I have a Windows Server 2022 file server with deduplication enabled on several volumes. I want to remove a 30 TB volume and use its space to extend another one. The volume being removed has about 10 TB of deduplicated data, but I no longer need it and it is backed up elsewhere.
Do I need to unoptimize that data before deleting the volume? I want to make sure the other deduplicated volumes are not affected.
If you are deleting the entire volume and don't need its contents, there is no reason to rehydrate the files just to delete them. Each volume has its own deduplication chunk store, so removing that volume should not remove chunks belonging to the others.
Double-check the volume identity and the backup before deleting anything. Unoptimization is relevant when you want to keep the files on that volume in their ordinary, non-deduplicated form.
The dedupe part and the space expansion are separate questions. Deleting G: may give you unallocated space, but whether F: can use it depends on the partition layout and underlying storage configuration. Check that before assuming the space can be added directly.
Watch out for advice about deleting files versus deleting a whole volume. If you keep the volume and delete its files, deduplication garbage collection is the relevant cleanup process. That is a different operation from removing the entire volume and its chunk store.
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