How to connect partitions on a hard drive. How to merge hard drive partitions

The question of how to combine two disks into one is one of the most frequently asked among computer users. This can be useful in many situations, including even issues related to installing a single file system for all partitions, converting GPT or RAW formats that may not be accepted by the operating system, installing software that requires a lot of disk space, etc. The user can be offered two main methods of combining, which will be discussed further in as much detail as possible. The proposed solutions work equally well when performing such actions with logical partitions and when working with RAID arrays, when two or more independent hard drives are installed on the computer.

Benefits of combining hard drives or partitions

It goes without saying that the first and main factor influencing a positive decision in favor of merging partitions is increasing the available disk space on one disk, which is extremely necessary when installing some programs.

On the other hand, as already mentioned, if disks or partitions have different types file systems, quite often you can observe problems with the installation of certain types of software. Bringing them, so to speak, to a common denominator eliminates the problem entirely. Finally, if the system has unreadable RAW partitions or GPT format for hard drives larger than 2 TB, which the operating system may not perceive, such a tool is simply irreplaceable.

Merging options

Now a few words about how to combine two disks into one in Windows 7 and higher. First, you need to decide exactly how the partitions will be merged. First of all, we can highlight methods of combining with the loss of information or its preservation. The second is the use of standard system tools or third-party software.

It’s worth saying right away that the solution to the question of how to combine two disks into one, using the built-in Windows tools, does not imply the preservation of data that was originally located in one of the partitions (this is not provided at all). Therefore, before doing such things, all information from the partition being deleted (and it will actually be deleted and only then attached to the main disk or partition) must first be transferred to another partition or to removable media. As is already clear, about performance installed programs and there is no need to talk. When solving the problem of how to combine two disks into one, but so that both the information is preserved and the applications work, it is necessary to use additional third-party tools. They will be discussed separately.

How to merge two disks into one in Windows 7 and higher versions using standard means?

First, let's look at own funds systems. This is the disk management section. You can access it through the administration menu, but it’s easier to use the “Run” console, in which you need to enter the line diskmgmt.msc.

Here you select the partition through which you want to merge, and use the RMB menu to call up the volume deletion option. The system will immediately issue a warning that all information on the selected disk will be deleted. We agree.

We repeat a similar operation, but for the section. After this, the so-called unallocated area will appear.

Now you need to use RMB on the partition to which you will attach and select the volume extension line.

At the disk selection stage, most likely, free attachable space will be immediately added to the list. If this does not happen, you should use the add button yourself. After this, click the continue button, and in the next window - finish. If you look at the state of the disks and partitions after the operation is completed, you will see an increase in the space of one of the partitions at the expense of the other.

How to merge two disks into one using third-party programs

To manage disks and partitions, when you need to merge and save data, you can use third-party utilities that look much more powerful than the system’s own tools. These include software packages like Partition Assistant from AOMEI, Disk Director from Acronis, Partition Master from EaseUS and many others.

Let's look at the merging process based on the last mentioned utility. For example, we need to merge drive E and drive F, but so that after that only one partition E remains. In the main window of the Partition Manager section, use the merge button (Merge), check the boxes for the specified disks (partitions) and click the “OK” button. After checking the merge, the process will be in pending status. Click the Apply button and confirm the action. After this, the unification process will begin.

When it finishes, only one partition (E) can be seen in disk management. Explorer will show two hard drives in one hard drive or partition. Only disk F in partition E will be shown as a local directory (Local Disk F) with all the information that was previously present on it.

Brief conclusions

As a summary, it can be noted that if the user requires a quick merge, but there is no critical information on the attached disk or partition, you can use the system's tools. If data storage is mandatory, third-party programs will be needed. And further. Please note that if there is a second section in the joined section operating system it will not be possible to run it on combined disks.

If you have one or more hard drives, and they are divided into several logical sections, then perhaps it makes sense for you to make one or two of them. On one we will have the system, and on the other the remaining files.

So in Windows there is a function that allows you to merge partitions hard drive without installing any programs separately. We will look at how this is done using the Seven as an example. But, I should warn you that all data on the disks that will be used during merging will be deleted.

Let's go to Start and open Control Panel.

Select the view type Small icons and open Administration.

Before you get started, there are a couple of things you need to understand. Firstly, you cannot simply take and combine two hard drive partitions here. To perform this operation, you need to do slightly different steps. Namely!! We need to first delete the sections that we want to merge with others, and then create a new one from them, one and only.

