Fixed- Extend Volume Greyed Out On Windows 11/10 [2023]

Disk Management is an inbuilt tool in Windows OS that can be utilized to maintain the partitions on the hard disk. It offers features to create, extend or even delete the volumes. But recently several users have reported that the extend volume option is greyed out in the Disk Management tool and they can’t extend their volume. Thus, if you are also going through the same issue, don’t panic. Here I’ve covered 5 quick fixes to solve the extend volume greyed out on Widows 11/10/8 PC.

You can fix the extend volume is greyed out Windows 10/11 by creating the unallocated volume using disk management, deleting a recovery partition, converting the MBR disk to GPT, etc.

So, without much delay, let’s get started…

Let’s take a look at one of the real user examples…

Practical Scenario

I provisioned an extra TB of space to the D drive in vCenter. it shows up as unallocated space in disk management. i am trying to extend the volume but it is grayed out. How can i allocate the unallocated space to the volume i am trying to extend.  

Before fixing extend volume button greyed out, it’s important to know why extend volume is greyed out even with unallocated space.

SourceSpiceworks-Community.Com

Why Is Extend Volume Greyed Out?

There could be several reasons behind the issue you get ‘volume greyed out windows 7/8/10’. But, here, some of the major reasons are mentioned below that will let you know why is the extend volume option greyed out:

Reasons for Basic Disks:

  • No continuous unallocated space is there behind the primary partition that you want to extend. Also, there’s no continuous space behind the logical drive that you want to expand. If you want to know more about this, you can click here.
  • The volume or partition you want to enlarge is actually NOT as NTFS partition. Microsoft says that the extend volume feature in Disk Management only works to a RAW or NTFS partition.

Reasons For Dynamic Disks:

  • No unallocated space is there on dynamic disks.
  • There’s not any continuous unallocated space behind the C drive.
  • No continuous space is there located behind the spanned volume, mirrored volume, RAID volume or stripped volume. Also, no continuous unallocated space is there located behind only one segment of these types of volumes.

Now, let’s move on to know how to fix C drive extend volume greyed out problem

How to Fix ‘Extend Volume Greyed Out Windows 11/10/8’ PC?

Here are some of the most effective and working solutions available that can help you resolve extend volume greyed out Windows 10 issue in no time. So, without wasting any time, let’s just have a look at the ways one can apply to overcome this issue:

Fix 1: Delete the Partition In Between

If there is unallocated space on the hard drive but you are not all able to extend the volume then it may be because there are other partitions between the volume you want to extend and the unallocated space. So, in order to fix this issue, you have to delete the partition in between and to do so, you have to follow the below steps:

  • In the very first step, you have to press Windows + X keys together and then select Command Prompt from the list to open the elevated command prompt.
  • Now, you have to type there Diskpart so that you can open the DiskPart utility.

diskpart-format-step1

  • After this, once the diskpart opens up, you have to type there ‘list disk’ and then simply type ‘select disk X’. This will help you select your disk. Here, X is the disk number.
  • Next, you have to type there ‘list partition’ and then press Enter.
  • After this, you have to select the partition in between and then you have to type there ‘select partition X’. Here, X denotes the partition number.

USB Thinks Its A CD Drive

  • Now, you have to delete the partition and then type there ‘delete partition override’.
  • Lastly, you will see that you are able to extend the volume after you delete the partition in between successfully.

Also Read: Fix “The Volume Does Not Contain A Recognized File System

Fix 2: Create Unallocated Space To Fix Can’t Extend Volume Windows 11

If you are unable to extent the volume and get Windows 11 extend volume greyed out with unallocated space error then it is very important to make sure that you have some unallocated space. Yes, it is important to have unallocated space on the system drive if you want to extend the volume. If there is no unallocated space on the hard drive then it is possible that the option will be greyed out.

shrink-partition

However, to fix this issue soon, you have to create some unallocated space. Well, to create some unallocated space on the drive you have to first remove a volume or a partition that is not at all being used. Or, also remove the partition that is empty and then you can extend the volume.

set-size

Also, you can get some unallocated space by simply shrinking a partition if you wish to avoid deleting the partition completely.

Apart from this, it is also very important to note that if the unallocated space and the volume you want to extend are not right next to each other then you will not be able to extend the volume at all.

get-unallocated-space

Fix 3: Extend Volume Greyed Out With Unallocated Space In The Disk Management

Most probably new simple volume greyed out happens due to insufficient storage space on the disk. In such a situation, you have to first delete volume greyed out disk, or shrink the partition to leave unallocated or free space just next to a target volume.

Here is how you can easily do so:

  • At first, press the Win + X keys together, tap on the “Disk Management“.
  • Make right tap on the empty partition which you can see next to a target volume.
  • Then choose “Delete Volume” >> tap “OK“.

Disk Management

  • You can also right-click a neighbor partition that has enough free space, select “Shrink volume“.
  • Now, you need to state the disk space amount to shrink >> tap on “Shrink” >> “OK” option to confirm.

