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How to Extend System Volume

This wikiHow teaches you how to remove a partition from a Windows or Mac computer's hard drive so that your computer can use the whole hard drive at once. You can only do this if you previously went through the steps to create a partition....
Method 1 of 2:

On Windows

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    Open Start
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    . Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen.
    1. You can also press the ⊞ Win key on your computer's keyboard.
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    Type computer management into Start. This will search your computer for the Computer Management program.
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    Click "Computer Management". It's at the top of the Start window. Clicking this opens Computer Management.
    1. You may not be able to access this program if you're not using an administrator account.
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    Click the Disk Management tab. You'll find this in the sidebar on the left side of the Computer Management window.
    1. If you don't see this option, first double-click the Storage tab.
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    Select your hard drive. In the window near the bottom of Computer Management, click your hard drive's box. This box should have the hard drive's letter (e.g., "(C:)") as well as the number of gigabytes (GB) of storage currently available.
    1. You should see your partition to the right of the hard drive box.
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    Click Action. This menu item is in the upper-left side of the Computer Management window. A drop-down menu will appear.
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    Select All Tasks. It's near the bottom of the drop-down menu. Selecting it prompts a pop-out menu.
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    Click Extend Volume…. You'll see this option near the middle of the pop-out menu. A new window will appear.
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    Click Next. It's at the bottom of the new window.
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    Enter an amount to remove, then click Next. Type in a number of megabytes that you want to remove from the partition.
    1. For example, if the partition is 1000 MB, you would type "500" to remove half of the partition.
    2. If you want to remove the whole partition, click Next.
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    Click Finish. This will extend your hard drive's space to include the amount of the partition that you removed.
Method 2 of 2:

On Mac

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    Click Go. This tab should be in your Mac's menu bar at the top of the screen.
    1. If you don't see Go, click the desktop or open a new Finder window to make it appear.
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    Click Utilities. It's at the bottom of the Go drop-down menu.
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    Double-click Disk Utility. This icon resembles a Mac hard drive with a stethoscope on it. Doing so will open the Disk Utility program.
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    Select your hard drive. Click your Mac's hard drive in the upper-left side of the Disk Utility window, just below the "Internal" heading.
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    Click Partition. This tab is at the top of the Disk Utility window.
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    Click -. It's below the pie chart. Doing so won't immediately delete the partition, but it will allow you to make changes to the system drive.
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    Select the system drive partition. Click the piece of the pie chart that represents your Mac's system. It will usually be on the right side.
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    Enter a new size. Click the "Size" field, then type in a new size in gigabytes for your Mac's system drive.
    1. For example: if your Mac's system drive is 250 gigabytes and the partition is 250 gigabytes, typing 400 into the "Size" field will set your Mac's drive size at 400 gigabytes, leaving 100 gigabytes for the resized partition.
  9. How to Extend System Volume Picture 21How to Extend System Volume Picture 21
    Click Apply. This option is in the bottom-right corner of the window. Doing so will begin extending the Mac's system drive and resizing your selected partition.
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    Click Done when prompted. This will complete the extending process. Your Mac's main hard drive partition should now be resized.
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