How To Resize Or Extend a Partition in Linux/Ubuntu (GUI & Commands)

Regardless of your operating system, you may need to reallocate the space to your existing partitions at any point. The resizing complexity may vary with the running OS. For instance, resizing Linux partitions might be tricky if you aren't tech-savvy.

Part 1. Are Ubuntu and Linux The Same?

To differentiate between Ubuntu & Linux often seems confusing to beginners, as they perceive both operating systems as the same. Contrarily, Ubuntu is a distribution of the Linux operating system. For further demonstration, a distribution can be considered a customized version of Linux OS that comprises a collection of pre-installed packages & applications.

Part 2. Is It Safe To Resize Partition Linux?

Many Linux users who intend to resize the ubuntu partitions are concerned over the security perspective associated with Ubuntu expand partition methods. So, if you're in the same boat, there is no need to worry; resizing Linux partitions can be totally safe by adopting the appropriate resizing strategies. But still, to ensure the safe resizing of the ubuntu partition, you can take a backup of your important before performing any operation. You can use a reliable backup tool like Ubackit to best serve your backup-related needs in this connection.

Part 3. How to Resize a Partition in Linux/Ubuntu with Built-in Tools?

Linux operating system comes with built-in utilities like Fdisk to manage hard drive partitions, which you can launch using GNOME Terminal. Here are the detailed procedures for resizing or expanding your partitions in Linux using these CMD-based tools.

Fdisk

Fdisk is a built-in command-line Linux utility to manage your system partitions, with the ability to resize, delete, create, shrink, or extend Linux partitions. However, the only way to resize a partition using Fdisk is to delete the pre-existing partition and create the new one.

Important Fdisk Commands:

Operational Steps:

Step 1: Unmount the partition using the following command:

# unmount /dev/vda

Step 2: Use the following command to List the available disks in your system:

sudo fdisk -l

Step 3: Use the p command to print the partition table to determine which partition to be deleted.

Step 4: Now enter the d command to delete the partition; also input the number of the partition to be deleted, for example, 2.

Step 5: Create a new partition using the n command after deleting the partition. You can specify your partition size by defining the first and last sector or entering the human-readable size, such as +500M.

Step 6: Enter the n command to keep a swap signature.

Step 7: Now, use the p command to print the partition table to check whether the changes have been made to the partition table.

Step 8: If the changes are correct, use the w command to write all the changes.

Step 9: Mount the partition using the following command:

# mount /dev/vda

Resize2fs

Resize2fs is not a utility but a command to resize the ext2/3/4 file system on your Linux OS. You can extend or shrink your file system, but it demands unmounting of the partition. It is important to note that resize2fs does not resize partitions but only the file systems; to resize (extend or shrink) the partition, employ Fdisk or LVM tools.

Operational Steps:

Step 1: First, unmount the partition using Fdisk to enable partition-related operations; use the following command:

# unmount /dev/vda

Step 2: Use the d command to Delete the existing partition.

Step 3: Create a new partition (Larger if you want to expand the file system, smaller if you want to shrink the file system) using the n command.

Step 4: Enter the fsck (File System Consistency Check) command to check the file system consistency. Fdisk will now start analyzing block numbers, sizes, and directory structures.

Step 5: Now, use the resize2fs command to expand or shrink your file system; enter the number of blocks you want on your partition, for example, 1044192 or 1K blocks.

Step 6: The file system on your partition has been resized; now, remount the partition using the following command:

# mount /dev/vda

Part 4. How To Resize a Partition in Linux/Ubuntu Using GUI Tools

Resizing your partition via GUI tools in Ubuntu is relatively straightforward and safe. For this, you might need some sort of expert assistance. So, We have presented how to use GParted and KDE Partition Manager to shrink or extend your Linux partitions.

Ubuntu Resize Partition Using GParted

GParted is a GUI-based program in Linux operating systems that allows you to manage the hard drive partitions in just a few clicks. You can resize, delete, create, extend, or shrink your system’s partitions conveniently and straightforwardly using GParted.

Operational Steps:

Step 1: Install GParted from Ubuntu Software Centre or using the “sudo apt install gparted” terminal command.

Step 2: Launch GParted from the Dash to access its main interface.

Step 3: If your system has multiple hard drives, select the one from the top right corner at the main window to perform any partition-management operation. (Skip this step if your system has only one drive.)

Step 4: To resize a partition, right-click it and choose the Resize/Move option.

Step 5: In the slider window, drag the slider to adjust your partition size; you can also enter the exact size in numbers in the box given under the slider.

Step 6: Your changes won’t apply immediately; each operation you perform is queued and appears at the bottom of the window.

Step 7: Click the green Tick option to apply all the changes.

Step 8: A window will warn you against data loss; if you have backed up your data, click Apply to make the changes.

Ubuntu Resize Partition Via KDE Partition Manager

KDE Partition Manager is a utility that you can use for Linux extend partition, partition resizing, formatting, deletion, and creation. The interface is user-friendly and interactive as of GParted, supporting various file systems, including NTFS, FAT16/32, exFAT, XFS, JFS, ext2/3/4, and so on. 

Operational Steps:

Step 1: Install KDE Partition Manager by entering the “sudo apt-get install partitionmanager” command in GNOME Terminal and launch to access its interface.

Step 2: Right-click on the partition you intend to resize and click on the Resize/Move option from the dropdown menu.

Step 3: KDE Partition Manager will lead you to the resize wizard with the Partition Slider. You can drag the slider to resize the partition or enter the exact size you want in the Size Box under the slider.

Step 4: All the operations will appear in the form of a list in the main window; click the Apply option at the top to save all the changes you made.

Step 5: KDE will start resizing your partition, which will take some time; after finishing all the operations successfully, click OK and get back to the main interface.

Part 5. What To Do If The Data Get Deleted Mistakenly While Editing a Partition Table?

In the first attempt of the Ubuntu expand partition, you are at risk of mistakenly deleting your data from the targeted partition. So, unfortunately, if you have been sunk in a similar scenario, then this isn't a thing to panic over; rather, you must find a way to restore your deleted data. Therefore, Recoverit Data Recovery is a highly reliable data recovery tool that can recover all your lost data from the Linux operating system with a little effort.

Why we recommended using Recoverit?

Users always rely on a data recovery tool that is considered the best choice. Recoverit is a highly-rated and worldwide recognized tool to efficiently recover unlimited files lost in multiple data loss scenarios. You can conveniently use it on any operating system to meet data recovery needs on all scales.

To recover your lost data on Linux operating system, you need to follow the below-stated instructions:

Video Tutorial on How to Recover Files on Linux?

Operational Steps:

Step 1: Launch the App & select Linux Recovery

Step 2: Connect the Linux system

Fill in the accurate information in the required fields to establish a remote connection, and then click on the Connect button.

The Recoverit will automatically start the scanning process once the connection establishes successfully.

Step 3: Preview & recover your lost files

FAQs

Conclusion

Various Linux users often interrogate how to increase Linux partition size, especially in the Ubuntu distribution. Because resizing a Linux partition is a relatively tough chore. Therefore, to ease out this resizing process, here we have presented a detailed explanation of how you can increase or shrink your ubuntu partition size in different ways.