Sometimes you need to shrink a volume in Windows Server 2012. For example: the C drive occupies all disk space after installing Windows. By shrinking the C drive, you can get unallocated space to create new volumes. Conversely, another typical issue in Windows Server 2012 is that the C drive runs out of space. In this case, you can shrink partition D or other data volumes to increase C drive space. This article introduces how to shrink a volume in Windows Server 2012 R2 without losing data or programs.
Shrink Partition in Server 2012 via Disk Management
The Windows Server 2012 native Disk Management tool has a "Shrink Volume" function, which is able to decrease partition size without rebooting and without losing data in most cases. However, it has two major limitations:
- It can only shrink the partitions that are formatted with NTFS or without file system (RAW).
- It can only shrink a partition towards the left and generate unallocated space on the right side.
How to shrink volume in Windows Server 2012 R2 without software:
Step 1: Press Windows and X on the keyboard, then click Disk Management in the list.
Step 2: Right click an NTFS partition and select "Shrink Volume".
Step 3: Enter an amount of space and click "Shrink" in the pop-up window.
In a short while, this partition will be shrunk. If you don't enter an amount, all available space will be used by default.
Cannot Shrink Server 2012 Volume Beyond Limit with Disk Management
It is easy to shrink an NTFS partition in Server 2012 via Disk Management, but you may encounter issues in some situations. You may notice the message in the Shrink window: "You cannot shrink a volume beyond the point where any unmovable files are located."
- If a Paging file, Hibernation file, or other kinds of unmovable files are located in this partition, Disk Management can only shrink a little space.
- If the partition you want to shrink is FAT32 (or another type), Shrink Volume is disabled.
- Even if you can shrink a partition without issues, you still cannot extend another partition with the unallocated space. Learn why Extend Volume is greyed out in Server 2012 Disk Management.
Note: you'll encounter the same issue if you shrink volume in Server 2012 with the Diskpart command tool.
Shrink Server 2012 Volume with NIUBI Partition Editor
To shrink a volume in Windows Server 2012 R2, NIUBI Partition Editor is much more powerful than Disk Management.
- It supports shrinking and extending NTFS and FAT32 partitions.
- It can generate unallocated space on either the left or right side while shrinking a partition.
- It can move these "unmovable" files, allowing it to shrink a volume to a much smaller size.
- After shrinking a partition to get unallocated space, it can extend another partition on the same disk.
Download this tool, and you will see all disk partitions with their structure and other information in the main window.
You just need to click, drag, and drop on the disk map to shrink, move, or extend partitions.
How to shrink volume in Server 2012 R2 with NIUBI Partition Editor:
Right click any NTFS or FAT32 partition (here is D:) and select "Resize/Move Volume", drag either border towards the other side in the pop-up window.
Option 1: If you drag the left border to the right:
Unallocated space will be generated on the left side of the D drive.
Option 2: If you drag the right border to the left:
Unallocated space will be generated on the right side of the D drive.
How to Shrink and Extend Partition (Video)
After shrinking a partition to get unallocated space, you can create a new volume with either Disk Management or NIUBI Partition Editor. However, if you want to extend another partition with this unallocated space, Disk Management cannot help you.
How to shrink a partition in Windows Server 2012 to extend another volume:
Besides shrinking partitions in Windows Server 2012/2016/2019/2022/2025 and previous Server 2003/2008, NIUBI Partition Editor helps you move, merge, extend, copy, convert, defrag, hide, wipe partitions, optimize file systems, scan for bad sectors, and much more.
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