How to Repair Bad Sectors

On Windows

1. Connect the drive to your computer if necessary. If you're trying to repair a malfunctioning external hard drive or flash drive, plug it into one of your computer's USB ports.

   1. Skip this step if you're attempting to fix a built-in hard drive.

2. Open Start

   . Click the Windows logo in the bottom-left corner of the screen. You can also press the ⊞ Win key to open Start.

3. Open File Explorer

   . Click the folder-shaped icon on the left side of the Start window. This will open the File Explorer window.

4. Click This PC. It's a folder on the left side of the File Explorer window. Doing so opens the This PC window.

5. Select a hard drive. Beneath the "Devices and drives" heading, click the hard drive that you want to repair.

   1. Generally, the computer's built-in hard drive is labeled OS (C:).

6. Click the Computer tab. It's in the top-left corner of the window. A toolbar will appear.

7. Click Properties. This red checkmark icon is in the far-left side of the toolbar. Doing so opens the Properties window.

8. Click the Tools tab. It's at the top of the window.

9. Click Check. This option is on the far-right side of the "Error checking" section near the top of the Properties window.^{[1] X Research source}

10. Click Scan drive when prompted. Your computer will begin scanning for bad sectors.

11. Wait for the scan to complete. Once the scan completes, a pop-up with the results will appear.

12. Click Scan and repair drive when prompted. It's at the bottom of the pop-up. This will prompt Windows to attempt to fix the disk errors, which can mean anything from reformatting the bad sectors to moving the bad sectors' files onto new, uncorrupted sectors.

    1. You may have to click Scan and repair drive several times to resolve all errors.