• Most of us install the Windows OS as well as all software in the C drive.
• All these files can fill up the storage space in the C drive and give rise to multiple Windows 11 issues.
• To fix this, you can follow this guide and easily clear out the C drive space.

There is one disk drive in our PCs that is specifically meant for all the Windows OS-related installations. This drive is most often the C drive.

If you have also installed the latest Windows 11 operating system on the C drive of your PC, then all of the system updates, most probably all the software that you install, will store all of its files in the C drive.

So, keeping this drive free of junk files and having enough storage space in the C drive becomes pretty crucial as the more space this drive has, the more smoothly your Windows 11 OS will work.

But there is a limit to how much space you can increase on a disk drive and how many files you can delete.

In such a case, the option to extend the C drive in Windows 11 could come handy. Extending a drive is an in-built option that Microsoft provides its users with Windows OS that lets you extend the storage space in an already created disk drive.

For instance, if you wish to extend the C drive storage by 10 GB, then using the drive extension process, you could easily add more space to the specific drive.

This is exactly what we are going to discuss in this guide. Here, we will show you the different methods that you can use to extend the C drive in your Windows 11 PC.

Why is the C drive in my Windows 11 PC filling up?

Windows 11, although new, does bring over all the different computing issues that users of Windows 10 have faced in the past.

Some issues are general and easily fixable, while some are pretty tough to resolve. The problem of the C drive getting full is not new and has been an issue that has several reasons behind it.

We have listed down some of the most common reasons why the C drive in your Windows 11 PC is getting full:

• You have recently upgraded your PC from Windows 10 to Windows 11, then old system files are still present on your PC.
• The Windows 11 PC is infected with a virus or malware that is generating unnecessary files and filling up the storage.
• Windows 11 update files also clog up the storage space.
• If you haven’t cleared the Recycle Bin or the temporary folder in a while, then they can eat up a good chunk of storage space in the drive.
• You have installed too much software in the C drive.
• The Documents folder or the Downloads folders, which are the most common folders where you save all the downloaded files might be eating up the space.

While a better option would be to extend the overall disk capacity of your PC, you can make use of this guide and extend the C drive if you already have ample free storage space available with other disk drives.

How can I extend the C drive in Windows 11?

1. Using Disk Management

Right-click on C drive and select Extend Volume.

Select the number of disks in the Available section and click on Add.

If there is no unallocated space in your Windows 11 PC, then you can follow the steps mentioned below.

Right-click on the drive which has decent free space available, and select Shrink Volume from the list.

Enter the shrinking size in MB, which is the amount of space that you wish to add to the C drive, and hit the Shrink button to confirm.

Select Extend Volume.

Click on the number of disks in the Available section and click on Add.

Using the Disk Management tool, you can easily add extra space to the C drive on your Windows 11 PC, and it is fairly easy to use and understand.

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However, if you still think that the above process is a bit complicated for you, there is a simple tool that you can use, for which you need to check out the next method.

2. Use a specialized software

Right-click on C drive and select Resize/Move Partition.

Tick the box next to Assign free space from partition (*) to (C).

From the drop-down menu select the drive you wish to assign the free space from.

Use the slider to adjust the amount of space you want to add to the C drive.

Right-click on the C drive and select Merge partitions.

Select the unallocated space and hit OK.

Hit the Apply and commit the pending operation.

AOMEI Partition Assistant is one of the most trusted and secure ways of managing certain tasks related to disk management.

You can perform various tasks, such as extending, shrinking, or even merging partitions, in a matter of a few clicks. All this happens without any data loss.

There are other added features, including partition format and partition deletion, as well. So, we suggest that you make use of this tool to resolve your query on how to extend the C drive in Windows 11.

3. Using Command Prompt

What else can you do to resolve the C drive getting a full issue on your Windows 11 PC?

The above-mentioned processes help you extend the C drive in your Windows 11 PC. But what if, even after extending the C drive, it still gets filled up?

It could be because of viruses, malware, or corrupted files. You can check out some additional tips that you can follow to resolve the C drive getting full issue.

➡ Check for viruses and malware

Click on the upward arrow button on the bottom-right taskbar.

Select Windows Security.

Click on Virus & threat protection.

HIt the Quick Scan button and let Windows Security scan your PC for viruses and malware.

You can also select the Scan options button.

Under Scan Options, choose Full scan to deeply scan your PC for viruses or malware.

We made use of the Windows Security Defender to check our Windows 11 PC for viruses or malware since we don’t have any third-party antivirus applications installed on our PC. 

But the above steps would give you an idea that you need to perform a scan to check for any viruses or malware present on your PC.

➡ Run Disk Cleanup

Search for Disk Cleanup and open it.

Tick all the boxes which you wish to delete.

Disk Cleanup is a pretty handy Windows 11 inbuilt tool that lets you easily clear out all the junk present in the C drive of your PC.

The above methods are sufficient enough to resolve your issue of how to extend the C drive in Windows 11.

Let us know in the comments below if there are some other methods that you use to extend the C drive in your Windows 11 PC.

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