To open Disk Management in Windows 10, right-click the Start button (or press Windows + X) and select Disk Management. You can also press Windows + R, type diskmgmt.msc, and press Enter.
Applies to: Windows 10. Checked against Microsoft Learn on September 27, 2026.
Disk Management shows every drive in your PC and the partitions on each one. You need an administrator account to use it.
- Right-click Start, or press Windows + X.
- Select Disk Management.
Other ways to open it
- Run box: press Windows + R, type diskmgmt.msc, and select OK.
- Search: select Start, type create and format hard disk partitions, and open it.
- Computer Management: right-click Start, select Computer Management, then Storage > Disk Management.
What you’ll see
The top half lists your volumes, such as C:. The bottom half shows each disk and its partitions.
- Disk 0 is usually the drive Windows is on. Besides C:, it has small EFI System and Recovery partitions. Don’t change or delete those.
- Unallocated space isn’t part of any volume yet, so Windows can’t use it.
- Right-click a volume to Extend, Shrink, Format, or Change Drive Letter and Paths.
Frequently asked questions
How do I set up a new drive?
When you add a drive, Disk Management asks you to initialize it. See how to set up a new SSD in Windows 10.
How do I make C: bigger or split a drive?
See how to extend the C drive in Windows 10 and how to partition a hard drive in Windows 10.
To give a drive a different letter, see how to change a drive letter in Windows 10.
To learn what each partition in Disk Management is, see how to view partitions in Windows 10.
If a USB drive won’t let you save files, see how to remove write protection from a USB drive in Windows 10.
To join two drives into one fast drive, see how to set up RAID 0 in Windows 10 with Storage Spaces.
Microsoft’s guide is Overview of Disk Management. More help is on our Windows Help & Guides page.
Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.
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