Top 5 Disk Management for Windows 11 in 2024

An operating system is installed on a disk, a hard drive, or an SSD – in short, on physical storage. Over time, needs change, and we have to manage our disks to create more partitions, merge them, delete them, and so on. While most users might not have to deal with this if they set everything up from the start, if you need to do it manually, you should know how to manage disks in Windows 11.

What is Disk Management in Windows 11?

Windows 11 also has a built-in Disk Management tool that helps you manage your hard drives and disks. The main tasks of the Disk Management utility are to create, format, and delete partitions. If you know how to use this tool, you won't need any third-party software. However, it's a basic utility, and it doesn't provide any rollback methods if you make a mistake. That said, it's important to know how to use it so you can wield it when the need arises.

Before we begin, the Disk Management tool in Windows 11 is the same as in Windows 10. Apart from minor UI changes, you won't notice any differences.

You may also like: Top 8 Free Disk Management Tools for Windows 10.

How do I use disk management tools?

Press the “Start” button, and type “Disk Management”. You should see “Create and format hard disk partitions” in the list. Click on it to launch it.

This tool will list all the disks and partitions on each one. You can see the size of each disk, the size of each partition, and the EFI partition. At the top, you'll see a list of all the partitions, and at the bottom, the physical layout of all the disks and partitions.

Right-clicking a disk provides options to Create a New Volume, Convert to Dynamic Disk, and Convert to GPT Disk, among others.

Options when right-clicking a disk in Disk Management

Right-clicking on any partition will give you options like “Set as Active,” “Extend,” “Shrink,” “Delete,” “Add Mirror,” and “Change Drive Letter.”

Right click on the partition in Disk Management in Windows 11, as shown in the screenshot below:

I strongly advise experimenting with an external hard drive first. You can create multiple partitions, format them, and do other operations. Once you're comfortable with the process, you can apply it to your main drive.

In other words, some of the Windows partitions are dispensable. These include the EFI System Partition and the Recovery Partition. While the former is needed to boot Windows on a UEFI-based computer, the latter is a set of tools that can help restore Windows in case of a system crash.

Top 5 Disk Management Tools for Windows 11 (UTF-8)

Windows' Disk Management tool is not very user-friendly. It has many options and features, and just opening the utility is enough to confuse. Moreover, there is no intermediate step to preview what will happen before you commit to an operation.

Therefore, it's better to use specialized software that offers better disk management and storage optimization. Here's a list of recommendations:

1] Partition Master Tool

"tools Partition Master" is a professional disk management software with multiple functions. From disk management to transferring the operating system from one drive to another, to increasing the C drive space without losing data, here is a list of features:

- Full disk management, including resize/copy/merge/format/delete partitions - Wipe/Check partitions - Create a bootable USB for advanced recovery - Move an operating system from one drive to another - Convert NTFS to FAT32 - Unlike others, the free version offers all the basic features needed by regular users. - SSD 4K Alignment

Advantages:

• Support for BitLocker-enabled drives
• Resize disk partitions
• Disk error checking
• Data erasure
• Create a recovery USB

Disadvantages:

• Not available on macOS
• Clone feature available only in the Professional version

A Guide to Creating Partitions with Partition Master Tool

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#Disk Management Tools#Free Disk Tools for Windows#Free#Windows Operating System

2] GParted Partition Editor

GParted is a free, graphical tool for managing partitions on disk devices. It lets you create, delete, resize, move, check, and copy partitions on hard drives. The software also attempts to recover data from lost partitions.

Advantages:

- Assign new UUID to existing partitions - Support for copy and paste functionality - Compatibility with various file systems, including exFAT, FAT32, and more.

Disadvantages:

Old user interface. Slow development pace.

Download from the home page:  gparted.org/

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#Open-Source#Alternative-Disk-Management#Free#Windows

[3] Tenths Partition Manager

As with all disk management utilities, it also lets you clone, format, and resize partitions on your computer. You can also set partitions as active to be used for booting. Additionally, the converter lets you switch between MBR and GPT without losing data.

Advantages

• User-friendly interface with preview capabilities
• Comprehensive disk management, including conversion without data loss
• Convert MBR to GPT or GPT to MBR without data loss

Disadvantages

• Limited free trial period
• Make sure you have enough unallocated space before you begin.

Download from Tenorshare: https://4ddig.tenorshare.com/4ddig-partition-manager.html

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These tags represent: - #NTFS for M1 Mac: NTFS (New Technology File System) support for Mac computers with the M1 chip. - #NTFS for M2 Mac: NTFS support for Mac computers with the M2 chip. - #Monterey: Apple's macOS operating system named Monterey. - #Ventura: Apple's macOS operating system named Ventura, which comes after Monterey. - #Sonoma Beta: A possible reference to the next beta version of the macOS called Sonoma, typically used for development and testing before its official release.

4] Acronis Disk Manager

This is a professional disk management software that offers powerful tools to optimize disk usage, protect data, and manage the operating system's file system. It also includes utilities to enhance drive performance, thereby improving the overall computing experience.

Advantages

• Disk cloning, volume recovery, and partition management
• Manage data during splitting, resizing, and conversion
• Recover accidentally deleted volumes
• Create logical volumes or partitions from multiple physical disks

Disadvantages

• Slightly confusing for non-professionals
• Many users report failed disk cloning, which may require multiple attempts.

Download it from Acronis at www.acronis.com/en-us/products/disk-director-home.

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#Disk Management#Alternative Disk Management Tools#Windows

5] Paragon Partition Manager

Although this is a professional tool, the company offers a Community Edition that's free for personal and home use. It's a complete disk management suite that lets you do partitioning, test surface errors, recover some content, and so on. You can use it to convert HFS volumes to NTFS and vice versa without formatting, as well as convert MBR disks to GPT.

Advantages

• Manage disks/volumes and dynamic disks
• Convert MBR disk to GPT and vice versa
• Recover deleted volumes

Disadvantages:

• You cannot back up disks or volumes.
• You cannot migrate the operating system from one computer to another.
• You cannot use this software to wipe data.

Download it from the Paragon Software website: www.paragon-software.com/free/pm-express/

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#Paragon Partition Manager#Disk Management Tool#Windows

Conclusions

Disk management is a relatively simple task, but you must know what you're doing, or you can lose data. Since there's no undo or preview available with Windows Disk Management, it's best to use third-party software like Partition Master, which provides these features.