Partitioning the great SSD that’s installed in your PC is a fairly simple process, and it has various benefits. Having separate partitions allows you to store personal data away from the OS files, so you don’t lose them while reinstalling the operating system, for example. You can also use separate partitions to dual-boot Windows 11 alongside other operating systems, or use them to encrypt sensitive files and data.
The best thing about partitioning an SSD is that you have all the necessary tools built right into Windows, meaning there’s no need to purchase and download an additional tool for it. The entire process, as I previously mentioned, is fairly simple and it only takes a few minutes. If you don’t know how to get started, then here’s a step-by-step guide detailing how to partition an SSD from scratch.
Partitioning an SSD: Prerequisites
You must take care of a few prerequisites before partitioning the SSD to ensure you don’t hit a wall during the process.
Make sure there’s enough space for partitioning
The first thing you need to ensure is there’s enough space on the drive you’re trying to create a new partition for. You won’t be able to create a new partition on a drive that’s almost full. Those partitioning an OS drive must also leave some storage that might be needed for system files. A general rule of thumb is to leave at least an additional 50GB on the OS drive before making sure you have enough storage for whatever it is that you’re trying to create a new partition for.
Create a backup
You must also create a backup of your files and important data in the event something goes wrong during the partitioning process. There are various ways to back up your Windows PC, so drop everything you’re doing and create a backup right now if you haven’t already.
Identify the correct drive to partition
It goes without saying that it’s important to identify and make note of the drive you’re trying to partition. You can skip this if you only have a single drive, but those working with multiple drives must identify and note the correct one. The chances of mistakenly selecting a different drive are pretty high since you might see additional partitions on the disk management screen.
How to partition the SSD
With all the important prerequisites out of the way, let’s see how to partition an SSD.
We’re using a PC running Windows 11 to explain the steps and capture screenshots for this guide, but you can follow the same steps on a Windows 10 PC, too.
- Click on the Start button and type partition.
- Select Create and Format Hard Disk Partitions to see a list of all your drives in the Disk Management tool.
- You may see some additional drives here, but ignore them and locate the drive you want to create a partition for.
- Right-click on it and select Shrink Volume.
- Enter the amount of space to shrink in megabytes (MB). It’s set to shrink as much as possible by default, but you can enter a lower number to free up less space, too.
- You’ll now see a new block of unallocated space. Right-click on it and select New Simple Volume to create a new partition.
- Follow the on-screen instructions to assign your new partition a drive letter and a new label, so you can format it the way you want.
Your PC may take a few seconds to process, but when it’s done, you’ll see your new partition in File Explorer.
Closing thoughts
And that’s how easy it is to create a new partition of your SSD. You can follow the same steps highlighted above to partition your hard disk drives, too. and you can get it done in a few minutes. However, you may run into some issues with the built-in Disk Management tool in Windows, preventing you from creating a partition. If you do hit a wall and are unable to proceed, then consider trying a third-party program. There’s no shortage of options, but I recommend checking out MiniTool Partition Wizard or Paragon Partition Manager, both of which have a free version with enough features to help you set up a new partition.