Lost Space After Disk Defragmentation | How to Get It Back!

Imagine your hard drive is a messy room, with files strewn everywhere, making it slow and frustrating to find what you need. Defragmenting is like organizing that room to make your computer run faster. However, you may notice that your hard drive seems to lose space after defragmenting.

In this article, we'll delve into practical ways to address disk space issues and introduce a powerful tool called Partition Master that simplifies disk management, enabling you to make the most of your hard drive space. Ready to regain control? Let's get started!

How to Recover Lost Disk Space after Defragmentation

Lost disk space after defragmentation shouldn't hinder you. Let's delve into some practical solutions to reclaim your storage space and regain control of your computer's performance.

Method 1: Resize Partitions to Expand Disk Space

You can resize the disk and extend partitions to free up space and expand the disk. It might sound complicated, but don't worry. The Partition Master Free offers a convenient and user-friendly disk resizing feature. This tool simplifies the complexity of disk management by providing a clear and intuitive visualization of your hard drive and partitions.

Click to download and learn how to recover lost disk space.

Step 1: Locate and select the target drive/partition.

Launch Partition Master, enter "Partition Management" interface, select the hard drive/partition whose size you need to adjust, right-click and choose "Resize/Move".

To shrink a partition, simply drag one end of it to release unallocated space. When you're done, click "OK."

2. To extend the partition, you must have unallocated space next to it (if not, create some by following the steps above). Drag the mouse over the unallocated space. Click “OK.”

3. To move a partition, you need unallocated space next to the partition you want to move. If there isn't any, free some up first.

Right click the target partition and select “Resize/Move”. Then drag the partition to adjust its position. Click “OK” to confirm.

Step 3: Review the results and apply the changes

Here, you will see the new disk partition information and图表.

The information of resized disk partition:

To save the changes, click the Run Task button and then click Apply.

Applying changes to the partition

The main features you can try out

• How to Find and Recover Lost Space on Hard Drive in Windows
• Fix low disk space issues when there's actually plenty of space
• Defragment an SSD

To optimize your hard drive better, download and install the Partition Master tool.

Method 2: Free Up Disk Space

After a disk cleanup, various factors might still be taking up your disk space. It could be due to duplicate files, hidden temporary files, or even old system restore points. It's time to clear them out and reclaim your storage!

It's crucial to delete these unnecessary files to free up storage space. There are three ways to clean up temporary files and release disk space.

Option 1: Manual Cleanup:

1. Open the Windows File Explorer. 2. Navigate to C:\ > Windows > Temp. 3. Delete the files within the folder.

Option 2: Automated cleaning:

1. Go to Settings > System > Storage.
2. Select
3. Choose a cleanup schedule (for example, every 14 days).

Option 3: Spring cleaning to free up disk space

• Remove duplicate files: You can finally free up more space on your storage devices by using a third-party duplicate file finder to locate and delete duplicates.
• Uninstall unused apps: It's also worth considering the programs you no longer use from time to time.

What Is a Disk Defragmenter Tool and How to Use It in Windows 10

This article introduces two reliable disk defragmenter tools and shows you how to use them in Windows 10.

Method 3: Extend Disk with/without Unallocated Space

Sometimes, disk defragmentation may leave your system drive with no available space. In this case, you can use the "Allocate Space" feature in Professional Edition Partition Master to increase the size of your system drive. It allows you to transfer free space from other partitions safely, whether or not you have unallocated space adjacent to it:

Option 1: Expand the System C Drive using unallocated space

1. Right-click on the System C drive and select "Resize/Move Partition." 2. Drag the system partition towards the unallocated space to add it to the C drive. Then, click "OK." 3. Click "Execute Task" and "Apply" to perform the operation and extend the C drive.

Option 2: Extend the System C drive without unallocated space

1. Right-click on the partition with more free space on the system drive and select "Allocate Space." 2. In the "Allocate from (*) to" section, choose the system drive. Drag the end of the system C: drive to the unallocated space. Click "OK" to confirm. 3. Click "Execute Tasks" to see the pending operations. Then click "Apply" to save the changes and extend the C: drive.

0:00-0:26 - Extending the system drive using unallocated space; 0:27-0:58 - Expanding the system drive without unallocated space.

Here's a tool and an easy method to help Windows users who have lost disk space after defragmenting their disks:

Method 4: Allocate Space from a Second Hard Drive

Having multiple drives on your computer provides more flexibility to optimize your disk space. If you run out of space on your system drive, you can use the Partition Master Professional tool to borrow space from a secondary drive to expand its capacity. This involves reallocating part of the storage from the secondary drive to the system drive.

Step 1: Launch AOMEI Partition Assistant and enter the "Partition Management" interface. Right-click on the System C drive and choose "Advanced," then click "Extend with the Second Hard Disk."

Step 2: After the software analyzes the hard drive status and lists the detailed results, click "Customize Plan" to proceed.

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Step 3. Select the data to migrate, or click on the location to choose more data, then click Next to proceed.

Step 4: Select the partition to extend C drive, for example, G drive, and then click "Execute".

Why does disk defragmentation result in lost space?

You defragment your hard drive, hoping to free up more space, only to find that you have even less available space than before. What gives? Let's look at some possible reasons for this strange phenomenon.

• System Files: System files are crucial for your computer's proper functioning. During defragmentation, these files might be moved or reorganized, sometimes causing them to occupy slightly more space than before.
• Temporary Files: Defragmentation may generate temporary files to speed up the process. Since these temporary files don't get automatically deleted, they can occasionally take up valuable disk space.
• File Fragmentation: While defragmentation generally aims to make files more compact, it can sometimes have the opposite effect. In some cases, the process might further fragment files, which could cause them to take up more space.
• Restore Points: System restore points and backup files provide a safety net in case of issues. However, they also consume storage space, which might contribute to losing some space after defragmentation, especially if you have many restore points saved.

Conclusions

It can be frustrating when disk space goes missing after defragmentation, but the issue can be resolved. This dedicated guide will discuss various effective solutions to assist you. Understanding the possible causes will make troubleshooting easier.

In addition, disk management tools like Partition Master can become much simpler and more intuitive. If you're struggling with limited disk space, give it a try. It can help you regain control over your computer's storage and optimize its performance.

Frequently Asked Questions about Losing Disk Space After Defragmentation

Still have questions about losing disk space after disk defragmentation? Let's delve into some common issues:

Does defragmentation free up disk space?

Normally, defragmentation shouldn't directly reduce your disk space. Its goal is to rearrange files for faster access, which can often result in a slight increase in free space. However, factors like temporary files, system file changes, and unexpected fragmentation can sometimes lead to a slight increase in space usage after the process.

2. Will I lose data if I defragment my disk?

Generally, defragmentation is safe, and the risk of data loss is very small. However, you should always back up important data before performing any disk operations to prevent unexpected errors or power failures.

3. Why should I defragment my SSD/HDD?

Unlike with an SSD, defragmentation can actually help to improve the performance of an HDD. On the other hand, because of its different technology, an SSD does not experience the same significant performance boost after defragmentation as a traditional HDD. Excessive fragmentation can be a factor in reducing the durability of an SSD.