Change Hard Disk Cluster Size

By default, the maximum cluster size for NTFS under Windows NT 4.0 and later versions of Windows is 4KB. Cluster is the smallest unit to save and manage files in the disk in Windows OS. One cluster can only hold one file even if it is only one byte. When you need to save small files, you need to configure a volume with small clusters, which can improve the disk space use ratio. While if you need to save large files, the volume should be appointed with large clusters, which can optimize data read-write speed largely. In common, 512b cluster is the old generation standard, 4k cluster is more common today, 64k cluster size is for big file storage like game, 3D movie, HD photo. You can change cluster size according to the file size for better performance. We can change Hard Disk Cluster Size in Windows 10 in 2 quick and easy ways. We’ll explore this topic under the methods outlined below in this section.

1] Change Hard Disk Cluster Size via File Explorer

To change Hard Disk Cluster Size via File Explorer in Windows 10, do the following:

Press Windows key + E to open File Explorer.Right-click on the partition you want to change cluster size, select Format.Click Allocation Unit Size (Cluster size).Select one cluster size you want to change to from the drop-down.Next, select Quick Format > Start.Click YES on the format warning prompt to continue.

Once the format completes, you have successfully changed the cluster size.

2] Change Hard Disk Cluster Size using DiskPart

To change Hard Disk Cluster Size using DiskPart in Windows 10, do the following:

Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog.In the Run dialog box, type cmd and then press CTRL + SHIFT + ENTER to open Command Prompt in admin/elevated mode.In the command prompt window, type the command below and hit Enter to open the DiskPart utility.

Now, type the following commands one after the other and hit Enter after each line: Replace the hashtag with the number listed for the disk you want to change the cluster size. Replace the hashtag with the number listed for the partition you want to change the cluster size. Replace the placeholder with the actual cluster size you want. Once the format completes, you have successfully changed the cluster size. That’s it!