A drive is a part of your computer’s memory that stores files and programs. It’s usually the primary storage area for your operating system, but it can also be used for things like storing personal files, like pictures and music.
Windows 10 has built-in tools for partitioning and managing hard drives. These are simple enough, but if you’re looking to do more complicated jobs — such as cloning drives or moving files around — there’s probably a third-party tool that can help.
Create a New Disk Partition
The first step in creating a new drive in Windows is to open the disk management tool. The tool is built into the Windows operating system and can be accessed via different methods. The easiest way to access it is by clicking on the Admin menu, which is known as the WinX menu in Windows 10.
To begin the process of creating a new drive, click on the disk you want to partition and select the ‘Create and format’ option from the disk management menu. You’ll then see a window similar to the one below.
You’ll need to decide the type of drive you want to create: a primary partition, an extended partition, or a logical drive. When you’re done, click Next.
Choose the desired format (for example, NTFS) and name your partition, or leave it blank. The default name is ‘D:’ but you can change it to whatever you want.
Specify the size of your new partition, which is the amount of space you want it to have in MB. This size is not fixed, and you can shrink it later if you need more space.
If the amount you enter is smaller than what is suggested by Windows, this will result in unallocated space that can be used later. This is useful if you plan to move files from the main drive to another one, as it means that the new drive will not take up all of your available storage.
Then, you’ll need to set the drive letter for the new partition. Most people prefer to leave it at ‘D:’, but you can change it later on if you want.
You can change the drive’s name in the ‘Assign the following drive letter’ or ‘Assign the next partition a drive letter’ steps. If you change it, be sure to back up your data before doing so or you could lose all of it.
When you’re finished, the ‘New simple volume’ window will appear. This is where you’ll be able to customize the size of the new drive, the drive letter, and other settings.
This will be a new drive for your PC. When it’s ready, you’ll be able to view it in File Explorer, which is the primary way to find and access all of your drives.
Creating a new drive is a great way to separate your personal data from the main operating system on your PC, but it’s important to make sure you have enough space for it. To check how much free space is available, click on This PC in the sidebar of File Explorer, then check your C: drive’s free space.
