What does delete all partitions mean?

In Windows, you can delete a volume or partition on a disk, except for a system or boot volume or partition.

When you delete a volume or partition on a disk, it will become unallocated space on the disk. You could then extend another volume/partition on the same disk into this unallocated space to add the unallocated space to the volume/partition.

This tutorial will show you different ways on how to delete a volume or partition on a disk in Windows 10.

You must be signed in as an administrator to delete a volume or partition.

When you delete a volume or partition, all data and configuration information for the volume/partition is also deleted.

• Option One: Delete Volume or Partition on Disk in Disk Management
• Option Two: Delete Volume or Partition on Disk in Command Prompt
• Option Three: Delete Volume or Partition on Disk in PowerShell
• Option Four: Delete Volume or Partition on Disk in Settings

Delete Volume or Partition on Disk in Disk Management

1 Open the Win+X menu, and click/tap on Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc).

2 Right click or press and hold on the partition/volume (ex: "F") you want to delete, and click/tap on Delete Volume. (see screenshot below)

Delete Volume or Partition on Disk in Command Prompt

1 Open an elevated command prompt or command prompt at boot.

2 Type the commands below one at a time into the command prompt, and press Enter after each command. Make note of the volume number (ex: "5") of the drive letter (ex: "F") you want to delete. (see screenshot below)

diskpart

list volume

select volume

Substitute in the top command above with the actual volume number (ex: "5") you want to delete from step 2 above.

For example: select volume 5

delete volume

Delete Volume or Partition on Disk in PowerShell

To see more usage options for the Remove-Partition command, see: Remove-Partition - Microsoft Docs

1 Open an elevated PowerShell.

2 Type the Get-Volume command into the elevated PowerShell, press Enter, and make note of the drive letter (ex: "F") of the partition/volume you want to delete. (see screenshot below)

Remove-Partition -DriveLetter ""

Substitute in the command above with the actual drive letter (ex: "F") you want to delete from step 2 above.

For example: Remove-Partition -DriveLetter "F"

5 The volume/partition will now be deleted, and show as Unallocated space on the disk. You can now close the elevated PowerShell if you like.

Delete Volume or Partition on Disk in Settings

This option is only available starting with Windows 10 build 20197.

1 Open Settings, and click/tap on the System icon.

2 Click/tap on Storage on the left side, and click/tap on the Manage Disks and Volumes link on the right side. (see screenshot below)

What happens if you delete all partitions?

Should you delete partitions?

Does deleting partitions delete data permanently?

What happens if I delete all data and partitions from the hard disk?