How to Use Disk Management in Windows 10 | 2025 Tutorial

In this article, we mainly collected the following information that you want to learn about Windows 10 Disk Management which includes:

1. # What Is Windows 10 Disk Management and Its Benefits
2. # How to Open Disk Management in Windows 10
3. # How to Use Disk Management in Windows 10 (Create New Partition, Extend Partition)
4. # Free Windows 10 Disk Management Alternatives Recommendation

Follow further and get everything you have questions in your mind about the Disk Management usage here.

Windows 10 Disk Management Overview and Its Benefits

What is Disk Management, and what does it do?

Accordingly, it's clear that Windows 10 Disk Management is the tool Windows users can apply to change drive letters, format drives, shrink partitions, and perform other disk tasks for free.

So why use Disk Management? Check the list here, and you'll learn why so many people love using Disk Management in Windows 10 and even newer operating systems:

Note that, if you have some further advanced disk partitioning demands and it's not available in the Disk Management feature list, you can take a third-party free partition manager for help. 

How to Open Disk Management in Windows 10

So, how do I open Disk Management and make use of its free disk partitioning features? You can open and run Disk Management in the following 3 ways:

1. Access Disk Management via Run

Use Windows+R to open Run, type diskmgmt.msc in the empty box, and tap "OK." Then, wait for the Disk Management window appears.

2. Open Disk Management in Computer Management

Right-click the Start or Windows icon at the menu bar and click "Disk Management" on the left.

3. Open Disk Management via Search Box

You won't find a shortcut to Disk Management in your Windows Start menu or Apps screen because it's not a program in the same sense that most other software on your computer is. To open Disk Management via the search bar:

• Type disk management in the search box on the taskbar and choose "Create and format hard disk partitions" in the result.

Further: If you are using Windows 11, refer to this link and learn how to open disk management in Windows 11. 

How to Use Disk Management in Windows 10

After accessing and opening the Windows 10 Disk Management, how do you apply this Windows built-in disk utility tool to manage your disk partition space?

Follow the how-to guide here, we'll show you two basic operations of how to use Disk Management in Windows 10:

1. 1️⃣Create a new partition;
2. 2️⃣Extend volume with unallocated space;

Guide 1. Create a New Partition in Disk Management

When you have a new disk drive, and it's unallocated, you can use Disk Management to create a new simple volume so as to make use of the disk space to store data or install applications on it.

Step 1. Right-click on the Windows icon or Start menu, and select "Disk Management" from the list.

Step 2. Once you open Disk Management, right-click on the unallocated space on the target disk and select "New Simple Volume."

Step 3. On the New Simple Volume Wizard window, set the new partition size, its drive letter or path, and its file system (NTFS by default), and click "Next" to continue.

Step 4. Click "Finish" to complete the creation of a new partition in Disk Management Windows 10.

Guide 2. Extend Partition Using Disk Management with Unallocated Space

When you have unallocated space next to an existing partition, you can efficiently enhance the partition performance by adding the unallocated space into a neighbor partition. Here, we'll show you how to extend C drive with adjacent unallocated space in Disk Management:

Step 1. Open Disk Management by pressing the Windows + R keys, typing diskmgmt.msc, and hitting Enter.

Step 2. Right-click on the system C drive and select "Extend Volume...".

Step 3. Set how much space you want to add into the C drive, and click "Next".

Step 4. Click "Finish" to complete extending C with unallocated space.

Note that if the Extend Volume option is greyed out when you try to right-click C drive or a target partition as the unallocated space is not behind, you can try the following tips or take a reliable Disk Management free alternative software as recommended in the next part for help:

Top 7 Free Disk Management Alternative Tools Windows 10 [Recommends]

Why do I still need a Disk Management alternative tool? Here is a list of reasons that'll explain why Windows user need to turn to Disk Management alternative software to manage their disk partitions smartly. If you are with one of the listed issues, follow to get a reliable tool below:

• Windows suddenly becomes slow 
• The C drive gets full for now reason
• To increase C drive space and make full use of the disk drives 
• Find a third-party free partition manager for Windows 11 or 10 to execute disk partitioning tasks easier, etc.

