We use external hard drives to store data as well as transfer data between computers. Partitioning external hard drives will therefore help you increase disk security to protect your valuable data from damage. Let’s show you how to partition an external drive.

However, before you partition an external drive, you must understand the benefits and how to do so safely. Besides, you can perform disk partition recovery if you lose some data in the process.

You may have just bought a new external drive or have one old one you’ve been using for some time now and feel it’s time to partition it. Whichever the case, partitioning an external hard drive comes with several benefits. You can also learn how to recover partition on Windows by following the link. 

This article will show you the two main methods used to partition disks on Windows 10. First, let’s share with you some of the reasons to partition an external hard drive.

Reasons To Partition An External Hard Drive

External hard drives offer extended storage for various uses. Because these systems can be pretty large, you can use them for storing important files, backup files, and even permanent storage. However, for better data management, you may need to partition the drive before using it. Below are some of the reasons.

• The un-partitioned hard drive will not show the drive letter on your computer. 
• Finding your items is much easier on partitioned hard drives than un-partitioned ones.
• Encrypt files on particular partitions with sensitive data without affecting other files. 

These and many more reasons should therefore push you to partition your external hard drive for optimal performance. If you need to restore lost files from any of your disk partitions, the services of partition recovery software such as Disk Drill by CleverFiles will come in handy for you. Now let’s look at the methods you can use to partition an external hard drive below.

Method 1: Using Windows 10 Disk Management 

Option 1: New un-partitioned external hard drive

Step 1: Begin by connecting the external hard drive you need to partition to your computer. Make sure the disk is recognizable by the system. 

Step 2: Launch Disk Management by right-clicking the start menu and choosing “Disk Management.” 

If you do not use Windows 10, you can still access Disk Management by right-clicking the computer and selecting “Manage.” Select “Disk Management” on the pop-up window on the left pane. 

Step 3: On the available drives, select the external drive you want to partition. Right-click on it and choose “Shrink Volume.” 

Step 4: Enter the size you would like to shrink and tap the shrink button. Please remember that the size you enter in this step uses MBs as the unit. If you need to shrink 10 GB, for instance, you will need to type 1000. 

Step 5: Select “New Simple Volume” on the unallocated disk space, right-click on it and follow the prompts that follow after the “New Simple Volume Wizard” pop. We recommend you follow the suggested settings to complete this process. 

Option 2: Partition Used External Hard Drive 

If your external hard drive has some data and you feel it should be partitioned appropriately to extend or shrink the existing partitions, you can do that by following the steps below. Do not be worried about the data, as you can still recover data from partition disk in case of loss.

Step 1: On your desktop, right-click “This PC” and choose “Manage.” 

Step 2: Right-click on the existing partition and select either “extend volume” or “shrink volume.” 

Errors may, however, occur if you are not using the NTFS partition. This is because Disk Management only extends and shrinks NTFS. Besides, the NTFS must be adjacent to unallocated space. 

Method 2: Using AOMEI Partition Assistant

Do not fret if you can’t get your external hard drive to partition with the Disk Management system. You will be in a position to partition the disk quickly and. Follow the steps below: 

Step 1: Download, install and run AOMEI Partition Assistant to your PC. Right-click on an unallocated or existing partition on the external hard drive and select “Create Partition.”

Step 2: Locate the slider bar appearing in the middle of the partition you have selected. These should appear in the pop-up window. Besides, you can modify the size of the partition or click “Advanced” for more options. Tap “Ok” to continue.

Step 3: Once step 2 completes, the system leads you back to the central console, where you can preview the partition or “Apply” on the main toolbar to commit the operation.   

Conclusion
 

All these methods will help you partition your external hard drive safely without losing your data in the process. However, if you end up losing some data, maybe by accidental deletion, you can still get them back with data recovery software.