How do I partition a hard drive?

Windows

A hard drive can be partitioned in Windows using Disk Management. To open Disk Management, complete the following:

Windows 8 and 10

1. Right-click the Windows icon.
2. Click Disk Management.

Windows 7

1. Click Start.
2. Right-click Computer.
3. Click Manage.
4. Click Disk Management.

In Disk Management, if the connected hard drive is not yet partitioned, it will show up with solid black bars and the label “Unallocated”. To partition the hard drive, complete the following steps:

1. Right-click the unallocated space and click New Simple Volume (partition).
2. Click Next.
3. Enter Volume Size in MB.

Note: The default size will be the entire capacity of the drive, which is recommended if a single partition will be used.

1. Click Next.
2. Click the desired drive letter to use.

Note: Windows will automatically use the next available letter as default.

1. Click Next.
2. Click Do not format this volume if you are not formatting at this time. Click Format this volume with the following settings if you wish to continue with formatting as well.

Note: Formatting a hard drive will erase all data on the hard drive.  Make sure you have any data backed up before continuing.

Refer to the following FAQ for more information on formatting hard drives: https://www.startech.com/faq/hard_drives_general_format.

Mac OS

To create a partition on a new drive in Mac OS, complete the following:

1. Click Finder.
2. Click Applications
3. Click Utilities.
4. Double-click Disk Utility.
5. Click the new hard drive.
6. Click Partition.
7. Click [+].
8. Under Name, enter a name for the partition.
9. Click the desired format for the hard drive in the Format field.

Note: The most commonly chosen format is Mac OS Extended (Journaled).

1. Enter the size of the partition (in gigabytes) in the Size field.
2. Click Apply.