HomeSystem

How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer

This wikiHow teaches you how to defragment a hard drive in any version of Windows. Type into the Windows search bar. If you don't see the search bar to the right of the Start menu, click the circle or magnifying glass to open it.
Method 1 of 5:

Windows 10

  1. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 1How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 1
    Type defrag into the Windows search bar. If you don't see the search bar to the right of the Start
    How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 2How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 2
    menu, click the circle or magnifying glass to open it.
  2. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 3How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 3
    Click Defragment and Optimize Drives. A list of drives connected to your computer will appear.
  3. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 4How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 4
    Select the drive you want to defragment. If you only have one hard drive, it'll already be selected.
  4. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 5How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 5
    Check the automatic defragmenting schedule. Windows 10 is set up to defragment your drive automatically on a certain schedule. You'll see the date the drive was last defragmented under "Last run" near the top of the window.
    1. If defragmenting is set to run automatically, you'll see the word "On" under "Scheduled optimization" at the bottom of the window. You'll also see the frequency (e.g., "Weekly") listed below.
    2. If this feature is turned off but you'd like to turn it on, click Change settings and check the "Run on a schedule (recommended)" box. Choose a frequency from the menu, then click OK.
  5. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 6How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 6
    Click Optimize if you still want to defragment the hard drive. You'll see the progress under the "Current status" column. Once defragmenting is complete, today's date and time will replace the previous "Last run" date.
    1. The amount of time it takes to defragment the drive depends on the size of your drive and the amount of fragmentation. While you can continue working during the process, your PC may behave slowly until optimization is complete.
Method 2 of 5:

Windows 8

  1. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 7How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 7
    Hover the mouse over the bottom-right corner of the screen. This opens the Charms bar.[1]
  2. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 8How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 8
    Click Settings
    How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 9How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 9
    . A menu will expand.
  3. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 10How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 10
    Click Control Panel. It's at the top of the menu.
  4. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 11How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 11
    Select Small icons from the "View by" menu. It's at the top-right corner of the window.
  5. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 12How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 12
    Double-click Administrative Tools. This opens a list of tools.
  6. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 13How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 13
    Double-click Defragment and Optimize Drives. This opens the "Optimize Drives" window.
  7. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 14How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 14
    Select the drive you want to defragment. If you only have one hard drive, it'll already be selected.
  8. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 15How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 15
    Check the automatic defragmenting schedule. Windows 8 is set up to defragment your drive automatically on a certain schedule. You'll see the date the drive was last defragmented under "Last run" near the top of the window.
    1. If defragmenting is set to run automatically, you'll see the word "On" under "Scheduled optimization" at the bottom of the window. You'll also see the frequency (e.g., "Weekly") listed below.
    2. If this feature is turned off but you'd like to turn it on, click Change settings and check the "Run on a schedule (recommended)" box. Choose a frequency from the menu, then click OK.
  9. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 16How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 16
    Click Optimize if you still want to defragment the hard drive. You'll see the progress under the "Current status" column. Once defragmenting is complete, today's date and time will replace the previous "Last run" date.
    1. The amount of time it takes to defragment the drive depends on the size of your drive and the amount of fragmentation. While you can continue working during the process, your PC may behave slowly until optimization is complete.
Method 3 of 5:

