Written by
Amanda Wong
Summary: If you find all options greyed out in Disk Management when you right-click a partition, you can read this post for workable solutions to fix the issue on Windows 10/11. You can also choose a Disk Management alternative such as iBoysoft DiskGeeker for Windows to manage partitions.
Disk Management is Windows' built-in disk management tool, it displays the disk information and enables you to perform various disk-related tasks. Normally, when you right-click the partition, a menu pops up with options like Open, Explore, Change Drive Letters and Paths, Format, Extend Volume, Shrink Volume, Delete Volumes...
However, quite a lot of Windows users reported that all options are greyed out in Disk Management on Windows 10/11 when they right-click a partition, making Disk Management unusable. If the same situation happens to your Windows computer, read on to learn the solutions.
Why are options greyed out in disk management?
User reports indicate that right-clicking on an external hard disk or a partition on the internal hard drive frequently results in all options being grayed out in the Disk Management problem. Except for the "Help" option, none of the other standard options for the chosen partition are accessible.
The issue may arise for a variety of causes. The primary reason is that the partition or disk is protected. The hard drive itself, corrupted system files, viruses, and even a brief hiccup might also cause the disk management to gray out all drive options.
Help others understand the causes of all options greyed out in Disk Management!
Quick Fix: use an alternative to Disk Management
If you need to deal with the partition or disk immediately, you can switch to Disk Management alternatives like iBoysoft DiskGeeker for Windows when all options are greyed out in Disk Utility, such a third-party disk management tool for Windows can help you manage the disk and partitions on your computer.
iBoysoft DiskGeeker for Windows provides powerful features including Disk Clone, Disk Space Analyzer, BitLocker Drive Encryption & Management, Secure Data Wipe, Disk Speed Test, Partition Resize, and Lost Partition Recovery. If it just satisfies your needs, free download and install it on your device to manage the disk/partitions.
Here's how to use iBoysoft DiskGeeker for Windows:
- Click the download link and install iBoysoft DiskGeekre for Windows.
- To format the disk/partition, choose Secure data wipe and then choose a desired mode.
- Select the disk, partition, or free space you want to erase.
- Confirm the disk, partition, or free space you want to wipe and click Next.
- Select a wiping method and click Next.
- Tap Wipe on the confirmation window to start wiping data.
- Wait for the secure data wipe process to complete.
- If you want to extend/shrink a partition, just click Toolbox > Resize partition.
- Select an NTFS partition you want to resize and click Resize partition.
- Check the partition information.
- Adjust the partition size according to your needs. You can either drag the capacity bar or enter the desired partition size in the table.
- Click Apply to start resizing the partition.
Recommend this Disk Management alternative to others!
How to fix all options are greyed out in Disk Management?
In addition to the Disk Management alternatives, you can also try the following solutions to fix the Disk Management all options greyed out issue on Windows 10/11.
Solution 1. Use DiskPart
When you find that all options are greyed out in Disk Management, you can first consider using DiskPart, a command-line utility in Windows that enables you to manage the disks.
- Press Wthe in + R keys to open the Run dialog box, type diskpart in it, and press Enter. Then click on Yes in the UAC window to confirm it.
- Type the following command to identify certain partitions in which you want to perform tasks such as formatting, extending/shrinking volume, etc.
- Then, copy-paste one of the corresponding commands below and press Enter to run the command.
- Create partition: create partition primary size=Value
- Delete volume: delete volume
- Format partition: format fs=ntfs quick
- Assign drive letter: assign letter=X
- Extend partition: extend size=Value
- Shrink partition: shrink desired=Value
Solution 2. Perform an SFC/DISM Scan
If all options greyed out in Disk Management occur to all drives, then it indicates some crucial system files could be corrupted or damaged, causing the Disk Management not to work. Thus, you can apply the Windows built-in command tool SFC or DISM to check and repair the files.
- Type cmd in the search bar, right-click Command Prompt, select Run as administrator from the context menu, and click Yes.
- Type the command below in the pop-up window and hit Enter, it will scan and repair the corrupted system files automatically. sfc /scannow
- In case the SFC scan fails, you can try the DISM commands. Type the following commands and hit Enter after each one. After that, restart the computer.DISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /ScanhealthDISM.exe /Online /Cleanup-image /Restorehealth
Solution 3. Remove write protection
Your drive cannot be written to or used for any other purpose when it is in write protection. In this situation, you must remove the write protection so that you can use disk management to manage your drives. Here's how:
- Open the DiskPart command tool as the above steps.
- Run the following commands in order and press Enter after each one to remove the write protection:list diskselect disk nattributes disk clear readonly
Solution 4. Use CHKDSK
Perhaps the options greyed out in Disk Utility only appear on certain disks, which could indicate some disk errors. In this case, you can use the chkdsk command to check and repair the disk issues.
- Access the Command Prompt window on your Windows PC.
- Type the following command and press Enter. chkdsk: /f /r /x
- After the process completes, check the options menu in Disk Management.
Solution 5. Scan your computer for virus
A virus or malware infection may be the cause of the Windows Disk Management all options are greyed out problem. Windows provides the Virus & Threat Protection feature, thus, you can apply it to scan viruses on your Windows PC.
- Click the Windows icon from the screen's bottom left corner.
- Select the Update & Security option, and proceed with Windows Security from the left panel of the window.
- Choose the Virus & Threat Protection feature.
- Select Full scan, tap Scan now to start it, and wait for the process to complete.
Solutions 6. Reset your Windows PC
If the problem remains, there will probably be serious system corruption. To get rid of it, you can try to reset your PC. If this doesn't work, you might need to use Windows installation media to repair your computer.
Help others fix all options are greyed out in Disk management!
