Cloned Hard Drive Shows Wrong Size - Quick Fix Once For All

🌟 Video Guide: How to Fix Cloned SSD Not Showing Full Capacity

Why is my clone showing the wrong size?

When upgrading to a larger hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD) by cloning your old drive, you might notice that the new drive doesn't show its full storage capacity. This happens because cloning tools copy both the data and the partition sizes exactly as they are on the original drive. As a result, if your new drive is bigger, the extra space often remains unallocated.

The reason behind this issue is that when you clone a hard drive, not only the data but also the partition size gets duplicated. Consequently, if the cloned drive is larger than the original one, many cloning programs will leave the additional space unallocated. As a result, the HDD/SSD may incorrectly display its capacity.

In Windows File Explorer, this unallocated space remains hidden from view, leading some users to believe that they have lost disk space after the hard drive cloning process. However, you can resolve this by accessing Disk Management, where you can check for any unallocated space on your cloned hard drive.

How to fix cloned hard drive shows the wrong size

There are two alternative solutions to resolve the issue of HDD/SSD showing the wrong capacity. After completing the hard drive cloning process, you can access Disk Management to manage the unallocated space.

Alternatively, if you want a comprehensive and swift fix, you can use specialized cloning software that enables you to clone to a larger drive without experiencing any loss of disk capacity.

👉 1. How to use the full capacity of a cloned hard drive
👉 2. How to avoid cloned hard drive showing the wrong size

1. How to use the full capacity of cloned hard drive

Expanding partitions after cloning in Windows 11/10/8/7 can be achieved by adding the unallocated space on the cloned hard drive into the contiguous partition. Follow the steps below to perform this task using Disk Management:

1. Press the Windows + R key to open the Run window. Type “diskmgmt.msc” and press Enter to open Disk Management in Windows 11/10/8/7.

2. In Disk Management, right-click on the partition before the unallocated space, and select Extend Volume.

3. Follow the Extend Volume Wizard to add unallocated space to this partition.

✍ Tips:
● If the partition and the unallocated space are not contiguous, you may encounter the issue “Extend Volume greyed out”.
● Besides extending volume, you can also use the unallocated space to create one or more new partitions. Just right-click on the unallocated space and select New Simple Volume.

If you find yourself unable to utilize the unallocated space to extend the adjacent partition or create a new partition on your cloned hard drive, it is likely that the hard drive is larger than 2TB and is using the MBR (Master Boot Record) partition style. Unfortunately, on MBR disks, any space beyond the 2TB limit becomes unusable.

Consequently, after cloning, you won't be able to utilize the full capacity of your HDD unless you convert it to the GPT (GUID Partition Table) disk style. However, converting a disk from MBR to GPT using Disk Management entails deleting all existing partitions on the hard drive. 

Alternatively, if you want to avoid encountering the issue of the cloned hard drive not showing its full capacity in the first place, there are preventative measures you can take. Keep reading to learn more about these preventive steps.

2. How to avoid cloned drive shows wrong size

The key to cloning hard drives of different sizes without leaving unallocated space is to choose the proper cloning software. There is specialized hard disk cloning software called AOMEI Backupper Professional that can help you clone a hard drive to a larger one without causing disk capacity loss.

• When cloning to a larger HDD or SSD, AOMEI Backupper offers two ways to handle the partition size. You can either adjust the partitions manually or let the software automatically expand them to fill the new disk space.

• If you're cloning MBR disk to GPT disk larger than 2TB, AOMEI ensures that no disk space is lost beyond 2TB, and the new drive will remain bootable as a GPT disk.

• For SSD upgrades, it also provides an option to align partitions, which enhances performance.

• It will not interrupt your work while cloning because of the volume shadow copy service (VSS) technology.

Download AOMEI Backupper Pro now to have a try.

★ Step-by-step guide to clone to a larger SSD without cloned SSD not showing full capacity issue

AOMEI Backupper provides an intuitive interface, which makes all operations in AOMEI Backupper quite easy. To clone the hard drive to a larger SSD or HDD, you can follow the steps below.

