Expand Mac partition to use all disk space

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Expand Mac partition to use all disk space

Hi,

Some time ago I installed Ubuntu in dual-boot with Mavericks on my Macbook, and as I was not using it anymore I erased the corresponding partitions (Ubuntu partition and Linux Swap partition). These partitions became now "invisible" : I do not see them with the disk utility or diskutil, even in the recovery mode. As a consequence I have 30 GB "lost" :

/dev/disk0

#: TYPE NAME SIZE IDENTIFIER

0: GUID_partition_scheme *251.0 GB disk0

1: EFI EFI 209.7 MB disk0s1

2: Apple_HFS Macintosh HD 220.0 GB disk0s2

3: Apple_HFS Recovery HD 650.0 MB disk0s3

What is the best way to expand my "Macintosh HD" partition in order to use the ~ 250 GB ? Should I reformat everything and restart from a backup, or is there a non-destructive way ?

Thanks for your help !

MacBook Pro with Retina display, OS X Mavericks (10.9.5)

Posted on Jul 7, 2015 6:23 AM

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Answer 1

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Jul 7, 2015 9:26 AM in response to typo12

In Disk Utility, try selecting the unused space and then click the minus at the bottom left. Hopefully, you will see //// at the bottom right of the Macintosh HD partition. Click and hold that while dragging it to the bottom.

If you can't do that, would you make a screen shot of Disk Utility so people can see what you are seeing? Make sure you cover any personal information using Preview. Post the screen shot in a Reply using the camera icon or you can drag the screen shot into a reply. Copy and paste doesn't work.

Screen shots

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Answer 2

typo12 Author

Level 1

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Jul 8, 2015 12:05 AM in response to Eric Root

Hi Eric, thank you for your reply. The point is that I do not see the unused space in the disk utility... so the Macintosh HD partition is at its maximum, although il takes only 220 GB (see the screenshot). I assume the unused space is *before* the Macintosh HD partition.

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Answer 3

Eric Root

Level 10

684,039 points

Jul 8, 2015 9:29 AM in response to typo12

Click and hold the ///// at the bottom right and drag downwards.

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Answer 4

typo12 Author

Level 1

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Jul 8, 2015 11:51 AM in response to Eric Root

I can't, I can only go upward (reduce the partition size).

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Answer 5

typo12 Author

Level 1

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Jul 13, 2015 4:40 AM in response to typo12

I solved my problem by booting from a USB key with Mavericks installer, using disk utility to erase all my hard disk, and restore from my Time Machine backup.

My main partition has now 250 GB available.

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