How to Delete a Protected Partition on Windows

Several users have been encountering the ‘Can’t delete a partition without the force protected parameter set’ when trying to use DiskPart to remove the recovery partition. The issue is not specific to a certain Windows version as it’s reported to occur with Windows 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows 10.

Resolving the Error Using the override parameter

This is for power users only!. Check , double-check and check one more time the drives and partitions you are about to delete, there is no returning back after that!

1. 1. Press Windows key + R to open up a Run dialog box. Then, type “diskpart” and press Enter to open the DiskPart utility. When prompted by the UAC (User Account Control), click Yes to grant administrative privileges.
      

   2. Identify the disk that you want to work with by typing the following command:
      
      C#

      list disk

      1

      list disk

   3. Select the list that you want to wipe or reformat by using the following command:
      
      C#

      select disk X

      1	select disk X

      
      Note: X is only a placeholder for the actual number of the disk that you’re trying to handle. Please replace the placeholder with the correct number.
   4. Once the proper disk is selected, type the following command to see all the partitions that the selected drive is using:
      
      C#

      list partition

      1	list partition

      
      
   5. From the list of partitions, identify the one that you wish to delete and use the following command to select it:
      
      C#

      select partition X

      1	select partition X

      
      Note: X is only a partition for the number of the partition that you wish to delete. it will get displayed after you run the command at step 4.
   6. With the targeted partition selected, use the following command do signal Windows that you’re sure about the step that you’re about to perform (by using the override parameter):
      
      C#

      delete partition override

      1	delete partition override

      
      
   7. Once the process completes successfully, type the following command to exit Diskpart:
      
      C#

      exit

      1

      exit

Fix: Cannot Delete a Protected Partition Without the Force Protected Parameter Set