How to Clone Partition

It can be an easy and safe task to clone partitions for data migration, partition re-sizing, moving OS to another drive, or backup & recovery. However, there are still many details to consider and fallacies to avoid for effectiveness maximization. Let's delve in!

Part 1. Clone Partition vs Clone Disk

Partition cloning and disk cloning are used to copy data, but they serve different purposes.

⏩Partition Clone

Partition clone copies a single partition (D:, E:) to another disk, including data, games, files, etc., to another drive. It can be used to clone data disks.

However, a partition clone is unsuitable for OS migration since it can copy the system partition (C:) but cannot clone all necessary OS partitions (EFI/System Reserved + Recovery). This can make your computer unbootable.

⏩Disk Clone

The disk clone copies the entire drive to another drive, including all partitions, boot files, and data.

Clone the disk if you are migrating Windows to a new SSD or HDD. If the source disk you clone contains the operating system, the cloned disk is bootable.

Part 2. Types of Partitions Overview

There are several types of partitions, each serving a specific function. Understanding them is important for overall disk management, OS migration, and troubleshooting.

Part 3. How to Clone Partition

The process of coping partition on Windows can be easy, but make sure you meet the basic requirements before you start.

Stage 1. Check the disk and partition size.

Ensure the target partition or disk has enough space for the copied data. If the target partition is smaller, shrink the source partition or extend the target partition before you clone hard drives with different sizes.

Stage 2. Back up important data.

Cloning will overwrite the target partition. Ensure you back up any important files before using a free backup tool like EaseUS Todo Backup. You can use an external drive or cloud storage to store backups.

Stage 3. Set the correct partition style.

If the partition type (GPT vs MBR) of the source and target partition do not match, boot failures, data corruption, and compatibility issues may occur.

Check if your disk uses GPT or MBR: open "Disk Management", right-click the disk, click "Properties", go to the "Volumes" tab, and locate "Partition style".

If the partition types are inconsistent, convert MBR to GPT or GPT to MBR. (All Windows 11 PCs support GPT only.)

Stage 4. Start cloning partition to another disk.

Download EaseUS Disk Copy and follow the steps to how to clone partition.

1. Download, install and run EaseUS Disk Copy on your PC.

Click Partition Mode and select the source partitions that you want to copy or clone. Click Next to continue.

2. Select the target partition where you want to clone/copy the source partition to and click Next to continue.

Check and edit the partition layout: Autofit the disk, Copy as the source or Edit disk layout.
Autofit the disk is recommended.

• Copy as the source option will copy/clone the same layout of partitions from your source disk to the destination disk.
• Edit disk layout allows you to manually resize or move partition layout on the destination disk.

3. Click OK if the program asks to erase data on the destination partition.

Click "Proceed" to start the partition cloning or partition copying process now.

Part 4. What to Do After Partition Copy

Once you've copied a partition, follow these important post-cloning steps to ensure the partition works properly, avoid conflicts, and make necessary adjustments.