Installed Windows 11 Beta 26H1 on ReFS - Recovery Partition wasn't created

Raptor2213 0 Reputation points
2026-09-05T17:59:38.48+00:00

I successfully installed the 26H1 beta on ReFS and noticed that it only made 3 partitions when I created it - which didn't seem to be a big deal initially. I have recently noticed that the recovery partition seemingly wasn't created. I tried to manually create it by following another MS Learn article, but it seems that ReFS doesn't support shrinking of a ReFS partition. My question is three-fold.

  1. What is the proper way to install Windows 11 on ReFS to ensure this partition is created?
  2. How can I create this partition on an existing install without formatting/repartitioning the drive?
  3. Will ReFS be better supported on the final release of 26H1? I have noticed that when I partition the OS drive in the Windows Server beta builds it properly makes the recovery partition automatically.
Windows for home | Windows 11 | Recovery and backup
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  1. Ian-T 10,695 Reputation points Microsoft External Staff Moderator
    2026-09-06T01:42:40.04+00:00

    Please note that this is a user-to-user support forum. Moderators and contributors cannot access accounts or Microsoft’s back-end systems. We can only provide technical guidance on reported incidents, requests and ideas 

    Hi @Raptor2213

    Welcome to Microsoft Q&A forum

    First, could you run the following in an elevated Command Prompt to confirm whether WinRE is disabled or registered elsewhere? 

    reagentc /info

    For a clean installation, the disk layout should be prepared with separate EFI, MSR, ReFS Windows, and NTFS recovery partitions. WinRE should be placed on its own recovery partition, not on the ReFS volume.

    For the current installation, the method requires shrinking the Windows partition to create unallocated space. Since ReFS cannot currently be shrunk using the supported Windows tools, there is no supported way to add the recovery partition unless unallocated space already exists. Backing up the installation and repartitioning the drive may therefore be necessary.

    Regarding the final 26H1 release, I do not see the confirmation whether ReFS system-drive support or automatic recovery-partition creation will be improved. Windows Server handling this differently does not necessarily mean Windows 11 will behave the same way.

    Since you are testing a beta build, I would also report this through Feedback Hub (Win+F). For now, NTFS remains the safer choice for the Windows partition if you need reliable WinRE support.

    Thank you for your time and understanding. Hope you have a good day

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