On this page, you will learn what is GPT protective partition, the reasons that cause the problem, and how to delete GPT protective partition in Windows 10/8/7/XP without losing data. Check and learn how to make your GPT protective partition accessible and retrieve saved data.

"GPT Protective Partition" refers to a protective partition in the GUID Partition Table (GPT). In the GPT partition style, a protective partition is a small, special partition that is typically located at the beginning of a hard disk. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the GPT header information from being overwritten by an MBR (Master Boot Record) format or other unintentional damage. This partition usually contains a backup of the GPT header and may also include some recovery tools or data. In the Windows operating system, this partition is also referred to as the "System Reserved Partition."

GPT protective partition, in essence, refers to a hard disk partition protected by the GUID Partition Table. When this type of partition appears, users are unable to access this specific disk partition via Disk Management or perform any other operations on it.

For example, you can't partition, format, delete, or even simply access the data on a GPT protective partition. Usually, it could be a partition or the whole disk, showing as “Healthy (GPT Protective Partition)” in Disk Management, as shown in the following picture:

Next up, we just need the translation for the caption of this image in American English: "GPT Protective Partition

What leads to or makes your disk show as GPT protected partition?

Before you can figure out how to remove the "GPT Protective Partition" from your Windows computer, you need to understand what causes it.

Here's a list of reasons why your disk partition might be showing up as "Healthy ( Protective Partition)": 1. **Incorrect Disk Management Tool**: The "Healthy (GPT Protective Partition)" label can appear when using the built-in Windows Disk Management tool, which may not fully recognize the GPT partitioning scheme used by some modern operating systems. 2. **BIOS/UEFI Configuration**: If your computer is set to boot in BIOS mode instead of UEFI, it might not properly read the GPT partition and label it accordingly. 3. **Misidentified Partition Type**: Sometimes, the partition might have been incorrectly identified by the system due to a bug or an issue during the setup process. 4. **Reserve Partition**: In certain cases, especially with newer systems using UEFI, a small protective MBR partition is created to guard the GPT data structures. This partition is usually labeled "Healthy (GPT Protective Partition)". 5. **Third-party Software**: If you've used third-party disk management software, it could have created or labeled the partition incorrectly. 6. **OS Installation Error**: During the installation of an operating system, if the setup process encounters issues, it might create an unintended protective partition. 7. **Accidental Creation**: You or someone else might have accidentally created this partition while managing disks. To address this issue, ensure your system is configured for UEFI boot, and use GPT-aware tools like `diskpart` in Command Prompt or third-party software like GParted to correctly identify and manage the partition. If you believe the partition is unnecessary, you can safely delete it, but always make sure to back up your data first.

    Windows cannot read or support a GPT protective partition.

For example, Windows XP does not support GPT disks, and when you connect a GPT disk to a computer, the partition displays as a "GPT Protective Partition."

  1. 2. Errors on GPT disks that cause GPT partition protection
  2. 3. Manually creating one or more GPT protective partitions for specific reasons

GPT is typically used on servers to guard against tampering with sensitive information or to provide redundancy for critical data. Some individual users employ it to maximize partition sizes or remove limitations on partition size.

In short, no matter how you got the GPT protective partition, even if Windows recognizes it as a healthy “GPT Protective Partition,” you cannot read from or boot from it. Thus, the data becomes inaccessible.

So, how to access GPT protective partition and fix this error? Check and follow the solutions provided to get your GPT protective partition back to normal.

Part 1: Accessing and Recovering Data from GPT Protected Partition

Applies to: Accessing and recovering valuable data from a GPT-protected partition in advance.

When GPT disk partition becomes protective mode, you can't access, delete or format the protective GPT partition.

Before you proceed with deleting the GPT protective partition, it's highly recommended that you employ a reliable data recovery solution to retrieve your saved data from the problematic partition.

In this case, you can use the Data Recovery Wizard tool for assistance. As long as your disk is recognized by Windows Disk Management, it will acknowledge your GPT protective partition and effectively scan for and locate all your data.

Follow these steps to access and recover data from a GPT-protected partition:

Step 1: Select the disk where you lost data and click on "Scan".

Select and Scan the Hard Drive

Step 2: Once the scan is finished, use the “Filter” or “Search” option to look for the lost files.

Preview Lost Hard Drive Data

Step 3. Select all the files you want to recover and click “Recover.” Then, choose a different safe location to save them.

Recover Data from Hard Drive

Save the recovered data to another secure location on your computer or an external hard drive. Then, proceed with the solutions in the next two sections.

Part 2: Fix "GPT Protective Partition" Error by Removing and Cleaning

Applies to: Fixing “protected” issues on a GPT partition so it can be used again.

The solutions provided in this section apply to Windows 10/8/7/XP and Windows Server, such as Windows Server 2003.

According to professional IT service providers and geek websites, the most effective way to delete the GPT protective partition is by using the Diskpart command-line utility.

Important Note
The Diskpart command allows you to clean the GPT protective partition. Of course, all data will be deleted permanently.
Therefore, if you want to delete and access the GPT protective partition without losing data, make sure to back up important data in advance as described in Part 1.

Learn how to use the Diskpart clean command to remove the GPT protective partition:

    1. Step 1: Type cmd and press Enter to open Command Prompt. Run it as an administrator.
    2. Step 2: In Command Prompt, type the command diskpart.
    3. Step 3: Type the command list disk.
    4. Step 4: Type the command select disk x (replace x with the drive letter of the GPT protective partition, using the actual letter).
    5. Step 5: Type the command clean.

Clean the disk to remove the GPT protective partition

Finally, type exit to close the Command Prompt. Once you've done this, you'll have successfully removed the GPT Protective Partition from your Windows PC.

