How to merge partitions in Windows Server 2012 R2
Originally, after partitions are created, you cannot change partition size in Server 2012. When a partition becomes full or due to other reasons, you have to back up everything, recreate partitions and restore from backup. It may waste a whole day to complete the task. To solve this problem easier and faster, you can merge 2 drives or shrink a partition to another one. To combine partitions in Windows Server 2012, you may use Disk Management or third party software. Because of some shortages, the native Disk Management tool is not the best choice. In this article, I’ll introduce how to merge 2 partitions in Windows Server 2012 (R2) with both tools.
1. Combine partitions with Disk Management
The same with previous version, there’s no “Merge Volume” in Server 2012 Disk Management, but you can achieve indirectly. Note that this method is not suggested. It is used only when your partition layout meet the requirements below.
Requirements to merge Server 2012 partitions with Disk Management:
- These partitions must be on the same disk.
- The target partition must be formatted with NTFS file system, any other types of partitions are not supported.
- The partitions to be combined must be the same Primary or Logical drive.
- Disk Management can only merge a partition to the left contiguous one, for example: merge D to C drive or merge E to D drive. It cannot merge a partition to the right one or merge 2 non-adjacent partitions.
Press Windows + X keys together and click Disk Management, check if your disk partition layout meet all requirements. If yes, follow the steps below. Otherwise, jump to the next section.
How to merge partitions in Server 2012 r2 without any software:
Step 1: Move all files in the adjacent partition (here is E:) to other place. Right click this partition and select “Delete Volume…”.
Step 2: Right click the left contiguous partition (here is C:) and select “Extend Volume…”
Extend Volume Wizard will be launched, click Next to continue.
Step 3: If there is only one available Unallocated space, it will be selected automatically, otherwise, you need to select a disk, click Next to continue.
Step 4: Confirm the operation, click Finish to proceed.
In a short time, original drive E is merged into drive C.
2. Merge partitions with safe partition software
To merge 2 drives in Windows Server 2012 (R2), NIUBI Partition Editor is better choice. Comparing with Disk Management, it has more advantages such as:
- Both partitions can be either NTFS or FAT32.
- Both partitions can be Primary or Logical.
- The target partition could be the left or right one.
- It can move all files to the root folder of another one automatically.
- It can move Unallocated space and merge 2 non adjacent partitions.
Better than other software, NIUBI Partition Editor has unique 1-Second Rollback, Virtual Mode and Cancel-at-well technologies to protect your system and data. It is much faster because of the advanced file-moving algorithm. These abilities are very important to a server.
How to merge partitions in Windows Server 2012 R2 with NIUBI:
- Download the server edition, right click either drive that you want to merge and click “Merge Volume“.
- Select both check-box of the 2 partitions and click OK in the pop-up window.
- Click Apply on top left to take effect.
Better idea than merging Server 2012 partitions
If your aim is to extend C drive or other volume, it is not suggested to merge partitions. You can shrink a large partition to release free space and then add to C drive. In this way, you won’t lose any partition, Operating system, programs and anything else keeps the same with before. Watch the video how to operate.
Besides shrinking, extending and merging partitions in Windows Server 2012/2016/2019/2022/2003/2008, NIUBI Partition Editor helps you do many other disk partition management operations.