Last Updated on October 7, 2026
If you consider yourself a Windows or general PC power user, then you will need to know how to manage your hard drives so you can do things such as install Windows or other operating systems, divide up your drive into multiple volume or partitions, format your drive, clone your drive, install a new drive and even delete volumes or partitions. And if you are the type who likes to build their own computer, it is essential to know how to perform these tasks.
When managing your disks in Windows using the Disk Management tool, you may find that you are unable to delete a volume or partition when right clicking on it because the delete volume option is greyed out or missing altogether. In this article, we will be showing you two ways to delete volumes or partitions that Disk Management can’t remove.
The image below shows Disk 0 with the main Windows system drive (C:) and then Disk 1 is a clone or copy of that drive. The overall goal is to permanently remove all the hidden partitions on Disk 1. It will then be all unallocated space exactly like the 20GB unallocated section at the end of the drive.
If we were to right click on the E drive, we would be able to delete the drive without issues. When trying to do it for the EFI system partition or recovery partition, the Delete Volume option is either greyed out or missing altogether. Windows actively blocks you from deleting these specific system partitions.
Method 1: Using NIUBI Partition Editor
1. Download the Software
The first method we will be using to delete partitions from a hard drive involves using a free app called NIUBI Partition Editor. If you are the type who likes to do things via a GUI (Graphical User Interface), then this might be the perfect method for you. NIUBI comes in two distinct versions for users. You can install the software like a regular program, or you can download the standalone portable version and simply run the executable file directly.
2. Select the Target Partition
If you plan on using the software on a regular basis, you may want to actually install it on your primary drive. To delete a partition using NIUBI, simply right click on the target partition in the app interface. Choose Delete volume from the drop-down context menu.
3. Apply Your Changes
Once you have deleted the volume, you will need to click on the Apply button at the top left to have the changes take effect. If you change your mind, you can click the Undo button or just exit the program entirely without applying the changes. You can also delete multiple partitions at once and then just click the Apply button one time to execute all the changes simultaneously.
You may run into a situation where you have a partition that NIUBI cannot delete so if that happens, you will need to use the command line process outlined in the next method.
Method 2: Using the Windows Diskpart Command
1. Open the Command Prompt
You may run into a rare situation where you have a partition that even NIUBI cannot delete. If that happens, you will need to use the native command line process outlined in this next method. If you are a command line type of person, then you may want to use the Windows Diskpart command to delete any volume or partitions that Disk Management cannot. The process is not too complicated, but you will absolutely need to have an administrator account on the computer to execute these commands. First you will need to open a command prompt, and preferably an administrative command prompt.
2. List Your Active Disks
Then you will need to type diskpart to get to a diskpart prompt. Then you will need to type list disk to show all the hard drives currently installed in your computer. This next step is very important because you will need to match the disk numbers shown here with what Disk Management says. This guarantees you select the correct disk and do not wipe your main operating system.
3. Select the Target Disk
Once you have the correct disk number you can type select disk X where X is the specific disk number you want to remove the partitions from. Now you can type list partition to view all the partitions on the disk you have selected. You will then clearly see all the hidden partitions configured on that specific drive.
4. Delete the Partition
Now you will need to choose which partition or partitions you want to delete for the next step. Once you have these partition numbers you will need to type select partition X where X is the number of the partition you want to remove. Finally, you can type delete partition override to force that partition to be removed immediately.
5. Verify the Unallocated Space
If you need to delete another partition, you will need to select it first by using the select partition command once again with the next partition number. Then type delete partition override again to safely remove that one. Now when we go back to Disk Management after deleting the partitions using either method, you can see the final results. Disk 1 has all of the space available to be used as unallocated space.
If you want to remove all the partitions from a drive in one step, then check out this video.
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