CFDISK(8)		     System Administration		     CFDISK(8)

NAME
       cfdisk - display or manipulate a disk partition table

SYNOPSIS
       cfdisk [options] [device]

DESCRIPTION
       cfdisk is a curses-based program for partitioning any block device. The
       default device is /dev/sda.

       Note that cfdisk provides basic partitioning functionality with a
       user-friendly interface. If you need advanced features, use fdisk(8)
       instead.

       All disk label changes will remain in memory only, and the disk will be
       unmodified until you decide to write your changes. Be careful before
       using the write command.

       Since version 2.25 cfdisk supports MBR (DOS), GPT, SUN and SGI disk
       labels, but no longer provides any functionality for CHS
       (Cylinder-Head-Sector) addressing. CHS has never been important for
       Linux, and this addressing concept does not make any sense for new
       devices.

       Since version 2.25 cfdisk also does not provide a 'print' command any
       more. This functionality is provided by the utilities partx(8) and
       lsblk(8) in a very comfortable and rich way.

       If you want to remove an old partition table from a device, use
       wipefs(8).

OPTIONS
       -L, --color[=when]
	   Colorize the output. The optional argument when can be auto, never
	   or always. If the when argument is omitted, it defaults to auto.
	   The colors can be disabled, for the current built-in default see
	   --help output. See also the COLORS section.

       --lock[=mode]
	   Use exclusive BSD lock for device or file it operates. The optional
	   argument mode can be yes, no (or 1 and 0) or nonblock. If the mode
	   argument is omitted, it defaults to yes. This option overwrites
	   environment variable $LOCK_BLOCK_DEVICE. The default is not to use
	   any lock at all, but it’s recommended to avoid collisions with
	   systemd-udevd(8) or other tools.

       -r, --read-only
	   Forced open in read-only mode.

       -b, --sector-size sectorsize
	   Specify the sector size of the disk. Valid values are 512, 1024,
	   2048, and 4096. The kernel is aware of the sector size for regular
	   block devices. Use this option only on very old kernels, when
	   working with disk images, or to override the kernel’s default
	   sector size. Since util-linux-2.17, fdisk distinguishes between
	   logical and physical sector size. This option changes both sector
	   sizes to the specified sectorsize.

       -z, --zero
	   Start with an in-memory zeroed partition table. This option does
	   not zero the partition table on the disk; rather, it simply starts
	   the program without reading the existing partition table. This
	   option allows you to create a new partition table from scratch or
	   from an sfdisk(8)-compatible script.

       -h, --help
	   Display help text and exit.

       -V, --version
	   Display version and exit.

COMMANDS
       The commands for cfdisk can be entered by pressing the corresponding
       key (pressing Enter after the command is not necessary). Here is a list
       of the available commands:

       b
	   Toggle the bootable flag of the current partition. This allows you
	   to select which primary partition is bootable on the drive. This
	   command may not be available for all partition label types.

       d
	   Delete the current partition. This will convert the current
	   partition into free space and merge it with any free space
	   immediately surrounding the current partition. A partition already
	   marked as free space or marked as unusable cannot be deleted.

       h
	   Show the help screen.

       n
	   Create a new partition from free space. cfdisk then prompts you for
	   the size of the partition you want to create. The default size is
	   equal to the entire available free space at the current position.

	   The size may be followed by a multiplicative suffix: KiB (=1024),
	   MiB (=1024*1024), and so on for GiB, TiB, PiB, EiB, ZiB and YiB
	   (the "iB" is optional, e.g., "K" has the same meaning as "KiB").

       q
	   Quit the program. This will exit the program without writing any
	   data to the disk.

       r
	   Reduce or enlarge the current partition. cfdisk then prompts you
	   for the new size of the partition. The default size is the current
	   size. A partition marked as free space or marked as unusable cannot
	   be resized.

	   Note that reducing the size of a partition might destroy data on
	   that partition.

       s
	   Sort the partitions in ascending start-sector order. When deleting
	   and adding partitions, it is likely that the numbering of the
	   partitions will no longer match their order on the disk. This
	   command restores that match.

       t
	   Change the partition type. By default, new partitions are created
	   as Linux partitions.

       u
	   Dump the current in-memory partition table to an
	   sfdisk(8)-compatible script file.

	   The script files are compatible between cfdisk, fdisk(8) sfdisk(8)
	   and other libfdisk applications. For more details see sfdisk(8).

	   It is also possible to load an sfdisk-script into cfdisk if there
	   is no partition table on the device or when you start cfdisk with
	   the --zero command-line option.

       W
	   Write the partition table to disk (you must enter an uppercase W).
	   Since this might destroy data on the disk, you must either confirm
	   or deny the write by entering `yes' or `no'. If you enter `yes',
	   cfdisk will write the partition table to disk and then tell the
	   kernel to re-read the partition table from the disk.

	   The re-reading of the partition table does not always work. In such
	   a case you need to inform the kernel about any new partitions by
	   using partprobe(8) or partx(8), or by rebooting the system.

       x
	   Toggle extra information about a partition.

       Up Arrow, Down Arrow
	   Move the cursor to the previous or next partition. If there are
	   more partitions than can be displayed on a screen, you can display
	   the next (previous) set of partitions by moving down (up) at the
	   last (first) partition displayed on the screen.

       Left Arrow, Right Arrow
	   Select the preceding or the next menu item. Hitting Enter will
	   execute the currently selected item.

       All commands can be entered with either uppercase or lowercase letters
       (except for Write). When in a submenu or at a prompt, you can hit the
       Esc key to return to the main menu.

COLORS
       The output colorization is implemented by terminal-colors.d(5)
       functionality.  Implicit coloring can be disabled by an empty file

	  /etc/terminal-colors.d/cfdisk.disable

       for the cfdisk command or for all tools by

	  /etc/terminal-colors.d/disable

       Since version 2.41, the $NO_COLOR environment variable is also
       supported to disable output colorization unless explicitly enabled by a
       command-line option.

       The user-specific $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/terminal-colors.d or
       $HOME/.config/terminal-colors.d overrides the global setting.

       Note that the output colorization may be enabled by default, and in
       this case terminal-colors.d directories do not have to exist yet.

       cfdisk does not support color customization with a color-scheme file.

ENVIRONMENT
       CFDISK_DEBUG=all
	   enables cfdisk debug output.

       LIBFDISK_DEBUG=all
	   enables libfdisk debug output.

       LIBBLKID_DEBUG=all
	   enables libblkid debug output.

       LIBSMARTCOLS_DEBUG=all
	   enables libsmartcols debug output.

       LIBSMARTCOLS_DEBUG_PADDING=on
	   use visible padding characters. Requires enabled
	   LIBSMARTCOLS_DEBUG.

       LOCK_BLOCK_DEVICE=<mode>
	   use exclusive BSD lock. The mode is "1" or "0". See --lock for more
	   details.

AUTHORS
       Karel Zak <kzak@redhat.com>

       The current cfdisk implementation is based on the original cfdisk from
       Kevin E. Martin <martin@cs.unc.edu>.

SEE ALSO
       fdisk(8), parted(8), partprobe(8), partx(8), sfdisk(8)

REPORTING BUGS
       For bug reports, use the issue tracker
       <https://github.com/util-linux/util-linux/issues>.

AVAILABILITY
       The cfdisk command is part of the util-linux package which can be
       downloaded from Linux Kernel Archive
       <https://www.kernel.org/pub/linux/utils/util-linux/>.

util-linux 2.41.2		  2025-09-22			     CFDISK(8)