If you are wondering how to partition an SSD in Windows 11/10, you are at the right place. This expert guide will focus on creating the partition in two different ways.
We often use an SSD (Solid State Drive) to boost the computer’s performance. It’s known to speed up the apps, and boot time, thus improving the speed of your device significantly. However, many of us tend to use the SSD in a single partition.
You should create multiple volumes in the SSD to divide the data held inside and improve its performance. So, let’s dive into how to create a partition in SSD in Windows 11.
How to Partition an SSD in Windows 11?
When you create a partition in SSD, you can allocate the partition based on the data type. You can distribute data to specific partitions, for example, images to one partition, movies in another, music, documents, and so on. This helps you recover data easily if the hard drive gets corrupted. Besides, you can move or install your Windows operating system to one partition or make space for a new OS.
That said, in this post, we will cover how to partition an SSD in Windows 11 in two ways.
1] How to partition an SSD via Windows Settings
In this method, we need to access the Storage Management settings that help you to create, shrink, or delete partitions in SSD. Since the system partition which is usually the C drive, covers the entire SSD, you must first free up some space before you create the portion in SSD. For this, you must begin with the shrinking process as below:
1. Shrink the system partition in Windows Settings
Open Windows Settings (Win + I) > System > Storage.
On the right, navigate to Advanced Storage Settings and expand the section.
Here, select Disk and volumes.
On the next screen, select the system partition and click on Properties.
Next, under Size, click on the Change Size button.
In the Change Size window, input the desired size for the partition and press OK to save the changes.
Now, wait till Windows finishes resizing the partition.
Read: How to combine two SSD drives as one
2. Create a partition for the unallocated space
Once the partition process is complete, go back to the Disk Volumes settings page, and navigate to the system partition.
Here, select Unallocated to expand the section and click on Create Volume.
In the New Volume window, mention the Label, Drive Letter, File System, and Size in MB. Press Format.
Once done, you should see the new partition in the Disk and Volumes list.
To modify the label and the drive letter, select the new partition, and click on Properties.
In the next window, you can either select Change label or Change drive letter to make the changes.
Read: How to make Disk or Partition Read-Only in Windows 11
3. Delete and merge the partition
Alternatively, you can also remove the partition and merge it back again to the earlier volume. But before that, make sure you create a backup of your data.
Now, select the new partition and click on Properties.
On the next screen, scroll down and hit the Delete button.
Click on Delete Volume to confirm.
Now, as you return to the Disks and Volume screen, select the previous partition and click on Properties.
On the next screen, go to Size and press the Change Size button.
Input the Max size in MB and press OK to apply the changes.
Read: How to undo DISKPART Clean command
2] Partition an SSD via the Disk Management utility
While you can use a third-party disk and partition management software to create a partition in SSD, you can also use the Windows built-in Disk Management Tool for the same job. This tool not only helps you create a partition, but it also helps you change the partition size, merge, or delete.
Read: How to Show or Hide your Hard Drive Partition using Command Prompt
3] How to partition an SSD using the Disk Part command
If you are still wondering how to partition an SSD on your Windows 11 device, you can use the Diskpart command, another useful built-in utility. It allows you to manage hard disks and create or manage the partition in SSD. Here’s how:
1. Create a partition in SSD with unallocated space
Go to Windows search, type in diskpart, and click on the result to open the diskpart tool which is a command line utility.
In the command line window, type in list disk and hit Enter.
Once it pulls up the list of the volumes, select the disk that you want to partition, write the below command in the said format, and hit Enter:
create partition primary size=####
Now, run the below command in the said format to assign a drive letter for the disk and hit Enter:
assign letter=X
Replace X with the desired drive letter.
Finally, type the below command and hit Enter to format the disk:
format fs=ntfs quick
At the same time, please note that Disk Management only supports NTFS formats and RAW disk formats. For FAT32 formats, you must look for an alternative.
Read: How to format USB Pen Drive using Command Prompt in Windows 11/10
2. Create a partition in SSD with allocated space
Once you open the Diskpart command line tool, run the list disk command.
Now, as it pulls up the list of disks, type in the below command to select the disk that you want to partition:
select disk x
Replace x with the one you want to partition.
Next, type the below command and hit Enter to pull up details related to all the volumes:
list volume
Now, type in the below command to select the desired
select volume x
To shrink the size of the volume, run the below command and hit Enter:
shrink=###
Now, type in the below command and hit Enter to get the required size of the partition:
create partition primary size=####”
Once done, now to assign a drive letter, type the below command and hit Enter:
assign letter=F
Finally, type the below command and hit Enter to format the disk:
format fs=ntfs quick
Read: How to re-partition a hard drive in Windows without erasing data
How do I split my SSD into two partitions?
To split your SSD into two partitions without losing any data, you can use the Disk Management tool that first shrinks the existing volume to create unallocated space. Then, right-click on the new space and select New Simple Volume to set up the second partition without any additional software.
How to split the C drive into two partitions in Windows 11?
To split your C drive into two partitions in Windows 11, launch the Disk Management tool. Next, right-click on your C drive and choose Shrink Volume to resize it. After that, use the unallocated space to create a new partition by right-clicking and selecting New Simple Volume. Follow the wizard to complete the setup.
