If the allocated disk partitions are too small or big, it is ideal if you can resize partition in Windows 2019 server without losing data. Otherwise, you have to spend a long time recreating partitions and restoring everything from backup. To resize Server 2019 partition, there are two kinds of tools - inbuilt Disk Management and third-party software. Although there are "Shrink Volume" and "Extend Volume" functions in Disk Management to help change partition size, it is not the best choice because of its many restrictions. This article explains how to resize partition in Windows Server 2019 with native and the safest tools.
Resize Windows Server 2019 partition with Disk Management
It is not difficult to adjust partition size in Windows Server 2019 via Disk Management, but as mentioned above, it has many restrictions. In short, it can only help you shrink an NTFS partition to create a new volume, and extend an NTFS partition after deleting the adjacent volume on the right. If you want to extend a partition by shrinking another one or resize FAT32 partitions, server partition software is needed.
Restrictions to resize Server 2019 partition with Disk Management:
- Only NTFS partitions can be resized; FAT32 and any other types of partitions are not supported.
- It can only shrink a partition toward the left and create unallocated space on the right.
- It can only shrink a small amount of space when there are unmovable files located in the partition.
- It can only extend a partition when there's contiguous unallocated space on the right.
When resizing a partition in Server 2019 via the Disk Management tool, it cannot change the start position of the volume. This is the reason why it can only shrink a volume from right to left, and extend a partition by merging contiguous unallocated space on the right.
How to resize partition in Windows Server 2019 with Disk Management:
① How to shrink partition:
- Press Windows + X on the keyboard and click Disk Management in the list.
- Right-click a NTFS partition and select "Shrink Volume".
- Enter an amount of space and click the "Shrink" button. If you do not enter an amount manually, the maximum available space will be used by default.
② How to extend partition (such as C:):
- Right-click the adjacent partition D: in Disk Management and select "Delete Volume", then its disk space will be changed to Unallocated.
- Right-click the C: drive and select "Extend Volume".
- Click "Next" until "Finish" in the pop-up Extend Volume Wizard window.
Caution: Do not delete D if you installed programs or any Windows services on it.
Some people ask why they cannot shrink D to extend the C drive. This is because to extend C drive in Server 2019 Disk Management, there must be adjacent unallocated space on the right side. As explained above, Disk Management can only shrink a partition toward the left and make unallocated space on the right. As shown in the screenshot of my server, the unallocated space shrunk from D is nonadjacent to the C drive, and is on the left of the E: drive. Therefore, the Extend Volume option is greyed out for both partitions.
To resize partition configurations in Windows Server 2019/2022 and previous versions, third-party software is a better choice, because there are no such restrictions. Unallocated space can be made on either the left or right side when shrinking a partition, and combined with either a contiguous or nonadjacent partition on the same disk. There are many partition software options for Server 2019 in the market; the GUI and functions are similar, but it is highly recommended to make a backup in advance and run safe disk partition software.
Take care of data while resizing Server 2019 partitions
While resizing a partition in Windows Server 2019, there's potential system damage and data loss risk. Since the start or end position will be changed, all parameters of associated partitions/files must be modified correctly. Sometimes all files in a partition must be moved to new locations. Therefore, any software error or hardware issue could cause some parameters to fail to be modified.
- If system-related parameters fail to update, the server cannot boot, or a black screen or error message may appear during boot.
- If partition-related parameters fail to update, Windows reports this partition is inaccessible and asks for reformatting.
- If file-related parameters fail to be modified or files fail to move, these files will also be damaged.
Better than other tools, NIUBI Partition Editor has advanced technologies to protect your system and data:
- Virtual Mode - All operations will be listed as pending for preview; real disk partitions won't be modified until you click "Apply" to confirm.
- Cancel-at-will - If you applied wrong operations, you can cancel the ongoing operations at any stage before completion.
- 1 Second Rollback - If any known error is detected while resizing partitions, it automatically reverts the server to its original status instantly.
- Hot Clone - Clone the system disk without server interruption; you can clone it regularly as a backup and boot from the cloned disk immediately whenever the system disk is down.
When shrinking a partition toward the right and moving a partition, all files in it will be moved as well. The more files in this partition, the longer it takes to move. With the help of its advanced file-moving algorithm, NIUBI Partition Editor is 30% to 300% faster.
Change partition size with safe partition software
Download NIUBI Partition Editor and you'll see the main window with the disk partition structure and other information on the right. Available operations to the selected disk or partition are listed on the left and via right-clicking. Unavailable operations are hidden automatically to keep the interface clean.
To resize partition in Windows Server 2019 without losing data: right-click an NTFS or FAT32 partition and select "Resize/Move Volume". You have 2 options in the pop-up window.
Option 1: If you drag the left border toward the right or enter an amount in the box of Unallocated space before, then the Unallocated space is made on the left.
Option 2: If you drag the right border toward the left or enter an amount in the box of Unallocated space after, then the Unallocated space is made on the right.
After shrinking a partition to get Unallocated space, you can create a new volume or extend another volume.
How to resize D and extend partition C in Windows Server 2019/2022:
- Follow Option 1 to shrink the D: drive and create Unallocated space on the left.
- Right-click the C: drive and select "Resize/Move Volume" again, then drag the right border toward the right to combine this Unallocated space.
- Click Apply on the top left to execute.
Follow the steps demonstrated in the video.
- If you want to resize a nonadjacent partition (here is E:) to expand the C drive, there's an additional step to move Unallocated space to the left before adding it to the C drive.
- Follow the steps if you want to resize a partition and increase D drive space for Server 2019.
- No software can extend a partition by moving free space from another separate disk. If there's no available free space on this disk, follow the steps to copy disk to a larger one.
- If you want to resize a RAID partition in Windows Server 2019/2022, do not break the array or do any operations to the RAID controller; simply follow the same steps in the videos.
Besides resizing partition arrays in Windows Server 2019/2022/2025 and previous Server 2016/2012/2008/2003, NIUBI Partition Editor helps you clone disk partitions to back up or migrate data, convert disk partition types, and perform many other disk and partition management operations.
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