Naturally, all data on the deleted partitions will be lost, so save it to another disk in advance.

By the way, system disk, on which Windows is installed, we naturally do not touch, we can only transfer the necessary data to it.

Merging hard disk partitions

Let's look at all this with an example.

Open on the left Disk management. And now we see our disk, and opposite it all the logical partitions.

To create unallocated space, I delete the partitions I don’t need, in my case it’s the (G:) and (Z:) drive. By pressing right click For the section, select Delete volume.

And at this step we confirm that we are aware of deleting all data on this section by clicking Yes.

The two partitions I deleted - disk (G:) and (Z:) merged together. Now they represent unallocated space (180 Gigabytes), we need to create a new volume of them.

We right-click on free gigabytes and select Create a simple volume.

We follow the volume expansion wizard by simply clicking the “Next” button.

Now we see in front of us the amount of available space that we obtained by deleting other partitions. To create a new disk, we indicate in the lower field the maximum number of available megabytes. In my case it is 184468 MB. Click Next, give it a letter, Next again and Done.

This is a logically separate part of the drive. Partitions are created in order to separate operating system files from user files; in addition, partitions can be created simply for the convenience of the user.

Why is it beneficial to create separate sections:

• You can use different file systems on different partitions, or the same file systems, but with different cluster sizes.
• Operations on one partition do not affect other partitions.
• Partitions allow you to separate operating system files from user files. This allows you to save user files in case of a complete reinstallation of the operating system.
• Thanks to the sections on one HDD You can install more than one operating system.

As you can see, the hard drive brings a lot of benefits. But sometimes situations arise when previously created sections begin to create difficulties. In this case, a completely logical question arises: how to combine hard drive partitions. We will talk about this in this article.

In order to combine hard drive partitions, we need a special program. It is impossible to quickly and efficiently merge partitions using standard Windows tools. In this article we will look at merging sections using an example free program EaseUS Partition Master Free.

So, download and install the EaseUS Partition Master Free program. After launching the program, we will see a window with a list of available programs. To combine hard disk partitions we need “Partition Manager”.

Click on the “Partition Manager” button. After this, a window will open in front of us with a list of disks and partitions. In order to merge hard disk partitions, we need to select one of the partitions that we want to merge and open the context menu (right click). In the context menu that opens, select the “Merge partition” item.

After selecting the partitions to be merged and clicking on the “OK” button, the program will begin the process of preparing for the merge.

After completing this process, the main program window will appear in front of you, in which the sections you have selected will already be combined. But the merging of hard drive partitions is not yet complete. Next we need to click on the “Apply” button on the toolbar.

By clicking on the “Apply” button we will see a warning, click “Yes”.

After this, the program will begin the process of merging the hard drive partitions.

Depending on the size of the partitions and the number of files on them, the merging process can take from several minutes to several hours. When everything is ready, the program will notify you with a pop-up window.

After merging hard disk partitions is completed, the new partition will appear in the “My Computer” window. The volume of the new partition will correspond to the total volume of all combined partitions. Files and folders that were on the partitions will be saved.

In addition to EaseUS Partition Master Free, there are other programs that can be used to merge partitions, but they are mostly paid. For example: Acronis Disk Director, Paragon Hard Disk Manager, Norton Partition Magic, Active@ Partition Manager and others.

Merging two disks, or rather merging two volumes, means the same thing. Information can be recorded on two discs. When combined we get one volume bigger size. Just like dividing a volume, merging can be done using standard Windows tools, or you can install special programs. By using software It will be possible to connect two volumes without losing information.

I already told you... At the request of subscribers, today I will tell you how to do the reverse procedure. Merge several disks into one standard one using windows. No need to use third party programs.

How to merge hard drive partitions

So, let's go to the control panel. Open the Administration applet.

(To enlarge the image, click on it)

Computer management

Disk management

A panel with computer disks will open in front of us


Select the disk we want to expand. Right-click and select expand volume.


The volume expansion wizard will launch, click next. A window will open to select disks that can be used to expand the volume.


You need to select the disk and indicate the size that you want to attach, or if you need to add the entire space, then just click next and you're done.


After completing the wizard, the selected disk will be enlarged to the desired size.

How to combine logical drives

Now let's consider the option when you need to increase the size using an existing logical disk.

ATTENTION! Before this procedure, save the data from this disk! This action is irreversible! All information will be lost!