How to perform Defragmentation in Windows 10

Original Title:Defragmentation

I have Windows 10. I opened the disk defragmenter. It showed that my system disk was 22% fragmented. I clicked "Analyze". It told me that the disk was 45% fragmented. I clicked "optimize" and it instantaneously returned me to 22% fragmented. I clicked "Optimize" again and just returned the same 22%. How do I get windows to actually defragment the disk?

 

Question Info

Last updated November 17, 2019 Views 11,716 Applies to:

Hi,

 

Thank you for posting on Microsoft Communities.

 

I will be glad to help you with the issue you have with the computer. I understand the frustration when things don't work the way it should.

Fragmentation makes your hard disk do extra work that can slow down your computer. Removable storage devices such as USB flash drives can also become fragmented. Disk Defragmenter rearranges fragmented data so your disks and drives can work more efficiently. Disk Defragmenter runs on a schedule, but you can also analyze and defragment your disks and drives manually. To do this, follow these steps:

To defragment your hard disk

  1. Open Disk Defragmenter by clicking the Start. In the search box, type Disk Defragmenter, and then, in the list of results, click Disk Defragmenter.

  2. Under Current status, select the disk you want to defragment.

  3. To determine if the disk needs to be defragmented or not, click Analyze disk.  If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

    Once Windows is finished analyzing the disk, you can check the percentage of fragmentation on the disk in the Last Run column. If the number is above 10%, you should defragment the disk.

  4. Click Defragment disk.  If you're prompted for an administrator password or confirmation, type the password or provide confirmation.

Disk Defragmenter might take from several minutes to a few hours to finish, depending on the size and degree of fragmentation of your hard disk. You can still use your computer during the defragmentation process.

Notes

  • If the disk is already in exclusive use by another program or is formatted using a file system other than NTFS file system, FAT, or FAT32, it can't be defragmented.

  • Network locations can't be defragmented.

  • If a disk that you're expecting to see under Current status is not showing up there, it might be because it contains an error. Try to repair the disk first, then return to Disk Defragmenter to try again. See Check a drive for errors for more information.

Hope this information is helpful. Please post in case you have any further issues, we are happy to help you further.

Than you.

21 people were helped by this reply

·

Did this solve your problem?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for marking this as the answer.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this response?

Thanks for your feedback.

Thanks for writing, but please read my post and you'll see that I already knew what you told me.

1 person was helped by this reply

·

Did this solve your problem?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for marking this as the answer.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this response?

Thanks for your feedback.

You say to use "Disk Defragmenter" ?

but there is no such option

It's only

"Defragment and optimize your drives" - Control panel

and (leads to the same thing)

"Defragment and optimize drives" - Desktop app

And the results of running this are exactly as reported by BobGustafson 3 months ago.

How does one actually defrag drives in Windows 10?

1 person was helped by this reply

·

Did this solve your problem?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for marking this as the answer.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this response?

Thanks for your feedback.

How did you even find Disk Defragmenter in Windows 10?

I type it in Cortana, click the top option and I get a blank Settings pane. (EDIT I found it at the bottom of the web options. Not actually visible when you type it. You really are stupid MS.)

Why in all sanity did MS not put an Accessories folder on the Start Menu or all programs?

Why the he-ll should I have to google to find Snipping Tool?

How do I even know what accessories are on Win 10? If I can't open the accessories folder and look. I never learnt them all in Win 7 so I don't know what they all are. How can I then google accessories I don't know, to find out to find them in Win 10? How stupid can you get MS?

2 people were helped by this reply

·

Did this solve your problem?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for marking this as the answer.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this response?

Thanks for your feedback.

You didn't answer his question. I'm having the same issue - I click "optimize" and it returns to (in my case) 100% fragmented" again.

Can someone post a working solution?

 

1 person was helped by this reply

·

Did this solve your problem?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for marking this as the answer.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this response?

Thanks for your feedback.

You didn't answer his question. I'm having the same issue - I click "optimize" and it returns to (in my case) 100% fragmented" again.

Can someone post a working solution?

 

No need to post the same question more than once.  It only causes confusion.  See the reply in your original thread.

Did this solve your problem?

Sorry this didn't help.

Great! Thanks for marking this as the answer.

How satisfied are you with this reply?

Thanks for your feedback, it helps us improve the site.

How satisfied are you with this response?

Thanks for your feedback.