How To Defrag Windows 10

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Files stored on a hard drive become fragmented over time, meaning that parts of the files are stored in separate areas of the drive instead of right next to each other. When this happens, it can take longer for the OS to open the file. A defrag can fix this.

Hello today I will be showing you how to defragment your hard disk in Windows 10 OS. If this video helped hit that LIKE button and subcribe for more awesome pc tutorials. Oct 11, 2017  you go to your start window / click, bring up all apps, click on it to show all programs / apps. Go down to windows administrative, click on it 3rd one in the program/ apps defrag.

While there are lots of free, third-party defragmenters, the Windows disk defragmenter can be used right now without having to download anything since it's built into the operating system.

Instructions in this article apply to Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7.

How To defragment disk Drive on Windows 10. Search for defrag and select “Defragment and optimize your drives” Optimize drives window will open, with details about your hard disk drive. Along with options to Analyze and Optimize these drives. Now Select the system drive C and click on Analyze. This will Analyze the drive for fragmentation. Keep in mind that when you open the defrag tool built into Windows 10 and select an SSD, it will optimize (i.e. Send the TRIM command) to the drive, NOT defrag the drive. As has already been mentioned, defragging an SSD is not only unnecessary, but harmful to the drive. Here's the good news: unlike the old days of Windows XP, which required you to manually defrag your hard drive once in a while, Windows 7, 8, and 10 defrags your computer automatically on a schedule.

Should You Defrag Your Computer?

The Windows defrag tool runs automatically once a week, in Windows 10, Windows 8, and Windows 7, so you probably don't need to defrag on your own. Run the analyzer first and if it's less than 10% fragmented, the drive does not need to be defragged. If you want to defrag on your own time, anyways, you can open the program anytime you want and run a manual defrag. You can get to it by searching through Windows or by browsing through Administrative Tools via Control Panel.

Defragging isn't necessary on solid state hard drives since there aren't any spinning parts. Since the hard drive doesn't need to spin to find all the file's pieces, there isn't a lag between the time it takes to find the file and the time it takes to open it.

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Prepare Your Computer for Defragmentation

Before you defrag your computer, you must take a number of steps first. Read this entire procedure before you use the defrag utility.

  1. Make sure your work is backed up, like to an online backup service, a second local hard drive, an external hard drive, a flash drive, or a CD or DVD.
  2. Make sure the hard drive is healthy. Use CHKDSK to scan and fix the drive.
  3. Close any programs that are currently open, including virus scanners and other programs that have icons in the system tray (right-hand side of the taskbar).
  4. Assure your computer has a constant source of power. The important thing is to be able to stop the defragmentation process if there is a power outage.
    1. If you have frequent power issues or other outages, you should not use a defragmentation program without a battery backup.

If your computer does shut off while defragmenting, it may crash the hard drive or corrupt the operating system, or both.

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Open the Defrag Program

The Windows defrag program is accessible through Control Panel in all versions of Windows, but the procedure for getting there is slightly different depending on which version of Windows you're using.

  1. Open Control Panel. A fast way to do this in any version of Windows is through the Run dialog box (WIN+R). Just enter control to open Control Panel.
  2. Go to System and Security.
  3. Select Administrative Tools.
    1. If you're on Windows 7, select Defragment your hard drive just below the Administrative Tools heading to open Disk Defragmenter.
  4. Windows 10 and Windows 8 users should launch the program called Defragment and Optimize Drives.

A much quicker way to get to the disk defrag utility is to run the dfrgui command in Windows 10 from the Run dialog box.

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Analyze the Hard Drive

Before starting the defrag, you'd be wise to analyze the drive first. This step checks the drive for fragments and reports back how fragmented the drive really is, after which you can choose to defrag or skip the hard drive and not run a defrag.

  1. Choose the Analyze button (Windows 10/8/XP) or Analyze disk button (Windows 7) to check for fragments on all the connected hard drives.
  2. Take note of the fragmentation level shown next to each drive.
    1. If the level of fragmentation seems high (above 20 percent), move on to the next step to defrag the drive. Otherwise, you're probably safe skipping the defrag.
    2. Another way to know if you should defrag the hard drive is to read what the defrag tool says on the screen. If it says the drive is OK, then you're fine not running the defrag.

Windows Vista does not include an option to analyze the hard drive.

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Defrag the Hard Drive

If you've chosen to defrag the hard drive, it's just a click away. However, the button for defragging the drive is called something different in some versions of Windows.

  1. Select the hard drive you want to defrag.
  2. Click the button to start the defrag.
    1. Windows 10 and Windows 8 call it Optimize. Windows 7 uses the term Defragment disk.

It could take anywhere from several minutes to several hours to defrag a hard drive. The time it takes to run a defrag on your hard drive depends entirely on the number of file fragments the tool identifies, the size of your hard drive, and the speed of your computer.

