How to Move EFI Partition to Another Disk: Full Guide
Looking for a reliable way to move EFI partition to another disk? Scroll down to get a step-by-step guide on moving Windows EFI boot partition to another drive with ease.
Last Updated July 3, 2025
What is EFI Partition?
The EFI System Partition (ESP) is a small but essential component in systems using the UEFI firmware interface. Typically formatted with the FAT32 file system, this partition contains the bootloaders, drivers, and applications that your system needs to start the operating system.
Whatever the reason that you need to move EFI partition to another disk, like upgrading to a new SSD or NVMe drive, separating the OS from data, wiping the old drive, or recreating EFI partition on another drive, it's critical to move it securely to ensure that your operating system boots smoothly. Without the EFI partition or if the EFI system partition is corrupted, your system simply won't boot.
Can an EFI Partition be Moved?
Yes, an EFI partition can be moved. While this partition is not quite large, usually ranging from 100MB to 500MB, it can not be done by simply copying and pasting files. Because it's tied to the system's boot process, special care must be taken to preserve its boot functionality.
How to Move EFI Partition to Another Disk
Moving the EFI partition isn't something you can do with File Explorer. Rather than creating EFI partition and then rebuilding it from scratch, cloning is the easiest, safest, and most reliable method to move EFI system partition to another disk. It makes a 1:1 copy of the original partition and ensures its bootability. Here's a breakdown of how to move EFI system partition to another drive securely.
Part 1. Preparations for Moving EFI System Partition
Before you move EFI partition to another disk, several preparations are necessary to ensure the process goes smoothly and without damaging your current boot configuration.
- Prepare the destination disk: Make sure the target disk is initialized as GPT (not MBR), as UEFI requires a GPT layout. And you will need around 100 - 500MB of unallocated space on the destination disk to accommodate the new EFI partition.
- Get a USB-to-SATA adapter: If there is only one hard drive bay on your desktop/laptop, you need an adapter to connect the new disk.
- Backup important data: Always protect your system and files in case something goes wrong.
- Disconnect unnecessary drives temporarily to avoid confusion during boot configuration.
- Reliable cloning software: Choosing the right software is of vital importance for moving EFI partition to another disk on Windows 11/10. AOMEI Cloner, a powerful cloning software with a range of advanced features and options, is recommended for copying partition from one disk to another.
Part 2. How to Change EFI System Partition to Another Disk via Cloning
AOMEI Cloner makes moving EFI partition to another drive a piece of cake. You can benefit a lot from its following features:
- Flexible cloning options - It comes with Disk Clone to copy entire disk, System Clone to copy only Windows OS, and Partition Clone to copy a specific partition.
- Support MBR/GPT disks - It works with both MBR/Legacy BIOS and GPT/UEFI disks, and allows to clone MBR to GPT.
- SSD alignment - It uses 4K partition alignment to improve the read/write speed of the target SSD, and extend its lifespan.
- Edit partitions - This feature allows to clone and resize hard drive, thus allocating unused space and fully utilizing disk space.
100% SecurePlease free download this software and learn how to move EFI system partition to another disk securely and easily.
Step 1. Run the AOMEI Cloner software and select Clone from the sidebar. Select System Clone if you only want to make a bootable clone of the Windows operating system; you can also select Disk Clone to copy the whole system drive.
Step 2. For system cloning, this software will automatically select system boot-related partitions as the cloning source; for disk cloning, you need to pick the system drive that you wish to clone yourself. Then, choose a destination disk to receive the cloning.
Step 3. Confirm your cloning options, and click Start Clone to begin the EFI partition to another disk migration process.
Here are some other features that may be useful to you:
👉 Sector By Sector Clone - It is used to copy all the sectors, including the blank and logically bad sectors. If you do not tick this option, it will utilize its default Intelligent Clone method to copy only the used space, which allows you to clone a larger drive to a smaller drive.
👉 SSD Alignment - If you are moving EFI partition to an SSD, you can check this function to optimize the performance of SSD automatically.
👉 Make full use of disk(available in System Clone) - It will be selected automatically when cloning to a larger drive, aiming to expand the system partition.
👉 Edit Partitions(available in Disk Clone) - It helps to manage disk space and make the full use of the capacity of the target disk. There are 4 sub-options:
- Convert the destination disk: Convert the partition style of the target disk to make it the same as the source disk if they are different.
- Copy without resizing partitions: Do not resize the partition size.
- Add unused space to all partitions: Reallocate the unallocated space to each partition of the target disk.
- Manually adjust partition size: Extend unallocated space to any partition on the target disk you want.
FAQs on Moving EFI Partition to Another Disk
#1. Does it matter where the EFI partition is located?
Technically, no, as long as it’s on a GPT disk and the system firmware can detect and boot from it. That is to say, the EFI partition doesn’t have to be on the same physical disk as the OS. However, it must be present, properly formatted, and accessible by the system during startup. But ideally, keeping the EFI partition and system partition on the same disk improves reliability.
#2. Is it possible to have two EFI partitions?
Yes, you can have multiple EFI partitions across multiple drives. However, only one will typically be used as the active boot partition. Multiple EFI partitions are useful in dual-boot systems or when maintaining backup boot configurations, but they must be managed carefully to avoid conflicts.
#3. Is it safe to delete EFI partition after moving to another drive?
Yes, but only after verifying the system boots successfully from the new EFI partition. You can delete the old one using Disk Management or Diskpart.
#4. Does EFI have to be the first partition?
No, it doesn't. EFI partitions are often the first partition due to convention and BIOS compatibility, but it’s not technically required. As long as the partition is on a GPT disk and properly configured, it can exist in any order relative to other partitions, as UEFI will search the entire disk for the EFI partition.
Concluding Words
Moving EFI partition to another disk may seem tricky at first, but with the right tools, it becomes a manageable task, even for non-tech-savvy users. With the professional AOMEI Cloner cloning software, you can move partition from one disk to another as well as copy hard drive with multiple partitions to another drive hassle-free. Download and give it a try now!