Windows 7

  1. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 17How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 17
    Click the Start menu. It's usually at the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  2. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 18How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 18
    Click Control Panel. A window containing several icons will appear.
  3. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 19How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 19
    Click System and Security. Additional tools will expand.
  4. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 20How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 20
    Click Defragment your hard drive. It's under "Administrative Tools." This opens the "Disk Defragmenter" window.
  5. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 21How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 21
    Select a drive to defragment. If you only have one hard drive, it will already be selected.
  6. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 22How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 22
    Check the automatic defragmenting schedule. Windows 7 is set up to defragment your drive automatically on a certain schedule.[2] You can update this options as you see fit.
    1. The date of the last defragmentation appears in the "Last Run" column next to the drive's name.
    2. If defragmenting is set to run automatically, you'll see "Scheduled defragmentation is turned on" under "Schedule." You'll also see the date of the next scheduled defrag next to "Next scheduled run."
    3. To change your automatic defragmentation schedule, click the Configure schedule button, then make your selections.
  7. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 23How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 23
    Click Analyze to see if it's necessary to defragment. If the drive is not fragmented, there's no reason to run the tool. If the drive is fragmented, you'll see a message telling you to defragment.
  8. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 24How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 24
    Click Defragment disk. It's one of the buttons near the bottom-right corner of the window. The defragmentation process will begin.
    1. The amount of time it takes to defragment depends on the size of your drive and the amount of fragmentation. While you can continue working during the process, your PC may behave slowly until optimization is complete.
    2. If you need to do work once the defragmentation has begun and you cannot tolerate the poor performance, you can click Pause or Stop on the tool. The advantage of Pause is that the tool will continue where it left off when it resumes—if you use Stop, you'll have to start from scratch.
Method 4 of 5:

Windows Vista

  1. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 25How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 25
    Click the Start menu. It's usually at the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  2. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 26How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 26
    Click Control Panel.
  3. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 27How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 27
    Click System and Maintenance. A list of tools will appear.
  4. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 28How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 28
    Click Defragment Your Hard Drive. It's under "Administrative Tools." This opens the "Disk Defragmenter" window.
    1. You may have to click Continue to open the tool.[3]
  5. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 29How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 29
    Check the schedule. If Windows is set to defragment your drive(s) automatically, you'll see a check mark next to "Run on a schedule (recommended)." You'll also when the drive is scheduled to defragment and the last date the process occurred.
    1. If this option is not turned on, check the box to turn it on now.
    2. To schedule defragmentation for a different time, click Modify schedule, then make your selections.[4]
  6. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 30How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 30
    Click Defragment now. It's the third button. A list of your drives will appear.
  7. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 31How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 31
    Select the drive you want to defragment. If you have more than one drive, you can select them all if you wish—just check the "Select all disks" option at the top.
  8. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 32How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 32
    Click OK. Windows will now scan and defragment the selected drive(s). The progress will appear at the bottom-left corner of the window.
    1. The amount of time it takes to defragment depends on the size of your drive and the amount of fragmentation. While you can continue working during the process, your PC may behave slowly until optimization is complete.
    2. If you need to do work once the defragmentation has begun and you cannot tolerate the poor performance, you can click Cancel defragmentation.
Method 5 of 5:

Windows XP

  1. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 33How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 33
    Click the Start menu. It's usually at the bottom-left corner of the screen.
  2. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 34How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 34
    Click Programs. A list of programs and folders will appear.
  3. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 35How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 35
    Click Accessories.
  4. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 36How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 36
    Click System Tools.
  5. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 37How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 37
    Click Disk Defragmenter. This launches the "Disk Defragmenter" window.
  6. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 38How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 38
    Select the drive you want to defragment and click Analyze. Windows will now check the drive to see if it's necessary to defragment. When the analysis is complete, you'll see a pop-up message telling you whether the drive should be defragmented.
  7. How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 39How to Defragment a Disk on a Windows Computer Picture 39
    Click Defragment if it's recommended to do so. If you see a message that says the drive doesn't need to be defragmented, you can close the tool. If the pop-up says "You should defragment this volume," this button will start the process.[5]
    1. To see a report that shows you more about the fragmentation, click View Report. After checking out the details, click Defragment to begin.
    2. The amount of time it takes to defragment depends on the size of your drive and the amount of fragmentation. While you can continue working during the process, your PC may behave slowly until optimization is complete.
    3. If you need to do work once the defragmentation has begun and you cannot tolerate the poor performance, you can click Pause to stop it briefly, or Cancel to stop it indefinitely. If you select Pause, you can restart the process from where it left off.
4.5 ★ | 2 Vote
clickdrivedefragment'll

You should read it

Maybe you are interested

System