When you bought your Windows PC, there were several partitions (give and take a few more). But, now you want to resell your computer and are looking for ways to delete partitions from your Windows computer. You have come to the right place. Not only will this post tell you how to delete or remove the partition from your hard drive, but, we’ll also tell you what you can do in case you accidentally delete important data.
What Is Deleting Partitions On A Hard Drive?
New to the concept of partitioning your hard disk? This post will help you get a basic overview of what disk partitioning is and which tools can help you out. When you remove a partition from a drive, you can release the space occupied by it. Before you delete a partition, it is advisable that you either move the files onto some other drive or take a backup first.
Why Would I Need To Delete Partitions From My Windows Hard Drive?
- When you want to get rid of unnecessary partitions that your OEM or Original Equipment Manufacturer has shipped your hard drive with.
- To free up space on your hard drive.
- When you want to sell your computer
3 Ways To Delete Partitions On Windows 11/10 PC
Before we look at the ways to remove hard drive partitions, it is important to note – You will only be able to remove a hard drive partition when it is not in use.
1. With The Help of Disk Management
You can unpartition a hard drive with the help of Disk Management which is an inbuilt tool used to create, delete, format, and shrink partitions. Here is how you can delete hard drive partitions in Windows 11/10 using Disk Management –
- Press Windows + R to open the Run dialog box.
- Type diskmgmt.msc and press Enter
- Select the partition you want to remove.
- Right-click on it and select Delete Volume.
- Click on Yes and data will be removed.
2. Via Command Prompt
You can also use the administrative Command Prompt to delete hard drive partitions on your Windows PC. Here are the steps for the same –
- In the Windows search bar, type cmd and select Run as administrator from the right-hand side.
- When the Command Prompt opens, type diskpart and press Enter.
- Type list volume and press Enter.
- Type select (volume number). So if you want to delete Volume 1, type select volume 1 and press
- Type delete partition.
3. Through PowerShell
When using PowerShell, there are two ways in which you can delete partitions –
(i) When There Is A Driver Letter Assigned
- In the Windows search bar, type PowerShell and select Run as administrator from the right-hand side.
- When the Administrative PowerShell opens, type Get-Volume and press Enter.
- Next type Remove-Partition -DriveLetter (the letter of the partition you want to delete). So, if its driver letter “D”, the command will be Remove-Partition -DriveLetter D
- Confirm by typing Y.
(ii) Delete Partition Without A Drive Letter
- In the Windows search bar, type powershell.
- Select Run as administrator.
- When the Administrative PowerShell opens, type Get-disk and press Enter
- Type get-partition -disknumber (number). If disk number is 0 then the command will be get-partition -disknumber 0
- Press Enter.
- Now, if you want to delete the partition number, e.g. 1 then the command will be remove-partition -disknumber 0 -partitionnumber 1
- Press Enter.
- Confirm by pressing Y.
I Accidentally Deleted A Hard Drive Partition, What Should I Do?
It could be that you knowingly or unknowingly deleted a hard drive partition and lost some important data. The good news is that you can restore lost data with the help of a data recovery tool like Advanced File Recovery.
What is Advanced File Recovery? How Can It Help me Recover Deleted Files?
- Download or install Advanced File Recovery from the button down below.
- Select the drive from where you have lost data. Here you can even choose a USB device and recover accidentally lost data.
- Select the mode of scan – Quick or Deep Scan
- Click on the Next button to proceed.
- Click on the type of data you want to restore and click on Start Scan.
- From the left-hand side, select the file you want to recover and click on Recover Now.
- Recover files on another drive other than the one you lost them from.
To know more about this data recovery tool, you can check out our detailed review of Advanced File recovery.
There are other ways too that can help you take necessary steps if you have lost partition. The post further reinstates the importance of partitioning your hard drive and even dives into the probable reasons why your partitions may get deleted or lost.
Wrapping Up
We’d again like to reinstate that it is important to transfer data onto some other drive or take a backup before you erase a partition. In case, you accidentally deleted a wrong partition, you can employ a data recovery utility. Do let us know in the comments section if the post proved to be helpful. For more such content, keep reading WeTheGeek.