Disk Management Combine Two Partitions in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7

Scenarios

Below are two scenarios related to disk management combine partitions we may meet in our life:

Scenario 1: Some users' C: drive is running out of space. Thus, they try to clone the recovery partition to an external hard disk, then delete the recovery partition and merge the unallocated space with C drive.

Scenario 2: Other users want to make use of the unallocated space on the disk. However, when trying to use Disk Management to merge unallocated space in Windows 7/8/10/11, they cannot merge partitions with it on the disk.

In reality, all the above scenarios come down to the same question: improper disk space distribution. Some partitions are too large while other partitions are too small. Even, there is an unallocated space that you cannot make use of owing to hard drive limit. In this way, you would better repartition it again.

What Is the Disk Management?

Disk management is a Windows built-in tool, which can help us solve a lot of problems like low disk space . In disk management, you can create partitions, delete partitions and indirectly merge partitions, etc in Windows 11/10/8/7. It's a simple and easy-to-use tool. And, We do not need to store it using extra space.

Disk Management combine partitions in Windows 7/8/10/11

Step 1. Right-click Computer or This PC, select manage to enter the main page of Computer Management.

Step 2. Click Disk Management and select the disk you want to delete after you see all the partitions on your disk, then choose Delete Volume from the context menu.

Step 3. Right-click the partition you want to merge and select Extend Volume. And wait for the final result.

Step 4: After selecting Extend Volume, you will enter into a new window. In this window, you will see all the available disk. Now, double click it ( or you can manually click Add to select the available disk at the left box) and tick Next.

Step 5. After finishing all the above steps, you can see the following window. In this window, you can see the E: partition becomes 5.7 GB.

Now, you can successfully merge hard drive partitions with Disk Management. However, there is a main limitation you cannot ignore: data loss.

In Disk Management, you are only allowed to merge hard drive partition with unallocated space. Thus, if there is no unallocated space on your disk, the only way is to delete the partition next to your target partition. To ensure the security of your data on the disk, you need to back up it or directly copy the partition to another one before you delete the partition.

Aside from data loss, there's another limitation in Disk Management. It requires that the unallocated space must be right adjacent to the target partition. If not, you still cannot merge partitions in Windows 7/8/10/11.

To fix these problems, I recommend you the best free partition extender AOMEI Partition Assistant.

How to merge two partitions in Windows 7/8/10/11 with partition extender?

Best Free partition extender: AOMEI Partition Assistant

AOMEI Partition Assistant works as a partition extender, which is aimed to help Windows users repartition hard drive without data loss. With it, you can merge partitions in Windows 7/8/10/11 effortlessly. If there is unallocated space, you can resize partition first. If the unallocated space is not right adjacent to the target partition, you can move partition first. If you want an easier way, you can Merge Partition.

Detailed steps to merge two partitions:

Step 1. Download AOMEI Partition Assistant, install, and enjoy it. On the main page, click the partition you want to merge and select Merge Partition.

Step 2. Select the adjacent partition or any unallocated space on the disk, then click OK.

Step 3. Click Apply to ensure you want to merge with the selected partition.

Step 4. Click Proceed to continue the operation and wait. After all the operation finishes, you will receive a message like “Congratulation! All operations have been completed successfully ” and click OK.

From above, you can clearly see that there is no unallocated space next to E partition. But, you still can successfully merge hard drive partitions without data loss. Thus, I think AOMEI Partition Assistant is a great choice for users who want to repartition the hard drive owing to low disk space warning.

With it, you can repartition any partition including System Partition, Data Partition or other partition. To repartition hard drive, you can choose to merge two adjacent partitions simultaneously with the target partition. Also, you can choose to merge any unallocated space on the disk.

Summary

Disk management combine partitions can solve the improper disk space distribution to some extent, but the cost is data loss. Once there is no unallocated space, the only way is to delete partition. At the same time, you are likely to delete your important data mistakenly during the process. But if you use AOMEI Parition Assistant, you can avoid data loss. And you can finish the entire process effortlessly with a few clicks.

In short, AOMEI Partition is a better choice. Download it and try for yourself.