After that, you have to follow the below steps to increase the drive partition.

How to Increase The Partition Size:

  • Go to Disk Management, make right-tap on a target partition which you need to extend.
  • Choose “Extend Volume” & adjust size which you need to add to a target volume.
  • Tap on “OK” option to confirm.

Extend Volume

Fix 4: Fix Windows 10 Extend Volume Greyed Out On Format Partition

Another method that you can try to solve this issue is to ensure if the drive is of a correct format or not for increasing the size. The format has to be NTFS or RAW format. In case, if a drive category is FAT32, Windows cannot format it.

For this, you have to first know the drive type by following the below steps:

  • Press the Win+R keys at the same time.
  • Next, type the “diskmgmt.msc” >> click “OK“.
  • Once Disk Management gets opened, you’ll get a list of the drives.
  • Now, right-tap on a problematic drive & tap on the “Properties“.
  • Here, you’ll notice a format in a ‘File system’.

extend volume greyed out with unallocated space

Note: If a format is not NTFS or it has FAT32, you can’t increase the portion.

Now, let’s move on to fix extend volume greyed out Windows 11 by formatting a drive in the NTFS format using a Disk Management.

Here is how you can do so and fix new spanned volume greyed out–

  • Open a Disk Management.
  • Make right-tap on a problematic drive & tap on the “Format…

format volume

  • Next, set a File system to the “NTFS” format.
  • In the fourth step, check the box “Perform a quick format”.
  • Tap on “OK” option to proceed.

extend volume greyed out with unallocated space

 

Once you’re done, you can effortlessly extend volume greyed out with unallocated space.

Also Read: Fix “CHKDSK Cannot Open Volume For Direct Access” Error

Fix 5. Covert MBR Disk To GPT

If none of the above fixes had helped you to troubleshoot this problem you can easily convert MBR disk to the GPT to break a limit.

Most of the time, it happens that, if you made the single volume which reaches 2TB volume size then you cannot continue increasing the partition. At the time, the extend volume option is greyed out. And that’s why it is essential to convert MBR disk to the GPT.

Ultimate Solution: Use Partition Recovery Tool To Recover Partition Data

In case, if you ever found that while removing or creating unallocated space on hard drive, if your data gets deleted or lost unintentionally then use Partition Data Recovery Tool. This tool will help you recover the data that have been deleted while creating or removing partition or volume. You can use this tool even you don’t have any technical knowledge.

With the help of this tool, you can:

  • Recover deleted data from all storage devices
  • Recovers deleted/lost/inaccessible photos, videos and audio files of all file formats
  • Also restore RAW image files formats from all camera devices
  • Compatible with Windows as well as Mac OS
  • 100% safe to use, secure and easy to use interface

emidTry Photo Recovery For Windows emidTry Photo Recovery For Mac
* Free version of the program only scans and previews recoverable items.

Here is the step-by-step guide that can help you recover deleted USB drive partition data. You can try all these three steps one by one to use this fully-featured partition data recovery tool.

Frequently Asked Questions:

How Can I Extend C Drive Space Without Formatting Windows 10?

When there’s unallocated space for C drive, then you can increase the space of your C drive by using Windows Disk Management. Follow the below steps to extend c drive space without formatting on Windows 10:

  • Go to start menu >> type compmgmt.MSc in a search box >> hit Enter.
  • Find the Storage option >> choose Disk Management.
  • Now, make right-click on a partition that you need to extend >> select the ‘Extend Volume’ option to continue.
  • Then, set & add more size in order to target the partition >> click ‘Next’ option to continue.
  • Finally, tap on the ‘Finish’ button to finish the process.

Why Extend Volume Is Greyed Out Even With Unallocated Space?

The extend volume is greyed out even with unallocated space due to one of the following reasons:

  • A target partition isn’t NTFS file system
  • The free or unallocated space is far away from a volume that you need to expand.
  • There’s no unallocated space next to the one that you need to expand
  • The disk might be MBR, not the GPT.

How Do I Fix Extend Volume Greyed Out In Windows 11?

In order to fix extend volume greyed out Windows 11, try the below tricks:

  • Create The Unallocated Volume Using Disk Management
  • Convert MBR Disk To GPT
  • Delete A Recovery Partition

Does Extend Volume Delete Data?

No, resizing the partition don't delete data saved within it. Thus, it only extending & shrinking the partitions.

Final Verdict

If you get extend volume option is greyed out error and looking for the best ways to fix it then this blog is very helpful. I have tried my best to provide you all the solutions that can be done to fix extend volume is greyed out issue.

Also, if you lost data from storage devices then you can try Partition Data Recovery Tool to recover deleted data from storage devices. It happens that you may lose data while your delete or create partition or volume, you may lose data at any time unknowingly.

I hope this blog will be very helpful for you to fix Windows new simple volume greyed out issue in the Windows Disk Management tool.