Unallocated Partition Recovery: Deal with Unallocated space

Check out this article and learn how to perform unallocated partition recovery by recovering or merging the unallocated partition/space.

By @Lora Last Updated September 13, 2024

How do I fix an unallocated hard drive partition?

Partitions are some logical parts divided and allocated by the partition editor on the disk. Different files and data are stored in these allocated partitions. Users can manage different data and files through the partition.

But if due to certain reasons, e.g., you have accidentally deleted a partition, and then your partition was marked with “Unallocated”, which means that this part of space is not allocated to any volume, and no data can be written in this unallocated space.

You are not the only one. Many users are being bothered by this issue.

   
   
   
       

How exactly do I recover a now unallocated partition?

       

I'm really confused on how to recover a drive that lost all partition data and went from working fine to "Not initialized" and the whole drive being unallocated. I have no idea what caused my drive to do this, it's relatively new and even had a warranty on it, I believe.

       

- Question from Cgsecurity.org

   

If you are wondering how to remove unallocated partitions as well, this guide will be of some help to you.

To figure out how to achieve so, it would be better to learn where these unallocated partitions come from and how they are generated first.

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Why do I have unallocated space?

It can be said affirmatively that the deletion operation will cause unallocated volume. But to be honest, a good deal of reasons can lead to unallocated partition. Check them as follows.

 Deletion operation. After deleting a partition, it won’t be shown in the Windows File Explorer; what’s more, in Disk Management, it will be marked as “Unallocated”.

Unexpected shutdown. An unexpected shutdown is not only likely to cause your device to malfunction, but if there is a power outage while your device is being repartitioned or resized, it is likely to cause partition loss, thus causing unallocated space.

Partition Table corruption. Partition Table records the partitions' starting and ending positions, sizes, and other information. Once the partition table error occurs, the partitions are very likely to be lost, which will cause the partitions to become unallocated.

 Virus Infection. Viruses and malware will cause damage to your file system, partition table, or some other essential features and tools of your device, leading to partition loss and unallocated partition.

 Damaged storage device. Take a USB flash drive as an example; if you unplug the USB flash drive while it is writing data, it may cause physical damage or damage to the file system, leading to unallocated volume.

How to perform unallocated partition recovery?

To remove unallocated partitions, there are three ways feasible. First, you could recover the deleted partition to bring everything back to normal; second, you could merge unallocated space Windows 10; third, create a new partition on it.

Method 1. Recover unallocated partition with AOMEI Partition Assistant

Firstly, let’s figure out how to recover deleted partitions from hard drives efficiently. The partitions removed due to human error will be difficult to bring back only by themselves.

In this case, it will be easier and more efficient to utilize a professional partition recovery tool – the trusty AOMEI Partition Recovery software. As a professional software, it facilitates users to manage partitions with ease.

Users could restore lost partitions within 3 simple steps quickly and easily. 
While partition recovery, all data in it will be intact as long as no data overwriting occurs.  
It restores partitions from external hard drive/internal ones: HDD/SSD/USB flash drive/SD card, etc.  
It supports partition recovery from all Windows operating systems: Windows 11/10/8/7/XP/Vista. 

Install and launch AOMEI Partition Assistant on your PC to perform unallocated partition recovery in a breeze. You can use it for a free trial.

Download Demo Win 11/10/8.1/8/7/XP
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Tips: After deleting the partition, please try not to use the hard disk for read and write operations so as not to overwrite the stored data in the unallocated space, which may never recover the data.
 

Step 1. Get to Wizards on the left side of the window > click Partition Recovery Wizard > select your deleted partition that needs to be recovered > click Next to go to the next step.

Step 2. Two search modes are prepared for you to adopt. Generally speaking, it’s highly recommended you try Fast Search first to save time; if that does not work efficiently, try Full Search > click Next to start scanning.

Step 3.Then all the lost partitions will be shown in the list box > select the one you want to recover > click Proceed.

When finished, a notice of congratulation will pop up, marking that you have successfully performed unallocated partition recovery. This powerful utility scans the hard disk for deleted partitions efficiently, which is reliable.

Method 2. Merge unallocated space Windows 10

If there isn’t essential data in the unallocated partition, you might as well merge the space into other partitions to make full use of it.

Here are two choices you can adopt: use the embedded trusty tool Disk Management or also try a much easier and safer way, taking advantage of AOMEI Partition Assistant.

Use Disk Management
Notes:✎...
The system retention partition and partitions on different hard drives cannot be merged. 
You can only apply this feature when the unallocated partition is adjacent to the target partition. 

If the Extend Volume greyed out, maybe you should launch this tool via Computer Management and choose Run as administrator. Then go to Disk Management.

Step 1. Start Disk Management with the shortcut Win+R and input diskmgmt.msc.

Step 2. Choose the partition you want to extend > right-click on it > select Extend Volume.

Step 3. A welcome notice of Extend Volume Wizard will show up > click Next.

Step 4. Select disks and specify the space you want to extend > then click next > finish.

Then the unallocated volume will be successfully merged into another partition.

Use AOMEI Partition Assistant

Instead of using the labor-consuming Extend Volume Wizard tool, users might as well try another more efficient way.

Step 1: Locate the target partition you want to extend its volume > right-click on it > select Merge Partitions.

Step 2. Select the unallocated partition  > click OK.

Step 3. Click Apply in the upper-left corner to confirm.

Then you could easily merge unallocated space Windows 10.

Method 3. Create a new partition

Also, if the unallocated space is big enough, you could create a new volume from it. Also, the two feasible tools are available for this.

Notes:✎...
When using Disk Management to create a new volume, Perform a quick format enables you to create a new file table without completely erasing the contents of your hard drive, and we recommend ticking this option. 
Windows allows users to create a certain limit on the size of the partition, the minimum is 8 MB, and the maximum depends on the size of the unallocated volume on your hard disk.
Use Disk Management

Step 1. Right-click the Start button, then click Disk Management in the list.

Step 2. Locate the unallocated partition and right-click on it > select New Simple Volume.

Step 3. Then you will receive a welcome notice of New Simple Volume Wizard > click Next.

Step 4. Fill in the Simple Volume Size you prefer > click Next to continue.

Step 5. Assign a drive letter and path to this new partition > click Next to go on.

Step 6. To store data on the new partition, you need to format it first. Give a name to the new partition on the Volume label > tick Perform a quick format.

Then a new volume will be successfully created.

Use AOMEI Partition Assistant

Using this tool, you could “remove unallocated partition” in only 3 steps by creating new partitions from it.

Step 1. Locate your deleted partition and right-click on it > select Create Partition in the list.

Step 2. You can decide the size of the new partition by dragging the knob left or right. Assigning the drive letter is practicable as well.

Step 3. Then click Apply in the upper-left corner of this window to confirm your operation.

By utilizing this professional program, a new partition will be created safely and efficiently.

Summary

This guide gathers feasible solutions to perform unallocated partition recovery. Users could recover deleted the deleted partition from the hard drive, merge unallocated space, and also create a new partition.

Except for the useful tool Disk Management, the efficient partition management software -AOMEI Partition Assistant, helps you out in a breeze.

As an advanced tool, it embeds multiple useful features. To carry out some of the advanced operations you can upgrade it to the AOMEI Partition Assistant Pro version.

The Pro version can also facilitate you dynamically managing disk, like resizing, moving, creating, or formatting; moreover, it enables you to extend a partition to enlarge the NTFS system without a reboot.

What's more, a good Windows data rescue tool - MyRecover can help you out if you need to restore deleted or lost data from hard disks.