How to Create More Than 4 Partitions on MBR Disk - Two Efficient Ways

Sherly updated on Sep 23, 2024 to Partition Master | How-to Articles

This article provides two efficient ways for you to create more than 4 partitions on an MBR disk and introduces a professional disk manager to help create more partitions without data loss.

Are you searching for a way to create more than four partitions on an MBR disc? If you already have four primary partitions on your MBR disc, Disk Management will not allow you to create another partition on that disc. In this case, what should you do? You can find answers in this article. First, let's learn more about MBR disks.

Can We Create More Than 4 Partitions on MBR Disk

Yes, you can. But sometimes, you will find New Simple Volume greyed out or receive a warning message "Disk already contains the maximum number of partitions." Why do these errors happen? How many partitions can be created in Windows 10? Continue to read.

MBR (Master Boot Record) disk differs from the GPT disk in the number of partition limits. There is a table to help you distinguish them.

Feature MBR GPT
Partition Limite
  • Four primary partitions
  • One extended partition plus three primary partitions
  • Up to 128 primary partitions

You can see MBR has a severe limitation regarding partition number. If the maximum limit of MBR partitions has been reached, you will get an error. On the other hand, you can own up to 128 partitions on a GPT disk without distinguishing between "primary" and "logical" partitions. Well, if you want to know the further difference between GPT and MBR, the link below can enlighten you.

BR VS GPT | What's the Difference and Which Is Better

MBR and GPT are two popular partitions styles on Windows-based computers. They are standards for the layout of the storage device like an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) or SSD (Solid-State Drive).

Let's come back to today's topic. We know we can create more than four partitions on the MBR disk, but how? You can Convert MBR to GPT to solve this problem. However, if you don't want to change your MBR disk, continue to read. The next part will provide you with two efficient ways to help you create more than four partitions without converting the MBR disk to GPT.

How Do I Create More Than 4 Partitions on MBR Disk

This part list two efficient ways to help you perform this action. You can learn how to create more than four partitions with a Windows built-in tool and a third-party tool, Disk Management, and EaseUS Partition Master Professional

Way 1. Create More Than 4 Partitions via EaseUS Partition Master

Way 2. Create More Than 4 Partitions via Disk Management

If you don't know which one to select, read the table below, and you can conclude that EaseUS Partition Master is a better choice.

Features EaseUS Partition Master Disk Management
Data Loss No Yes
Operation Difficulty Easy Complex
Interface Clear A little clutter

Since Disk Management requires you to delete a primary partition before you create a new one, data loss is inevitable. Do remember to back up your data, or you can use EaseUS Partition Master. It can help you create more than four partitions on the MBR disk without data loss. Let's see how to use it now.

Way 1. Create More Than 4 Partitions via EaseUS Partition Master

EaseUS Partition Master is a professional disk manager for all Windows users. It is easy to use, and you can create more than four partitions on MBR disks as long as you convert a primary partition to a logical partition. It can help you create more partitions without data loss and it supports all Windows versions, including Windows 10/8.1/8/7, Windows Vista, and even Windows XP.

Now, download it and create partitions following the two guides below.

Guide 1. Convert Primary Partition to Logical

Step 1. Download and run EaseUS Partition Master and go to Partition Manager.

Step 2. Right-click the partition you want to convert and click "Advanced", choose the convert option:

  1. 1. Primary to Logical
  2. 2. Logical to Primary

Step 3. Click the "Execute 1 Task" button and then choose "Apply" to begin the conversion. 

0:00 - 0:30 Convert Primary to Logical; 0:31 - 0:50 Convert Logical to Primary.

Then, you can locate the logical partition and create more partitions following the guide below.

Guide 2. Create New Partitions

Step 1. Launch EaseUS Partition Master. On the main window, right-click on the unallocated space on your hard drive or external storage device and select "Create".

Step 2. Adjust the partition size, file system (Choose the file system based on your need), label, etc. for the new partition and click "OK" to continue.

Step 3. Click on the "Execute 1 Task(s)" button and create a new partition by clicking "Apply".

Watch the following video tutorial and learn how to create a partition in NTFS, FAT, or EXT file system.

After this process, you have created the partitions you want with EaseUS Partition Master. Now, let's see what else this tool can help.

Other features of EaseUS Partition Master

  • Extend MBR partition
  • Rebuild MBR or repair it
  • Initialize disk to MBR or GPT
  • Set partition style as MBR or GPT
  • Convert MBR to GPT for Windows 11

Hence, download this utility to try. You are sure to like the nice helper.

Way 2. Create More Than 4 Partitions via Disk Management

What is Disk Management? This is also a good disk manager built-in Windows, but it doesn't allow you to determine whether the disk is MBR or GPT. However, you can also create more than four partitions using it, but you need to delete a primary partition to create more logical partitions if you have had four primary partitions on your MBR disk. Please back up your data in advance.

Well, now, follow this guide and use Disk Management to try.

Step 1. Right-click the "Start" icon and then select Disk Management.

Step 2. Locate and right-click the partition that you're going to delete. Then, select "Delete Volume." 

Step 3. Click "Yes" to confirm your deletion.

Step 4. Then, you will see that the deleted partition becomes an unallocated space. Just right-click the unallocated space and select "New Simple Volume."

Step 5. Then, choose the proper partition size in the New Simple Volume Wizard. 

Notice:
The new volume size must be smaller than the unallocated space if you wanna create more than four partitions.

Step 6. Assign the drive letter and then click "Next."

Step 7. Choose the proper file system in the format partition section.

Step 8. Click the "Finish" option to end the process.

You can create more partitions with Disk Management by repeating this process. By the way, if you are an experienced user with computer knowledge, you can also use Diskpart commands to create partitions and there is a link to help you.

How to Create Volume/Partition Using Diskpart? [Full Guide]

This page covers multiple Diskpart commands, you can apply to create partitions and volumes using Diskpart as shown here.

Conclusion

We just learned about using Disk Management to delete a partition first and then create a new one. However, instead of using this complicated method that results in the loss of all data on the deleted primary partition, it is better to use free partition management software, EaseUS Partition Master. It can help you convert the primary partition to a logical one with simple clicks, and then, you can create more than four partitions in Windows 10.

FAQs About How to Create More Than 4 Partitions

Do you know how to create more than four partitions now? This part lists three other questions and if you are interested, read on.

1. Can MBR have more than four partitions?

Sure, although MBR disks have primary partition number limitations, you can create as many logical partitions as the disk can hold.

2. How do I make more than four primary partitions?

You can convert your MBR to GPT. GPT disks allow you to make or create more than four primary partitions. And you can create up to 128 primary partitions in a GPT disk.

3. Why are there only four primary partitions?

This is because of the limitation of the MBR disk. MBR disks only allow you to have four primary partitions. Besides, you can choose to create three primary partitions plus an extended partition on the MBR disk. You can convert your MBR disk to a GPT disk to break this limitation.