If you use Storage Spaces, you can delete a storage pool at any time using Control Panel or PowerShell, and in this guide, you will learn how.
On Windows 10, Storage Spaces is a feature that has been around for a long time, and you can use it to protect your data from hardware failure by combining two or more drives into a pool, which you can then use to create spaces (volumes) to store data.
If you have previously created a pool and space and no longer need it, Windows 10 includes at least two ways to delete a pool that removes the spaces and any data on them.
This guide will teach you how to delete a storage pool in Storage Spaces on Windows 10.
Delete Storage Spaces pool on Windows 10
To delete a storage pool from Control Panel on Windows 10, use these steps:
-
Open Control Panel.
-
Click on System and Security.
-
Click the Storage Spaces option.
-
Click the Change settings button.
-
Select and expand the storage pool to delete.
-
Under the Storage spaces section, click the Delete button to remove the space.
-
Click the Delete storage space button.
-
Repeat steps 6 and 7 to remove any remaining space.
-
Click the Delete Pool option.
-
Click the Delete pool button to confirm.
Once you complete the steps, the storage space will be deleted along with the data, the drives will be removed from the pool, and the pool will no longer be available on the device.
Delete Storage Spaces pool from PowerShell
To delete a storage pool from PowerShell, use these steps:
-
Open Start.
-
Search for PowerShell, right-click the top result, and select the Run as administrator option.
-
Type the following command to view the storage pools available on Windows 10 and press Enter:
Get-StoragePool
-
Type the following command to view the virtual disk in the storage pool and press Enter:
$stpool = (Get-StoragePool -FriendlyName "Storage pool") Get-VirtualDisk -StoragePool $stpool
In the command, change “Storage pool” to the name of your pool.
-
Type the following command to remote the virtual disk from the pool and press Enter:
Remove-VirtualDisk -FriendlyName "Storage space"
In the command, change “Storage space” to the name of your space.
-
Press Y and enter to continue.
-
Type the following command to delete the storage pool with PowerShell and press Enter:
Remove-StoragePool -FriendlyName "Storage pool"
-
Press Y and enter to continue.
After you complete the steps, the storage pool will no longer be available on Windows 10.