Top 7 Best Free Disk Management Alternatives in Windows 10

There are numerous partitioning managers that one can obtain from the market nowadays. However, not all of the options are suitable for a beginner user or are easy to use. On the basis of this, here we collected 7 handy free Windows 10 disk management tool with high quality for each one of you to select:

• EaseUS Partition Master Free 🏆
• Macrorit Disk Partition Expert
• Paragon Partition Manager
• Gparted
• Cute Partition Manager
• Active Partition Disk
• Acronis Disk Director

It enables you to create, delete, shrink, expand, format, or merge partitions on your HDD, SSD, or other storage devices. 

Most modern operating systems contain built-in tools for creating, deleting, or resizing partitions.

Top 1. EaseUS Partition Master Free Edition

EaseUS Partition Master is the most feature-rich free partition manager designed for Windows 11/10/8.1/8/7. It enables worldwide users to manage their partitions without any data loss with its security confirmation mechanism. For a versatile and secure free Windows 10 disk management software, EaseUS Partition Master must be your best choice. 

Feature List:

• All-in-one free disk management utility
• Simple and user-friendly interface
• Support basic partition management, including resizing, moving, formatting, creating, and checking partitions.
• Fix disk error, optimize disk performance, partition recovery and clone partitions, etc.

Pros and Cons:

Software Spec:

• Price: Free. ($19.95 for EaseUS Partition Master Professional)
• Download Size: 1.87MB (for the Installer)

#Free Disk Manager#Free Disk Management Tool#Disk Manager for Windows#Free

Why Choose EaseUS Partition Master Over Disk Management

You have learned about EaseUS free partition software and Windows 10 Disk Management. Look at the table of Windows 10 Disk Management vs EaseUS Partition Master, and you'll learn the differences between these two Windows 10 Disk Management tools:

If you already understand the differences, you can figure out which tool is more suitable for you. Also, don't forget to share this table online to help more of your friends identifying a coool disk manager based on their needs:

Top 2. Macrorit Disk Partition Expert

Macrorit Disk Partition's unsoiled user interface makes it one of the best disk management software. It is a powerful free partition program that allows you to extend, create, and format a partition, fix low disk space problems, and manage disk space easily on MBR and GPT (GUID partition table) disks.

Feature List:

• 65% of the features are free (OS migrating and partition management). 
• It also has a commercial version, but it still cannot support dynamic disks.
• It offers a portable version, so you can actually use it without having to install it on your PC.

If you are looking for a portable version of the Windows 10 management tool, Macrorit Disk Partition must be taken into account.

Pros and Cons:

Pros	Cons
Very easy to use It supports up to 16 TB of hard disk.	Doesn't support dynamic disks

Software Specs:

• Price: Free. ($39.99 for the pro version)
• Download Size: 23.6MB

#Disk Management Software#Third-party Disk Manager#Windows

Top 3. Paragon Partition Manager

Paragon Partition Manager Free is another great disk management utility that supports Windows 10. It is packed with tools that make managing partitions a breeze. 

Feature List:

• 50% of the features are free (Basic partitioning, backup, and restore).
• It has served millions of people for 25 years with a good reputation.

If you are looking for old-brand software, Paragon Partition Manager is your best choice.

Pros and Cons:

Pros	Cons
Easy to use Convert NTFS file systems into HFS+ drives without reformatting the disk	Lots of features are disabled in this free edition (Like disk cleanup and data migration) Requires you to register to get a serial number

Software Specs:​​​​​

• Price: Free. ($49.95 for the pro version)
• Download Size: 41.59 MB

#Disk Management Software#Paragon Disk Manager#Disk Management from Paragon

Top 4. Gparted - Open Source Disk Manager Software

Another free partition manager that can be counted on is Gparted. It is a disk management software that not only supports Windows but also supports Mac. This software is considered a GNOME (desktop environment composed of free and open-source software that runs on Linux and most BSD derivatives) editor.

This software is totally free, but it's the best choice for advanced users. 

Feature List:

• Extend or shrink C: drive
• Create space for new operating systems
• Partition recovery

Pros and Cons:

Pros	Cons
Doesn't require an operating system Never requires a reboot to commit changes	It takes longer to start up because you have to boot the software from a USB. Doesn't support dynamic disks or other features (Migrating OS, Converting between MBR and GPT) Really old interface

Software Specs:​​​​

• Price: Free.
• Download size: Around 300MB

#GParted Disk Management#Third-party#Free

Top 5. Cute Partition Manager Windows 10

Just like GParted, Cute Partition Manager also needs a bootable device to use it. Advanced users are suggested. It is not that easy to use because this software's interface is pretty old and not that secure. But the size of the file is small compared with Gparted.But you need to use a keyboard during the whole operation as it is a text-based application.