You can now proceed to Part 3 and use the methods provided to convert your GPT disk to MBR or create new partitions on the disk.

Part 3: Convert GPT to MBR after Removing the GPT Protective Partition Error

Applies to: Clean GPT disks on newer Windows 10 systems, as well as older Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 systems

After deleting the GPT protective partition style, the disk will become in an "Unknown, Uninitialized, and Unallocated" state. At this point, you need to initialize the disk or convert the disk to MBR format to make Windows recognize the disk again.

Below, we have gathered three options, any one of which you can pursue to get help. The sooner you act, the easier it will be.

Method 1: Convert GPT to MBR with Partition Master

The reason why we recommend you try a third-party partition manager first is that it can help simplify the process for you.

Partition Master provides you a safe way to fix the GPT protective partition error on the Windows operating system mentioned above.

You can also use this software to seamlessly convert a healthy GPT disk to MBR in seconds. Follow the guide to fix the issue:

    1. Click on "Disk Converter" from the left menu. Select "Convert GPT to MBR," then click "Next" to proceed. 2. Choose the GPT disk that you want to convert, and then click "Convert." 3. Wait for the conversion process to complete.

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Method 2: Initialize and Convert GPT to MBR with Disk Management

Another effective way is to use Disk Management to quickly convert the disk to MBR. It's a built-in Windows method that allows you to convert the disk for free:

Step 1: Right-click "My Computer" or "This PC," select "Manage," and open Disk Management.

Step 2. Right-click on the unallocated drive and select "Initialize Disk."

Initialize Disk

Step 3. In the window that pops up, select the disk you want to initialize and choose either MBR or GPT partition style.

Initialize disk to fix unknown unformatted error

Method 3: Convert GPT to MBR with Diskpart Command

Another handy solution you can try is to run the Diskpart command and convert GPT to MBR. Be careful when following these disk conversion steps:

Step 1. Open the Command Prompt on your computer and type diskpart, then hit Enter.

Step 2.  Click “Yes” to launch Diskpart.

Step 3: Type each of the following commands and press Enter after each one:

  • list disk
  • select disk 1 (replace 1 with the number of the disk you want to convert).
  • clean (this will delete all partitions and data on the disk. Make sure you have backed up everything as described in Step 1 of Part 1.)
  • convert mbr (This command will convert the GPT disk to MBR.)

How to convert MBR to GPT with diskpart

4. When the conversion is complete, type exit.

Once you've completed all the steps from Parts 1, 2, and 3, congratulations! You've successfully removed the protective GPT partition from your hard drive. The entire disk can now be used for creating new partitions. We've learned three ways to convert GPT to MBR, so don't hesitate to share this article with others who might find these methods useful.

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Additional Tip: Resizing the Partition after Removing the GPT Protective Partition

Note that after you've completed all the solutions provided on this page, you have successfully removed the GPT protective partition from the disk. But now, the disk is an Unallocated drive.

To use the disk, you need to repartition it, that is, create new partitions on it. We'll list two utilities along with tutorial steps to guide you through creating a volume on your Windows PC. Choose one to make your disk usable for data storage again:

#1. Create a Volume on the Disk with Partition Master Tool

Applies to: All Windows beginners

Step 1. Launch Partition Master. Right-click unallocated space on the hard drive or external storage device in the main window, and then choose Create.

Step 2. Adjust the size of the new partition, select a file system (if necessary), label, etc., and click “OK” to proceed.

Step 3. Click the Run 1 Task button, and then create the new partition by clicking Apply.

Watch the following video tutorial to learn how to create partitions on an NTFS, FAT, or EXT file system.

#2. Create a Disk Partition using Disk Management

Intended for: Experienced and advanced Windows users.

Step 1: Open Disk Management by right-clicking "This PC" and selecting "Manage."

Step 2: In the Disk Management, you will find the inaccessible unallocated space which is displayed as “Healthy (GPT Protective Partition)”.

Step 3: Right-click on the unallocated space and select "New Simple Volume."

Create a partition using Disk Management

Step 4: Choose the partition size, drive letter, file system, etc.

Set partition size

Step 5: When you're done, click Finish to conclude the process.

Create the partition

Note: If you need to create more than one partition on your drive, repeat these steps as many times as necessary.

Conclusion

On this page, we explain what a GPT protective partition is and why you might encounter it on your Windows PC.

For most Windows users, to resolve this issue, you'd first need to access and recover data from the GPT protected partition with a reliable data recovery tool like Data Recovery Wizard.

This error can be removed from a GPT disk by running the Diskpart clean command. To fix this problem thoroughly, it is recommended to convert the GPT disk to MBR using Partition Master, Disk Management, or the Diskpart tool.

Finally, remember to create a new partition on the disk in which to save the data.

"People also ask,"

How to delete the GPT protective partition?

How to Remove the GPT Protective Partition:

    Type "DiskPart" into the command line. Type "list disk" to display all of the disks on your interface. Use "select disk *" to set the focus to a particular partition. For example, "select disk 1". Issue the "clean" command.

2. What is the purpose of the GPT protective partition?

    • 1. Windows is unable to read or support the GPT protective partition.
    • 2. There is an error with the GPT disk that causes the GPT protective partition.
    • 3. One or more GPT protective partitions are manually created due to certain specific reasons.

3. How to access data in a GPT-protected partition?

How to access data on a GPT protected partition:

Step 1: Get and run the software. Download and install the Partition Master tool correctly.

Step 2: Use the Protective Partition to scan the GPT disk. You should select the GPT disk under "Hard Disk."

Step 3: Select the files you wish to recover.