✎ Note: Cloning HDD to SSD will delete everything on the target SSD first and then migrate all the data on the HDD to SSD. Thus, if there is important data on the target SSD, do backup files before cloning, or you will lose them.

1. Connect the target SSD to your computer and make sure it is detected.

2. Install this program on your computer, and open it. Select “Disk Clone” under "Clone" tab.

3. Click on the current drive to select it as the source disk, and click on "Next". Then click on the larger SSD to set it as the destination disk, and click “Next”.

4. In the Operation Summary page, click on “Edit partitions” and then use the following two options to deal with SSD not showing full capacity after clone:

- Add unused space to all partitions: the program will automatically extend all existing partitions with unallocated space.

- Manually adjust partition size: you can click on each partition and drag the sidebar to edit the partition size.

5. Check the option “SSD Alignment”, which is important for keeping the SSD at its best performance. Then click “Start Clone” to execute this operation.

In this way, a cloned hard drive will not show wrong size no matter how larger your destination disk is. It also applies to new hard drive showing wrong size, external hard drive not showing full capacity PS4, etc.

Additionally, you can clone HDD to smaller SSD with the same steps above. If you want to get the best performance from the new SSD, cloning boot drive to NVMe will be a great choice.

💛 Tips on what to do after cloning hard drive to SSD:

1. Boot from the cloned SSD and see if it's bootable.

2. If the cloned SSD is bootable, wipe HDD and use it to store data. Just go to Tools > Disk Wipe.

3. If the cloned SSD is not bootable, you should first check whether it's the first boot option in the BIOS. If not, change it to the first one. For more troubleshooting, please refer to the cloned SSD won't boot guide.

FAQs About Cloned Hard Drives and Wrong Sizes

Q 1: Is it common for a cloned SSD to show the wrong size?

A 1: Yes, cloned SSDs may occasionally show the wrong size due to partition misalignment or unallocated space. This can be particularly common when upgrading to a larger SSD. To resolve this, use a tool like AOMEI Backupper with SSD alignment features or manually extend the partition using Disk Management.

Q 2: How do I recover unallocated space after cloning a hard drive?

A 2: You can recover unallocated space by extending the partition. Use Windows Disk Management, right-click the main partition, and select Extend Volume. Alternatively, partition management software can help merge unallocated space back into the main partition.

Q 3: What cloning software prevents this issue from happening?

A 3: Cloning software like AOMEI Backupper has features that prevent the issue of showing the wrong size after cloning. These tools automatically resize partitions to match the new drive's capacity, ensuring no unallocated space is left unused.

Q: How do I clone a hard drive without losing space?A: To clone a hard drive without losing space, ensure you select a tool that supports partition resizing during the cloning process. AOMEI Backupper, for example, has options like “Sector-by-Sector Clone” and “SSD Alignment” that copy and optimize partitions for the full capacity of the new drive.

Expert Tips for Preventing Cloned Hard Drive Size Issues

1. Use Software with Partition Resizing Capabilities: Always choose cloning software like AOMEI Backupper, which automatically adjusts partition sizes during the cloning process to prevent unallocated space issues.

2. Align SSD Partitions Properly: If you're cloning to an SSD, ensure that your software includes SSD alignment features. This prevents performance degradation and ensures efficient space usage.

3. Check Disk Space After Cloning: Once you’ve cloned your drive, always check Disk Management to ensure that the entire disk capacity is being used. If unallocated space remains, extend the partition immediately.

Conclusion

That’s all for how to fix the cloned hard drive that shows the wrong size problem. You can go to Disk Management to extend a partition or create a partition with unallocated space. Or you can simply clone the hard drive and resize partitions with AOMEI Backupper to avoid the cloned drive not showing a full capacity issue. It also applies to cloning all kinds of SSDs, such as cloning SATA SSD, cloning NVMe SSD, cloning hard drives to WD SSD, cloning PCIe SSD, etc.

Besides the clone feature, AOMEI Backupper has excellent backup and restore features. You can use it to backup the operating system and restore your computer to a normal state when problems occur. Try it now to discover more!