scenario but don't want to invest time and resources on a recovery partition, you may try removing its drive letter to bypass Windows inspection.

Step 1. Run Diskpart.exe as administrator.

Step 2. Input following commands successively:

•list volume (identify the Recovery drive with partition size)

•select volume # (“#” replace the drive number with the correct one)

•remove letter=D (replace the letter with your recovery partition)

Step 3. Close Command Prompt and restart your Windows 10 to take effect.

To sum up

Now you know how to resize recovery partition on Windows 10 PC. Due to the many limitations of Windows built-in tools, we sincerely suggest you try AOMEI Partition Assistant. You can extend and shrink the recovery partition on your disk, and if you insist, you can also make a recovery USB, and then you can safely remove the recovery partition with this tool in case you need WinRE in the future.

FAQs

Q1: Why is "Extend Volume" greyed out for my Recovery Partition in Disk Management?

Windows Disk Management cannot extend a recovery partition if there is no unallocated space immediately to its right. Furthermore, recovery partitions are protected by Windows to prevent accidental deletion, limiting the actions you can perform with native tools.

Q2: How much space do I need for the Recovery Partition to avoid Windows Update errors?

For recent security updates (like KB5034441), Microsoft recommends having at least 250MB of free space within the recovery partition. If your recovery partition is smaller than 500MB total, it is often recommended to extend it by an additional 250MB to 1GB to future-proof it.

Q3: Can I delete the Recovery Partition instead of resizing it?

Yes, you can delete it to reclaim space, but it is not recommended. Deleting it breaks the "Reset this PC" feature and prevents you from booting into the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) to troubleshoot issues. If you delete it, ensure you have a physical USB Recovery Drive created beforehand.

Q4: Is it safe to resize the Recovery Partition? Will I lose data?

Resizing is generally safe if using professional partition software. However, manipulating system partitions always carries a slight risk. It is strongly recommended to back up your system or important files before making changes. Using command-line tools manually increases the risk of accidental deletion compared to using GUI-based software.