How to Increase Disk Space for a VMDK in VMware ESXi

Written By Christian Castagna (Administrator)

Updated at October 21st, 2025

→ Applies to: VMware ESXi 6.5 and above

 

Step 1. Login to VMware ESXi GUI (replace <your_ip_address_or_hostname> with the correct ip/hostname)

https://<your_ip_address_or_hostname>

 

Step 2. Click on Virtual Machines

 

Step 3. Power-off the VM for which you want to increase disk space

Step 4. Select the VM, then click on Edit

 

Step 5. Click on the Hard disk you want to increase the disk space, then increase size of the VMDK and click on Save

To increase the size of a VMDK, update the value of "Hard disk 2" by entering the new total size (current size + additional space).

For example, if Hard disk 2 currently has 50 GB and you want to add another 50 GB, set the new size to 100 GB. 

 

Step 6. Power-on the VM

Step 7. Increase virtual machine partition

Use the tools within the virtual machine (Windows or Linux) to extend the partition after increasing the virtual disk size.