How to Use Disk Management on Windows 11 to Shrink Volume

Why need to shrink volume on Windows 11?

Usually, there is only one partition on a new PC, which is known as the C drive. However, such a space allocation pattern is obviously unreasonable, because all data will be stored in the C drive. Once the C drive crashes, all data will be lost.

Therefore, to accurately locate the stored data and prevent accidental data loss, you need to shrink the C drive, then create some partitions. Besides, if a partition runs out of space, you can also shrink another volume, generating unallocated space and extending it with Disk Management on Windows 11. 

How to use Disk Management to shrink a volume

Windows 11 is a new Windows system launched by Microsoft in 2021. Providing a clean and simple interface, it is loved by the majority of Windows users. In order to better manage the partitions in the PC, Disk Management provided by Windows 11 can extend/shrink volumes, add mirror, mark partition as active, etc.

Here, we'll discuss the steps on how to shrink a volume in Disk Management.

Step 1. Press "Windows" and "R" at the same time, then type "diskmgmt.msc" in the popped window and press "Enter". In the interface, right-click the C drive and select "Shrink Volume" .

Step 2. In the following window, input the amount of space you want to shrink and click "Shrink".

Why can't I shrink volume with Disk Management?

When we shrink volumes with Windows 11 Disk Management, "Shrink Volume" will be grayed out for the following reasons:

▶ When the partition file system is FAT32 or exFAT, we’ll not be able to shrink partitions because Disk Management only supports NTFS and RAW drives.
▶ You may also be fail if there's disk fragmentation on the target partition.
▶ If there're irremovable files at the end of the C drive, you can’t shrink it.

An alternative to shrink a volume on Windows 11

How to shrink a volume in Windows 11? When you cannot use Disk Management on Windows 11 to shrink volumes for different reasons, like file system or file fragmentation. You can try AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard.  

This disk manager can replace Windows 11 Disk Management to shrink a volume. It break through the limitations of Disk Management, better managing your PC disks with maximum flexibility.

With just a few clicks, you can successfully shrink partitions on your computer without losing any important data. In addition, it can also easily shrink or extend the encrypted partition.

If you stereotyped that it can only shrink partitions, you are obviously wrong. This multi-functional utility is designed to solve various disk problems that users encountered such as:

✔ When the disk space is low, you can merge partitions.
✔ When you want to categorize computer data, you can create multiple partitions.
✔ When you want to through away or sell out the disk, you can wipe hard drive to prevent the disclosure of personal information.
✔ You can also rebuild MBR when the system cannot be found in the computer.

Tip: During the process of shrinking a partition, you must keep the computer fully charged.  

Step 1. Right-click C drive and click "Resize/Move Partition".

Step 2. Drag the little circle of the right border leftward to shrink the partition selected. Then, click "OK".

Step 3. Click "Apply" and "Proceed" to realize the pending partition shrinking task.

│What can you do after shrinking a partition

After shrinking a partition, you can use the unallocated space to create a new partition or extend another partition.

Case 1. Create a new partition

In the main interface, you should right click the unallocated space and select "Create Partition", then please follow the guidance to complete this operation.

Case 2. Extend another drive

In addition to creating new partitions, you can also use the unallocated space to extend other partitions after shrinking one. Detailed steps are as follows:

In the main interface, right-click on the target partition. Then click "Advanced">"Merge Partitions", you can follow the next instructions to merge the C drive with the unallocated space.

Verdict

In this article, you can learn the process to use Disk Management on Windows 11 to shrink volumes. Besides, when "Shrink Volume" is grayed out, there're two solutions to solve it.

By the way, if you want to use the unallocated space to extend another partition, you can allocate free space after upgrading to the Professional Edition. In addition, the split partition can directly generate a new partition after you shrink a partition.