How to Partition A Hard Drive in Windows 10

What's Disk Partition in Windows 10?

Windows users, who purchased a new Windows 10 computer/laptop or installed a new HDD/SSD in the Windows 10 computer, should be very familiar with the number of local disks under This PC in Windows Explorer. Usually, there is only one partition labeled as Local Disk (C:) on a hard drive which is made by the computer manufacturer. However, we know very clearly that it's far from enough to have only one partition for running operating system, installing programs or saving personal data. The truth is, every user can divide one hard drive into two, three or even more. As for most people, they want to partition a hard drive in two scenarios.

One, to manage computer data in a clean and logic way. With one more partition on a hard drive, they can separate Windows OS, downloads, games, or personal documents/pictures/videos related to work or school in different drives with customized labels.

Two, for data safety. If the entire hard disk contains all your system files, personal data, and programs, it's much riskier than placing OS and non-OS files in different locations. Even you have to reinstall OS due to a sudden crash or computer death, the data on other drives like D, E, F, G won't be affected.

Thus, as long as you have such demand to create a number of partitions, this post is for you. Before proceeding with the details, there are two useful tips for a successful Windows 10 disk partition.

• For MBR disk, you can create maximumly 4 partitions in total, which should consist of 3 primary partitions + 1 extended partition, or 4 primary partitions.
• For users who wish to make five partitions or more, you need to convert MBR to GPT first. Hard drive of GPT partition style has no limitation for the number of partitions.

How to Partition A Hard Drive in Windows 10

You can partition a hard drive in Windows 10 through Windows 10 Disk Management and third-party partition manager software. Both disk partitioning methods are free to use, so just choose one that suits you the best. Theoretically, partitioning a hard drive won't cause data loss, but it's still suggested to form a good habit to back up hard drive data daily or monthly.

TIP: the coming solutions are also applicable to the question "how to partition C drive in Windows 10 without formatting". Just replace the target drive in the example with the C drive.

Method 1. Windows 10 Disk Management

Step 1: You got three ways to access Windows 10 Disk Management. 

• Way 1. Right-click on This PC, choose Management and then Disk Management.
• Way 2. In the search box next to the Windows icon, type disk management, the best match is "Create and format hard disk partitions". Choose the result and Enter in Disk Management.
• Way 3. Press Windows + R keys to bring up the Run box, type diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter. (Also applies to Windows 10/8.1/8/7)

Step 2: Right-click one hard disk partition and select "Shrink Volume".

Step 3: Enter the amount of space you want to shrink in MB as shown below then click on the "Shrink" button.

Step 4: Right-click on the unallocated space and select "New Simple Volume".

Step 5: You'll now enter the New Simple Volume Wizard interface by clicking "Next" and specify a volume size.

Step 6: Assign Drive Letter or Path, then format the partition into the default file system NTFS. Click "Finish" to complete creating a new partition in Windows 10.

You can create more partitions by repeating the above steps and manage those partitions for personal files and folders. Now you're doing great in organizing your Windows 10 laptop or PC smoothly and efficiently.

Method 2. EaseUS Partition Master Free

Compared with the former method, a reliable third-party partition management software is more intelligent in managing hard drive partitions. EaseUS Partition Master Free is exactly the safe, powerful and user-friendly free partition manager for home users. This piece of free partition manager enables you to partition Windows 10 for free without a hitch. It has a graphical user interface and a visual mode of partition size information, which is for people to decide how much space they're going to allot to each partition. 

 

Step 1: Install and launch EaseUS Partition Master

On the main window, right-click on the partition that you want to shrink and select "Resize/Move".

Step 2: Shrink the partition size

To shrink a partition, use your mouse to drag one of its ends to shrink partition space.

You can also adjust the partition size box to shrink the target partition.
Click "OK" to continue.

Step 3: Create a new partition

Right-click on the unallocated space you get by shrinking your partition and select "Create".

Step 4: Adjust the new partition size, file system, label, etc.

Set the size, partition label, drive letter, file system, etc. for the new partition and click "OK" to continue.

Step 5: Apply the changes

Click on the "Execute Operation" button, check the changes, then click "Apply" to start shrinking a partition and creating a new one with the free space. By doing so, you can successfully split a partition.

To Sum Up

This page's topic is about how to partition a hard drive in Windows 10. Based on the needs, we described what disk partition means, gave a notice for people whose hard drive is MBR, and then introduced two commonly used disk partitioning tools for Windows 10 users, including Windows Disk Management and EaseUS Partition Master Free.

As you read through, both recommended tools are able to let users accomplish the task with ease. So you just need to choose the one you prefer. Windows Disk Management is the in-built Windows 10 program, while EaseUS Partition Master Free is an all-round disk partition management software that requires a download. However, if you have further demands such as format, delete, merger partitions, migrate OS to HDD/SSD, clone hard drive, disk surface test, convert file system, etc., the third-party software is definitely the unique choice over Disk Management.

EaseUS Partition Master Introduction Video