Feature List:

• It enables you to change the file system of a disk
• Create, manage, and delete partitions of the disk

Pros and Cons:

Pros	Cons
Doesn't require an operating system The download size is really small	No graphical user interface (can only use a mouse) Must enter the exact size of the partition you want to make (not so user-friendly) No advanced features (e.g. copying/moving data between drives)

Software Specs:​​​​

• Price: Free.
• Download Size: 232KB

#Old Disk Management Tool#Windows Disk Manager#Free

Also read: Top 10 SD Card Recovery Software in 2024

Top 6. Active Partition Disk 

Active Partition Manager is a free application that enables you to manage storage devices and logical drives or partitions. This free disk partitioning tool for Windows supports all the partition management features.

Feature List:

• Create, delete, format volumes
• Rename partitions on computer without shutting down the system

Pros and Cons:

Pros	Cons
It's easy to use and understand Supports common partitioning functions You can restore some changes via backups.	Unable to copy or clone partitions Extending the system partition might not work for you.

Software Specs:​​​​​​

• Price: Free (No limitations)
• Download Size: 19.46MB

#Windows Disk Management Software#Old School#Free

Top 7. Acronis Disk Director

Equipped with the basic partitioning tools, the Acronis Disk Director is a suitable partitioning wizard for those who are just beginning to step into the tech world. It stores different file systems or operating systems on one disk by creating and managing disk partitions.

Feature List:

• Disk cloning
• Volume recovery
• Partition management

Pros and Cons:

Pros	Cons
Intuitive user interface Allows cloning your HDD to a replacement drive Offers support for native 4K disks	Only allows a 30-day free trial ($49.99 for the pro version)

Software Specs:

• Price: 30-day Free Trial (No limitations)
• Download Size: 150MB

#Acronis Disk Manager#Disk Management#No Further Update

If you think this article is helpful for you in choosing the best Windows 11 disk management tools, you can click the button below to share it with someone who needs it!

Tips to Consider While Selecting Free Disk Management Software [BONUS]

So how did we select these 7 disk management tools for Windows 10? Check the list here and learn what factors EaseUS software valued the most in identifying and electing a reliable free Disk Management alternative software:

• 💵Price: a popular disk management tool or software should be reasonable in its pricing.
• 🎈Features: a reliable free Windows 11/10 partition managers can satisfy your basic needs: creating, deleting, or resizing partitions.
• 💻Compatibility: a reliable disk manager software should support Windows 7/8/10 and newer Windows systems.
• 🧰Other Factors: The versatility, data security, and ease of use of the tool also matter to Windows beginners.

Wrap Up

The partition managers introduced on this page are the top eight Windows 10 disk management programs that allow you to organize your hard drive and optimize disk partitions in an efficient way.

Among them, the first one - EaseUS Partition Master is highly recommended. To use this disk manager, don't worry if you aren't experienced.

This tool has a very user-friendly interface and ultimate partition management features. It enables you to enhance your hard drive performance to fix problems like disk running out of space, partition inaccessible, converting disk style/file system, migrating OS to HDD/SSD, or modifying disk partition size, etc. Don't hesitate anymore. Download and use the EaseUS Windows 10 partition manager NOW!

Partition Manager Windows 10 Frequently Asked Questions

There are some related questions and answers. If you want to get additional help, you can read on.

1. What is the best partition size for Windows 10?

It depends on your device. If you are installing the 32-bit version of Windows 10, you will need at least 16GB, while the 64-bit version will require 20GB of free space. On a 700GB hard drive, you can allocate 100GB to Windows 10, which should give me more than enough space to play around with the operating system.

2. What happens if we delete the volume in Disk Management?

When you delete a volume or partition on a disk, it will become unallocated space on the disk. You could then extend another partition on the same disk into this unallocated space to add the unallocated space to the partition.

3. Can I convert to basic or convert to dynamic without deleting partitions in Disk Management?

No, you are unable to convert a disk directly from Basic to Dynamic or from Dynamic to Basic in Disk Management without deleting all existing partitions on a disk. The reason is that Disk Management is not featured with this capability. 

To convert a disk between Dynamic and Basic without losing any data and without deleting partitions, you'll have to take a third-party Disk Management alternative software like EaseUS Partition Master for help. For a brief guide, you can refer to Convert Basic to Dynamic Disk without Losing Data.