How to Shrink D (or E) and Extend C Drive on Windows Server 2019 2022 2025 2016 etc.

Shrinking a large drive can help produce unallocated space that you may add it to c drive or any drive using Partition Resizer on the same disk. If the large drive you want to shrink is on another phsycial disk, you need to build RAID array on your server to connect the two disks into one virutal disk.

#1 Shrink D and Extend C Drive with Disk Management? -> Delete D to Extend C

The Problem: Shrinking D drive in Disk Management won't work since the unallocated space produce after the shrinking D drive is produced at the right side of the D drive, not adjacent to the C drive, which will block the C drive from expansion.

Solution: Delete D drive and then C drive extending will be available in Disk Management if the C drive is not formatted in FAT32.

Disk Management is a built-in Windows tool that allows you to resize disk partitions. You can use it to delete the D drive and extend the C drive, but only when there is unallocated space adjacent to the NTFS C drive.

Note: The “Extend Volume” option will be grayed out if:

• The C drive has no unallocated space next to it.
• The C drive is formatted as FAT32.

Follow these steps to delete the D drive and extend the C drive using Disk Management:

Step 1: Open Disk Management

Right-click the Start button in the bottom-left corner of your screen and choose Disk Management (Admin privileges required).

Step 2: Delete the D Drive

Note: Please bakcup drive D to another disk before the deletion in case you have important data on the drive D. (You may copy the files in File Exlporer, or use IM-Magic Partition Resizer that offers partition cloning, or you may use it to merge C and D without additional backup, or you may use it to shrink D, move the unallocated space adjacent to C, and expand C without reinstalling Windows Server.)

Right-click the D drive (or any drive letter you have such as the E drive which is taking the place of the D drive in your computer), select Delete Volume. Note: If you delete the D drive, all its space will be freed up. Just make sure to back up your data first.

After shrinking, unallocated space will be created next to the C drive:

Step 3: Extend the C Drive

Now that unallocated space is available, right-click the C drive and select Extend Volume.

If the unallocated space isn’t next to C, you may need to move it using a third-party tool or delete the D drive completely to make it available for the C drive.

If the “Extend Volume” option is still unavailable, consider using a third-party partition tool like Partition Resizer.

#2 Shrink D Extend C in Windows Server 2019 2022 2025

This following video shows the steps to shrink drive D, and expand C drive without losing data.

Step 1: Download and install IM-Magic Partition Resizer. Run the program.

Step 2: Right-click the D drive, choose “Resize/Move Partition,” and adjust the size to shrink the partition.

Step 3: Move the unallocated space to the C drive side, then resize your C drive by adjusting the cursor.

Step 4: Click APPLY CHANGES. After these steps, your C drive will be successfully extended.

If your C drive is not close to the D drive but E drive, it remains the same steps. Watch the following video.

Video: Shrink E Drive Extend C Drive (Only C and E Drive on the Disk)

Note: Data and the operating system remain untouched during resizing. The tool also protects against power surges or unexpected events during resizing.

#3 Shrink E, Move D, Extend C on Windows Server (C, D, and E Drives on the Disk)

If there are more than just C and D drives and the free space is from another partition like E drive for example, you may follow this video.

IM-Magic Partition Resizer Server can help redistribute disk space without reinstalling the OS or formatting the disk. Your data and OS remain completely untouched. It can even protect your OS and data during resizing, even if an unexpected power surge occurs.

Shrink Space from Another Disk and Add it to C

Shrinking space from another disk and extend the c drive shall be based on RAID array to make the disks as one single virutal disk.

If no RAID is available, all large volumes must be on the same disk as the C drive. Follow this video guide to learn how to build a RAID array.