How can I merge separate non-contiguous partitions?

Question

I want to merge /dev/sda15 with /dev/sda11 so that I can get ~90GB space for Ubuntu, but gparted can't merge these separate partitions directly.

Is there any way I can achieve that?

Answer 1

The comments by wjandrea and oldfred are worth heeding. Some additional observations and comments:

• From the sizes you've specified, I'm guessing you don't want to keep the Fedora installation on /dev/sda11. If so, you can delete it and move or resize partitions to reclaim the space for Ubuntu on /dev/sda15.
• You may need to use gdisk to delete the /dev/sda11 partition, if that's part of what you want to do. The reason is that /dev/sda11 is a logical volume manager (LVM) partition, and I'm not sure if GParted will let you disable the LVM setup. (There are ways to do this manually, but describing how would take a while.) Reboot as soon as you've deleted the partition, if you use gdisk for this task. Note I have more to say on LVM later....
• GParted doesn't know mount points for quite a few Linux partitions, including /dev/sda13, /dev/sda8, /dev/sda12, and /dev/sda9. /dev/sda14 is mounted at a subdirectory of /media, which makes me think it's not really part of the Ubuntu installation. Overall, this looks like you've installed several Linux distributions on the computer in a rather haphazard way. Perhaps some of these partitions are in use by other distributions you want to keep; but if you want to set this up as a dual-boot between Ubuntu and Windows, you may want to consolidate more than just /dev/sda11.
• /dev/sda5 is a second EFI System Partition (ESP), but Ubuntu is using /dev/sda2 as its ESP, and Windows is almost certainly using /dev/sda2, as well.
• See the How to resize partitions question, or any of many online tutorials on GParted, for general information on resizing and moving partitions. Note that you'll need to boot using an emergency disk (or one of those other Linux distributions, if my supposition that many are installed is correct) to move or resize the Ubuntu partition. This is because GParted won't let you move or resize any partition that's currently mounted, and the currently-booted OS's partition is necessarily mounted.
• Before you start mucking about with GParted, back up your data!! Resizing partitions carries some risk, especially if you change the start point of the partition. The risk isn't all that huge, but the consequences of problems are significant, including total loss of all data on the partition, so having a backup is vital.
• If my supposition that you've been installing (and then deleting or changing) multiple Linux distributions is correct, you may want to look into using logical volume manager (LVM). LVM has a learning curve, but it greatly simplifies filesystem management -- you can create and delete filesystems much like you'd create and delete files, so you needn't be concerned with the start and end points; and you can easily extend or shrink a filesystem without being concerned about creating or spanning gaps between partitions. Your /dev/sda11 is an LVM partition, presumably because Fedora uses it by default. Depending on your needs, you could convert some other partitions into LVM partitions and expand on that base; or delete most or all of your Linux partitions and create one or more new LVM partitions. Converting Ubuntu to use LVM will require jumping through some awkward hoops or re-installing, though.
• You have an NTFS partition (/dev/sda7) in the middle of your Linux partitions. Depending on what other partitions you end up deleting and how you want to use the remaining space, you might want to move this partition closer to what looks like your other main NTFS partition (/dev/sda4). On a spinning hard disk, this will help optimize performance; and when performing disk management, having them closer together may help avoid confusion. OTOH, moving it carries some risk.