We have found it's best to start the defrag and then go to bed. With luck, it'll be done when you wake up in the morning.

The Optimize Drives Utility in Windows 10 allows you to optimize the performance of Hard Drive and Disk Drives attached to your computer by defragmenting them. You will find below more information about this and the steps to Defragment Hard Drive in Windows 10.

Defragment Hard Drive in Windows 10

Over a period of time, the files stored on the Hard Drive of your computer become unorganized and get scattered around. This is a common occurrence in traditional Hard Disk Drives and leads to an overall slowdown of the operating system and programs on your computer.

When the Data on the Hard Disk of your computer becomes unorganized and fragmented, your computer ends up doing more work than usual, as it has to check multiple places on the Hard Drive in order to find things.

Hence, the need to periodically Defragment Hard Drive on your computer using Optimize Drives Utility, as available in Windows 10.

What Does Optimize Drives Do

When you Defragment Hard Disk in Windows 10 using the Optimize Drives App, the scattered files on the Hard Drive get re-arranged in an orderly fashion, occupying contiguous storage locations on the Hard Drive.

This orderly arrangement of data on the Hard Drive minimizes the time required to read and write files, resulting in an overall increase in the data transfer rate on your computer.

After running the Optimize Drives utility on your computer, you may notice improved startup times and quick opening of files and applications on your computer.

Related:How to Stop Apps From Opening at Startup in Windows 10

When to Defragment Hard Drive in Windows 10

Windows 10 should automatically run the Optimize Drives Utility on your computer and periodically Defragment the Hard Disk. However, this may not always happen and it is a good idea to make sure that the Hard Disk Drive on your computer is not too fragmented.

Defrag My Computer

While there is no set rule on when to Defragment Hard Drives, it is a good practice to keep the fragmentation percentage of Hard Drive to a low number (5 to 7%).

Also, it is time to Defragment Hard Drive in Windows 10, whenever you notice a sluggishness in operating system and applications used on your computer.

Do Not Defragment SSD Drives

Unlike traditional Hard Drives, SSD Drives have a different pattern of File arrangement and do not need to be defragmented. Also, SSD drives have high read/write speeds and do not slow down over a period of time like the traditional hard drives.

In case System Restore is Enabled on your Computer, Windows 10 automatically defragments SSD drives whenever it becomes necessary. You can leave this setting as-is and trust Windows 10 to do whatever is good for your computer.

However, there is no need to periodically defragment SSD Drives as they have a limited number of read/write cycles and defragmenting can wear them down and decrease their life span.

How to Defragment Hard Drive in Windows 10

How

The fastest way to access Optimize Drives Utility in Windows 10 is to type defrag in the Windows 10 search bar and then click on Defragment and Optimize Drives option in the “Best Match” section of search results.

In case, you prefer the traditional route, you can Defragment Hard Drive in Windows 10 using the Control Panel.

1. Open the Control Panel on your Windows Computer.

2. On the Control Panel screen, make sure you are in “Category” view and then click on System and Security option (See image below)

3. On System and Security Screen, click on Defragment and optimize your drives option located under Administrative Tools (See image below)

4. On the next screen, select the Hard Drive that you want to defragment and click on the Optimize button to start the process of Defragmenting the selected Disk Drives (See image below)

Note: Hold the Ctrl key, in case you want to select multiple partitions.

Disc Defragmenter Windows 10

5. Patiently wait for Windows 10 to complete the process of Defragmenting the selected Hard Drive.

Note: You can do other things on your computer and allow the Defragmentation process to run in the background.

Analyze Disk Drives in Windows 10

Instead of directly clicking on the Optimize button, you also have the option of Analyzing the Hard Drive by clicking on the Analyze button (See image above).

In case you click on Analyze, the Optimize Drives Utility will analyze the selected drive and you will be able to see the fragmentation percentage of the selected Hard Drive.

Based on this information, you can decide whether or not to Defragment the selected Disk Drive. In general, it is advisable that you Defragment Hard Disk in Windows 10 whenever the fragmentation status goes above 10%.

Schedule Disk Defragmentation in Windows 10

By default, the Disk Defragmentation process is set to run Weekly on your computer. However, the Optimize Drives App provides you with the option to set this process on Daily and Monthly basis.

In order to modify the Schedule of Disk Drive Optimization on your computer, click on the Change settings button located in Schedule optimization section.

On the next screen, you can choose from Daily, Weekly or Monthly options by clicking on the down-arrow (2) in Frequency section (See image below).

How To Defrag Windows 10 Hp Laptop

Also, check the option for Run on a schedule (1) to make sure that Scheduled Optimization of Disk Drives is turned ON. Clicking on the Choose (3) button allows you to select the Drives that you want to include in the Defragmentation schedule on the next screen.

How To Defrag Windows 10 Cmd

As mentioned above, you should not include SSD drives in the Optimization Schedule. Hence, make sure that SSD drives (if any) are not included in the optimization schedule.