How to Fix 'Can't Extend Volume' in Windows Server [2024 Guide]

Are you unable to extend volume in the Windows server? Follow the guideline to extend the Windows Server partition.

The Windows Operating system has a built-in option that lets you extend volume if any free or allocated space is available. But if there is no allocated space, this option is greyed out, and you cannot extend volume on your Windows server, causing an influence on your computer performance. It might also significantly reduce the running speed of your computer.

Suppose you are having a similar issue on your disk partition. In that case, this article has some practical solutions available to help you enable volume so you can extend the partition in your Windows without any hassle.

Read the guideline and find the best solutions to enable extended volume in all your hard drive partitions.

Why Am I Not Getting an Extend Volume Option on Windows Server?

There can be many possible reasons that can lead to your extended volume being greyed out. Some of these reasons include:

 1. No adjacent unallocated Space

If there is unallocated space available on the disk but not on the adjacent disk. This factor might cause your extended volume to be greyed out.

2.  FAT32, exFAT, EXT partitions are not supported by Disk Management

If your partition has available space available, but they are not NTFS or RAW formatted, you may not get the option to extend your volume. As Windows server volume does not support FAT32, exFAT, or EXT partitions.

3. No unallocated space on your drive

If you do not have unallocated space available on the same partition you are trying to extend. Then you may experience issues extending volume to the blank space.

4. The partition capacity has reached the 2TB limit on the MBR disk.

If your disk space is already full and has reached its total capacity, you may face issues while extending your volume on your Windows server. (This can be one of the primary reasons for your issues with the extending volume on your Windows server).

Extend a Windows Server Partition? Download A Tool

If you are facing issues while extending your volume to unallocated space, you can switch to a professional and free-to-use partition manager named EaseUS Partition Master.

To successfully overcome your extended volume errors and successfully increase your partition size. EaseUS Partition Master is the safest tool. This tool has a user-friendly interface, making it easier and time-saving for the users.

You can free download this tool and enjoy some amazing features such as:

• Clone/copy your disks without the fear of data loss.
• With just a click, you can transfer Windows to a new SSD.
• Easily lets you combine or extend your partitions.
•  It has a special resize or allocate feature that lets you effectively extend volume.

This tool is specifically designed for delivering the best disk management on Windows servers. Below listed are some methods that can benefit you in resolving your extended volume issues.

Method 1. Fix Can't Extend Volume on Server without Adjacent Unallocated Space

If your hard drive does not have enough unallocated space, you cannot extend your volume. To easily extend partitions with non-adjacent unallocated space, you can use EaseUS Partition Master to extend your partition.

You can flexibly free up space with EaseUS Partition Master by dragging partitions. It allocates the space correctly.

Step 1. Locate the Target Partition.

Go to Partition Manager, locate the target partition and select "Resize/Move".

Step 2. Extend the Target Partition.

Drag the partition panel rightward or leftward to add the unallocated space into your current partition, or you can click click "fill in all unallocated" to allocate all space to the target partition. Then, click "OK" to confirm.

Extra Option: Get Space from Another Drive

If there is not enough unallocated space on your disk, right-click on a big partition with enough free space, select "Allocate space".

Then select the target partition that you want to extend at the allocate space to column.

Step 3. Execute Operations to Extend Partition.

Drag the dots of the target partition into the unallocated space and click "OK".

Then Click the "Execute Task" button and click "Apply" to keep all the changes. 

Method 2. Convert FAT32 to NTFS Format Without Data Loss

Windows has a specific limitation for the FAT32, exFAT, or EXT Format. In these formats, disk management will not allow you to extend the volume. 

EaseUS Partition Master does not have such a limit. It enables you to convert FAT to NTFS. It provides its users with two options to fix this issue:

1. Extend your any other formatted partition using EaseUS Partition Master.
2. Extend disk partition in disk management by converting your FAT32 format to NTFS.

You can directly choose Method 1 for partition extending or apply the partition converter in method 2.

First, Convert FAT32 to NTFS

Step 1. Install and launch EaseUS Partition Master on your computer.

Step 2. Go to the Disk Converter tab, select "FAT => NTFS" and click "Next."

Step 3. Select the partition that you want to convert to NTFS and then click on "Convert." (Tick the "Show More" option in the panel's upper right corner to display the hidden partitions.)

Step 4. Wait until the operation process is finished.

Next, Extend Partition in Disk Management

You can move to Method 3 and learn the detailed steps to extend the partition using Disk Management.

Method 3. Fix "No Unallocated Space on Your Drive"

If you do not have any unallocated space available on your drive you can manually make the space. Next to the target disk, select the disk you want to make space for. You can either delete or shrink the partitions. it will create some space for allocation. 

You can fix the No Unallocated space on your device either by shrinking the partition and after that, you can extend volume. The steps are listed below: 

Step 1. In the search tab, type diskmgmt.msc to open Disk Management. 

Step 2. Select the disk you want to shrink. Right-click and select shrink volume.

Step 3. Here you will enter the size of of the unallocated space. 

It will correctly allocate the space. 

Step 4. Here you will select the disk you want to extend volume. To extend the size that you want to extend on your target volume, select "extend volume". Add unallocated space to the volume, click on "Next" to confirm. 

Step 6. Click "Finish" to complete expanding partition on the Windows Server computer.

Now, you've fixed the 'can't extend volume' error successfully.

Method 4. Fix "MBR 2TB Partition" Limit

If you are facing issues with the size of partition and file system type, such as your partition size is 2TB, and it is in MBR format (MBR is an old Windows format that has a maximum space of 2TB), then it will only show the first 2TB of your file.

We will not suggest you use Disk Management because it requires deleting partitions to convert a disk. So, to save your partitions and extend their space, you can run the "Convert MBR to GPT" feature of EaseUS Partition Master. This feature will easily convert your MBR format to GPT without causing you any loss of your data.

Video Tutorial: 2 Best Ways to Fix "Can't Extend Volume" Issue on Servers

In this video, we collected two best ways that help you easily fix the 'can't extend volume' error on Windows Servers. Here are the details:

To Conclude

When you cannot extend partitions in your Windows server, try finding out the reasons for your disk partition structure. Once you find the reason, you can follow any of the methods listed above to extend your partition.

EaseUS Partition Master is a professional and reliable tool with convenient yearly and lifetime packages. This third-party software provides its user with more than one sure-fire solution to help them get rid of the "cannot extend volume on Windows Server" issue.

Additionally, you can also extend your non-system and system partitions without rebooting your computer with this tool. Also, this software provides exceptional features and functions like safe conversions of your file formats from FAT32 to NTFS format. Along with this, it also lets you convert your MBR files to GPT without deleting partitions.