When the C drive is getting full in a Windows 2012 server, nobody likes to start over. It is ideal to add more space to the C drive without losing programs and data. However, there is a potential data loss risk while resizing a server partition, so you had better back up first and run a reliable partition tool. This article provides detailed steps to add space to the C drive in Windows Server 2012 R2 with built-in Disk Management and the safest partition software.
Add Disk Space to the C Drive Without Software
Windows Server 2012 Disk Management has "Shrink Volume" and "Extend Volume" functions to change partition sizes without losing data in most cases. Many server administrators try to shrink D and extend the C drive but fail, because "Extend Volume" is grayed out.
As you can see in the screenshot, there is 18.96GB of Unallocated space after shrinking drive D, but Extend Volume is disabled for both the C: and E: drives.
This is because:
- Unallocated space can only be made on the right side while shrinking a partition via the "Shrink Volume" function in Disk Management.
- Extend Volume can only combine Unallocated space into the adjacent partition on the left.
After shrinking the D drive, the C drive is nonadjacent, and E: is on the right of the Unallocated space, so Extend Volume does not work for them.
If you do not want to use any software, the only way to add disk space to the C drive is by deleting the adjacent partition D.
How to add more space to the C drive in Windows Server 2012 R2 via Disk Management:
- Back up or transfer all files in the right contiguous partition (D:).
- Press the Windows and X keys together on the keyboard, and click Disk Management from the list.
- Right-click drive D: and select "Delete Volume". (Do not do this if you installed programs or any Windows services on it.)
- Right-click the system C: drive and select "Extend Volume".
- Simply click the "Next" button until "Finish" in the pop-up dialog box.
If the right adjacent partition is Logical, you still cannot extend the C drive after deleting D.
Add Space to the C Drive from D (Adjacent Volume)
There is much server partition software on the market, but few are safe enough. Some unreliable software could cause system damage and data loss. If this happens, you have to start from scratch or waste a long time restoring everything.
Better than other tools, NIUBI Partition Editor has powerful technologies to protect your system and data.
- Virtual Mode - All operations will be listed as pending for preview; real disk partitions will not be changed until you click "Apply" to confirm.
- Cancel-at-Will - If you applied the wrong operations, you can cancel the ongoing operations without damaging partitions.
- 1-Second Rollback - If it detects an error while repartitioning a hard drive, it automatically reverts the server to its original status in a flash.
- Hot Clone - Clone a disk partition as a backup without server interruption; you can boot from the cloned disk immediately if the system disk goes wrong.
It is 30% to 300% faster because of its advanced file-moving algorithm. This is very helpful for saving time.
Download NIUBI Partition Editor, and you will see all disks with their partition structures on the right. Available operations are listed on the left and can be accessed by right-clicking.
How to add space to the C drive from D on Windows Server 2012 (R2):
- Right-click the D: drive and select "Resize/Move Volume". Drag the left border rightward in the pop-up window, or enter an amount in the "Unallocated space before" box. Then, a portion of the free space will be converted to Unallocated on the left.
![Shrink D]()
- Right-click the C: drive and select "Resize/Move Volume" again. Drag the right border rightward to combine this Unallocated space.
![Extend C]()
- Click Apply on the top left to execute, and you are done. (All operations before this step only work in virtual mode.)
![C drive extended]()
Add Free Space to the C Drive from a Nonadjacent Partition
If there is not enough free space in the adjacent drive D, you can shrink E or another nonadjacent partition on the same disk. In that case, there is an additional step to move partition D to the right.
- Right-click drive E: and follow Step 1 above to make Unallocated space on the left side.
- Right-click drive D: and select "Resize/Move Volume". Drag the middle of it rightward in the pop-up window. Then, the D drive will be moved to the right, and the Unallocated space will be moved to the left at the same time.
![Move partition D]()
- Right-click the C: drive and follow Step 2 above to add the Unallocated space to the C drive.
How to add space to the C drive in Server 2012 R2:
If there is no available free space in other volumes on the same disk, no software can add space to the C drive from another separate disk. In that case, follow the steps to copy the disk to a larger one and add the extra disk space to the C drive.
Increase C Drive Space in VMware/Hyper-V
If you run Windows Server 2012 as a guest virtual machine in VMware or Hyper-V, first check if you can shrink any data volume to get Unallocated space on the same virtual disk. If yes, there is no difference.
If there is no available free space, you can increase the disk size without copying it to another one. Follow the guides below:
After expanding the disk, the additional disk space will be shown as Unallocated at the end of the original virtual disk. Follow the method in the video above to combine the Unallocated space into the C drive.
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