In this post, we will show you how to change or increase the WinRE Partition size in Windows 11/10.
Microsoft will now update the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE) alongside the monthly cumulative update. It starts with the Windows 11 version 22H2. However, not many computers have a Recovery Partition that is large enough to accommodate the new updates, and so one may receive the following error message:
Windows Recovery Environment servicing failed
How to increase WinRE partition size in Windows 11
To increase WinRE partition size manually on your computer, follow the steps mentioned below.
- Check and disable WinRE
- Shrink OS Partition
- Create a new recovery partition
- Confirm partition and enable WinRE
Let us discuss them in detail.
1] Check and disable WinRE
Before we go forward and make space for a new recovery partition, we need to check if WinRE is installed and disable it. For that, follow these steps.
First of all, launch Command Prompt as an administrator by searching it out of the Start Menu. Then, to check WinRE status, run:
reagentc /info
If you have installed WinRE, you should be able to find a “Windows RE location” with a path to the WinRE directory.
For instance:
Windows RE location: [file://%3f/GLOBALROOT/device/harddisk0/partition4/Recovery/WindowsRE]\\?\GLOBALROOT\device\harddisk0\partition4\Recovery\WindowsRE.
In this example, the number following “harddisk” and “partition” refers to the index of the disk and partition where WinRE is located.
Now, to turn off WinRE, you need to run the following command:
reagentc /disable
After disabling the WinRE agent, move to the next step.
2] Shrink OS Parition
We now have to shrink the OS partition and prepare the disk for a new recovery partition. For that, follow the steps mentioned below.
In the elevated mode of Command Prompt, execute:
diskpart
Now, execute this command to know details about all the partitions:
list disk
To choose the OS disk, run:
sel disk [OS disk index]
This should be the same disk index as the Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE).
After selecting the WinRE disk, run the command again to find partitions under it:
list disk
To select a particular disk from the list, run:
sel part<OS partition index>
To shrink that drive, execute:
shrink desired=250 minimum=250
To choose the WinRE partition, type the following in the Command Prompt and hit Enter:
sel part <WinRE partition index>
To delete the WinRE partition, run the command:
delete partition override
After shrinking and deleting the partition, let us go ahead and create a new recovery partition.
3] Create a new recovery partition
Finally, we must create a new recovery partition and do the final few steps. We need to ensure that the partition style is a GUID Partition Table (GPT) or a Master Boot Record (MBR). For that, run list disk.
Check if the “Gpt” column contains an asterisk (*). If so, the drive is GPT. Otherwise, it is MBR.
GPT users need to run:
create partition primary id=de94bba4-06d1-4d40-a16a-bfd50179d6ac
Followed by the command:
gpt attributes =0x8000000000000001
MBR users should run this command:
create partition primary id=27
Finally, to format the partition, execute:
format quick fs=ntfs label=”Windows RE tools”
Read: How to Partition C drive in Windows without formatting
4] Confirm partition and enable WinRE
We now have to confirm if the WinRE partition is created using:
run list vol
Once confirmed, exit the Diskpart utility using the exit command.
Finally, enable the WinRE service we asked you to disable earlier using reagentc /enable and confirm the same using reagentc /info.
Hopefully, now you will be able to increase WinRE (Windows Recovery Environment) Partition Size using the steps mentioned above.
Read: Recovery Drive is full in Windows; How to free up space?
What is the size of the WinRE partition for Windows 11?
The Windows RE tools disk partition must be at least 300 MB. Typically, 500-700 MB is allocated for Winre.wim, depending on language and customizations. After the changes in the update method, one needs to know how to manually increase the WinRE Partition size. For that, you can check the guide mentioned earlier.
Read: How to resize a partition using DiskPart in Windows
How do I increase partition size in Windows 11?
You can easily increase partition size in Windows 11 using the Disk Management utility. This is a pre-installed utility found on most computers that you can use to create new partition or resize or extend. We recommend you check our guide to know how to increase partition size using the Disk Management Tool.
How do I fix Windows Recovery Environment servicing failed error during Windows Update?
To fix Windows Recovery Environment servicing failed error when you try to install a Windows Update, you will have to increase the size of the WinRE partition as described in this post. This post will show you how to fix Event 4502 WinREAgent after Windows Update.
Also Read: Extend Volume option is grayed out or disabled in Windows.
