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I want to increase the size of my Linux partition (/dev/sda5) using the 52.41GB of unallocated space on my SSD but from what I understand the /dev/sda3 partition is in the way of using the unallocated 52GB.

What is the sda3 partition likely to be? Can it be safely deleted or is there a way around this?

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  • Not sure, but could be EFI partition which would mean you should not delete. Commented Jul 30, 2020 at 11:44
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    Mount it and have a look what's inside. Since only 1.05MiB are used it's probably empty. Commented Jul 30, 2020 at 11:47
  • do a backup with dd | gzip just in case Commented Jul 30, 2020 at 11:49

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The EFI System Partition (ESP) is a partition on a data storage device (usually an HDD or SSD) that is used by computers adhering to the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI). The EFI System Partition is an interface that's used by the computer to boot Windows. It's like a step that is taken before it runs the Windows partition. It's a small partition, but without that partition your computer wouldn't know how to boot Windows, so don't delete it.

The EFI System Partition is a dedicated partition on GPT. It's usually a small one (100-500 MB) formatted as FAT located at the beginning of the disk, and its partition record is at the beginning of the GPT (GUID Partition Table).

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  • Thanks for the information! Okay, so potentially a similar issue to this question. Is the answer provided there sensible/not likely to break everything? Commented Jul 30, 2020 at 11:53
  • It's OK to move the EFI System Partition when resizing partitions with GParted that is running from a bootable live USB, but it's not OK to delete it. Commented Jul 30, 2020 at 11:55
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    Moving the EFI Partition to the other side of the unallocated space, extending the sda4 partition and then moving and extending the sda5 partition has worked fine. Thanks for the help. Commented Jul 30, 2020 at 12:24
  • An EFI system partition is not a Windows-specific thing, it is a firmware-specific thing. Commented Jul 30, 2020 at 18:50
  • That's certainly true. Commented Jul 30, 2020 at 18:52

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