Resizing Linux or Windows Partitions Using GParted

GParted is a partitioning tool that is on the Ubuntu install CD. Occasionally, a user will want more space on their Windows or Linux partitions, and GParted is the easiest way to make that happen. Remember that you cannot run GParted from the same disk that you are trying to re-partition.

NOTE: Re-partitioning often involves moving data physically on a disk. This operation, while standard, is not without risk. Make sure you backup all of your partitions before doing this.

Making a new GParted disk

If you do not have a full Ubuntu install USB drive, you can make a new disk to run the software. You cannot just install GParted to the drive you want to partition. You can install a GParted-only disk here and burn the ISO to an appropriate media, disk or bootable USB key.

If you rather you can download Ubuntu 20.04 ISO from https://ubuntu.com/download/desktop. Then use rufus to load the iso image onto a USB drive. Boot the computer using the USB drive. Select “Try Ubuntu” on startup. Gparted comes installed by default on Ubuntu install image.

Using GParted

Start your computer with the GParted disk or USB key in the computer, and press F12 during boot. Boot from the appropriate media, and run GParted Live (Default settings). Use the default keymap, a language you're comfortable with, and use GParted 'automatically'.

Create a New Partition

1. Right click on the blank space or extended partition in which you want to make a new partition.

2. Click New.

3. Type the desired size for the partition, or drag the appropriate black arrows.

4. Choose if you're making a primary, extended, or logical partition.

   • On a blank space, you can only do primary or extended. Logical partitions can only be made on extended partitions, which act like 'partition containers'.

5. Select the type of formatting you want the partition to have.

   • Windows usually uses NTFS, while linuxes usually use ext (the current version of which is ext4). If you want a swap partition to be readable by many OSes, use FAT32 or NTFS, as Windows can't read ext disks.

     • Also remember that FAT32 has a maximum file size of 4 GiB, so this may be non-ideal.

6. Click Add.

7. Queue all other operations that you want to do, then click Apply or Edit → Apply All Operations.

Resize a Partition

1. Right click on the partition you want to resize (Windows is usually a large NTFS partition).

2. Click Resize/Move.

3. Type the desired size for the partition, or drag the appropriate black arrows.

   • Note that the partition size is in Mebibytes. 1 MiB = 1048576 Bytes. One nominal gigabyte (technically a gibibyte) is 1024 MiB.

   • Old OSes generally will only run if a partition is aligned to the nearest cylinder. This is an option in GParted if it's important to you.

   • If you resize the partition from the LEFT, it will physically move all of the data that has been written to that partition. Be careful if you indeed are doing this.

4. Click Resize/Move.

5. Queue all other operations that you want to do, then click Apply or Edit → Apply All Operations.

Delete a Partition

1. Right click on the partition you want to delete.

2. Click Delete.

3. Queue all other operations that you want to do, then click Apply or Edit → Apply All Operations.