I'm trying to dual-boot Windows 11 and Bazzite on a single SSD, so I need to create unallocated space by shrinking my C: partition. Windows Disk Management only allows me to shrink it by about 2.2 GB, even though the drive has roughly 800 GB free.
I've confirmed that Windows is booting in UEFI mode, Secure Boot is enabled, and BitLocker is disabled. I turned off hibernation and Fast Startup with `powercfg /h off`, disabled the page file and System Protection, removed restore points, and restarted several times. I also ran `defrag C: /O` and `defrag C: /X`. Defragmentation reports around 812 GB free, but the largest contiguous free block is only about 8.8 GB. DiskPart's `shrink querymax` still reports a limit of roughly 2 GB, and the defragmentation event logs haven't provided anything useful.
What else can I try to make Windows shrink the partition enough for a Bazzite installation? I'd prefer not to use third-party partitioning software unless necessary.
3 Answers
The cleanest alternative is to back up your data and repartition the SSD during a fresh installation. You could create a Windows partition, a Bazzite partition, and optionally a shared data partition. It’s more work, but it avoids fighting Windows’ shrink limitations and gives both operating systems properly sized space.
If Windows continues to refuse the resize, an offline partitioning tool may be required because it can move files while Windows isn’t running. Back up anything important first, and make sure the resulting unallocated space is large enough for Bazzite rather than trying to install it into a tiny 2 GB area.
The amount of free space shown by Windows isn’t the only factor. Disk Management can’t move certain system files or other immovable data near the end of the partition, so the shrink limit may be much smaller than the total free space. Since you’ve already disabled the usual blockers and restarted, Windows may simply be unable to relocate whatever is still sitting near the end of C:.
I’ve restarted several times and tried disabling the usual system files, but the shrink limit is still only around 2 GB. I’m mainly trying to avoid reinstalling Windows if possible.