Free Tool to Merge Partitions in Windows 11 Without Data Loss

When the system partition C is running out of space, many people ask if it is possible to merge the C and D drives in a Windows 11 computer. If so, the free space in the D drive will be combined into the C drive. The answer is yes, and there are two ways to combine partitions in a Windows 11 laptop, desktop, or tablet. You can merge 2 partitions in Windows 11 using native Disk Management, but you must delete a partition in advance. In addition, this native tool cannot merge partitions in some cases even after deleting another one. This article introduces how to merge partitions in Windows 11 with Disk Management and free partition software.

How to Merge Windows 11 Partitions Without Software

When you right-click a partition in the Windows native Disk Management tool, there is no "Merge Volume" option. The combination is achieved using the "Extend Volume" function. Because this function has many limitations, you will encounter problems when merging partitions in Windows 11 using Disk Management. The limitations are discussed in the next section. First, here is how to combine partitions.

Steps to merge partitions in Windows 11 via Disk Management without software:

1. Press the Windows + X keys together and click Disk Management in the list.
2. Right-click the D: drive and select Delete Volume.
3. Right-click the C: drive and select Extend Volume.
4. Follow the pop-up Extend Volume Wizard.

It is easy to combine 2 partitions in Windows 11 with Disk Management, but as mentioned above, there are many limitations.

Limitations to Merging 2 Partitions in Windows 11 with Disk Management

1. It can only merge the right adjacent partition into the left one. For example, merge E to D drive, or merge D to C drive.
2. You must delete the adjacent partition on the right to get Unallocated space in advance.
3. The 2 partitions must be the same type (either both Primary or both Logical).
4. The target partition must be formatted with the NTFS file system.
5. It cannot merge 2 non-adjacent partitions.

Caution: Do not delete the D drive if you installed programs in it. Otherwise, the programs will not work even if you moved all files to other places.

Better Way to Merge 2 Partitions in Windows 11 with Free Software

To combine partitions in a Windows 11 computer, third-party software is a better choice. Compared to other tools, NIUBI Partition Editor features Virtual Mode, Cancel-at-will, 1-Second Rollback, and Hot Clone technologies to protect your system and data. It even provides a free edition for Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista/XP home users, which is fully functional and 100% clean.

Download this tool, and you will see all storage devices with their partition layouts and detailed information of each partition on the main window. Right-click a partition or the leftmost area of a disk, and you will see the available operations.

How to merge partitions in Windows 11 without losing data:

1. Right-click the C: or D: drive and select "Merge Volume".
2. Click the checkboxes in front of both partitions.
3. Click OK to go back to the main window, then click Apply on the top left to take effect.

How to merge non-adjacent partitions in Windows 11 (such as C and E):

1. Right-click E: and select Delete Volume (transfer your files in advance).
2. Right-click the middle partition D and select Resize/Move Volume. Put the mouse pointer in the middle of D and drag it rightward in the pop-up window.
3. Right-click the C: drive and run Resize/Move Volume again. Drag the right border rightward to merge the Unallocated space.
4. Click Apply to execute.

Watch the video to see how to merge partitions in a Windows 11 computer:

If you want to extend a partition by merging another one, it is not suggested, because one of the partitions will be removed. The best way is to shrink a partition to get Unallocated space and then add it to the partition that you want to extend. In this way, the operating system, programs, and everything else remain the same as before.

Besides merging partitions in a Windows 11/10/8/7/Vista/XP computer, NIUBI Partition Editor helps you perform many other disk partition management operations, such as shrinking, extending, moving, converting, copying, defragging, hiding, and wiping partitions, as well as scanning for bad sectors and optimizing file systems.

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