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Guide · 5 min read

Use extra disk space after an upgrade

Grow the partition and file system after your VPS disk was enlarged, on Linux (ext4 or XFS) and Windows.

After a plan upgrade or a disk increase, the bigger disk is there – but your partition and file system may still use the old size. Here is how to use the new space.

1. Restart the VPS from the control panel

Resource changes only take effect after a full stop and start of the virtual machine. A reboot from inside the operating system is not enough. Use the restart button in the control panel (why this matters).

2. Check the new size (Linux)

lsblk
df -h /

If lsblk shows a bigger disk (for example vda) but the partition (vda1) and df -h still show the old size, continue below. On many images, a reboot already grows the partition automatically.

3. Grow the partition

sudo apt install -y cloud-guest-utils   # Debian/Ubuntu, provides growpart
sudo growpart /dev/vda 1

Your disk may be named differently (for example /dev/sda); use the names shown by lsblk.

4. Grow the file system

For ext4 (the default on Ubuntu and Debian):

sudo resize2fs /dev/vda1

For XFS (common on AlmaLinux and Rocky Linux):

sudo xfs_growfs /

Check the result with df -h /. If your system uses LVM, extend the logical volume with lvextend -r after growing the partition.

Windows Server

  1. Restart the VPS from the control panel.
  2. Open Disk Management (right-click Start → Disk Management).
  3. Right-click the C: volume and choose Extend Volume, then follow the wizard.

If the extra space doesn't appear, open a ticket and we will help.

Last updated 2026-10-25. Need help? Open a ticket – our team answers 24/7.