- How to Defrag Windows 10 - Defragging Click/tap the 'Analyze' button on the Optimize Drives window. Click the 'Optimize' button to start defragmenting your drive. Exit the menu when you’re done.
- Open the Control Panel on your Windows Computer. On the Control Panel screen, make sure you are in 'Category' view and then click on System. On System and Security Screen, click on Defragment and optimize your drives option located. On the next screen, select the Hard Drive that.
HomeHow ToHow to Defrag Windows 10 in 2019 (A Complete Guide)
Disk defrag for windows 10 free download - Windows 10, Apple Safari, Power Defrag, and many more programs. Microsoft Drive Optimizer (formerly Disk Defragmenter) is a utility in Microsoft Windows designed to increase access speed by rearranging files stored on a disk to occupy contiguous storage locations, a technique called defragmentation. Aug 12, 2015 Where are 'Disk Defragmenter'and 'Disk Cleanup' in Windows 10? I just installed the Windows 10, and can't find the above 2 programs. So, I googled 'Windows 10 Defrag', but they only showed where the program is in Win 7, 8, and 8.1, not where the program is in Windows 10. Disk Defrag ULTIMATE Product Version 4.10.0.0 Formerly known as Disk Defrag Pro and recently renamed to Ultimate, this program offers all the tools and options you need for complete professional optimization of HDDs and SSDs.
Windows 10 is the most popular desktop OS in the world right now and Microsoft is continuing to improve it. However, there is a growing perception among users that Windows is not on par with other operating systems and the performance deteriorates over time. It’s true to some extent as it does have some underlying issues like disk fragmentation, BSOD, and various other Windows-specific problems. In this article, I will discuss the problem of fragmentation and share some easy steps to defrag Windows 10. So without wasting any time, let’s first briefly understand what exactly defragmentation is.
What is Defragmentation?
To understand defragmentation, we need to begin with fragmentation first. In simple terms, fragmentation is a process of spreading data across different sectors of the hard disk. It usually happens when there is no contiguous block of memory available to store a file. In such situations, the file is split into several data chunks and spread across different blocks of the hard drive. And defragmentation is, you guessed it right, a process to bring the scattered pieces of data at one place.
Fragmentation is not much of a problem if you have an ample amount of free storage on your PC. However, when there is a space constraint, it becomes harder for the hard drive to allocate data in contiguous blocks. The problem becomes worse when files are moved, deleted or modified from the hard drive over a long period of time.
In such cases, the data is spread across different sectors of the hard drive. It essentially means, the hard drive takes a long time to access the scattered data bringing the read/write speed and overall performance down. So we should defrag Windows 10 periodically so that chunks of files are kept closer to each other. And as a result, it will speed up your Windows PC.
Should You Defrag Windows 10?
Of course, you should. However, Windows 10 automatically defragments the hard disk every week. And the good thing is that it’s turned on by default. Whenever Windows finds your PC is sitting idle, it runs a scheduled task in the background which defragments Windows 10. If you want to check when was the last time your hard disk was defragmented, press Windows and R key at once and type dfrgui. Now, hit enter.
It will open the Defragmentation window. Here, you can check the details of the last defragmentation under the “Last run” label. If Windows 10 is defragmenting the hard disk according to the schedule then you don’t need to do anything.
Keep in mind, you must not defrag Windows 10 if you are using a solid state drive(SSD). SSD is built on a different technology than mechanical HDD. SSDs have limited read/write count and regular defragmentation will further decrease its lifespan. So you should absolutely NOT defrag Windows 10 if you are using an SSD. To find out the type of memory storage, open the Run window again by pressing Windows and R key. After that, type dfrgui and hit enter. Here, under the “Media type” label, you will find the required information.
Having said that, if you are not happy with the scheduled defragmentation or want to manually defrag Windows 10 then move to the next section to learn about the steps in detail.
Defragment Windows 10
If you want to manually defrag Windows 10 then here are the three different ways to do it. You can choose any of them based on what you find convenient. So without wasting any time, here we go.
1. Defrag Windows 10 with the Inbuilt Tool
As we already know there is an inbuilt tool to defragment Windows 10. Here, we will learn how to manually analyze the hard disk and then defragment it. You can also configure various settings related to defragmentation. Here are the steps to do it.
1. Open the Run window by pressing Windows and R key simultaneously. Here, type dfrgui and hit enter.
2. In this window, select the drive you want to defragment and click on the “Optimize” button. In case, you want to defragment the whole hard disk, select all the hard drives at once and click on the “Optimize” button.
3. Windows will start the defragmentation process. Do note that the time to complete the process will depend on how long you have been using your PC. You will get a better idea of the degree of fragmentation under the “Current Status” label. The lower it is, the better.
4. Also, if you want to configure automatic defragmentation, then click on “Change Settings” under Scheduled Optimization. Here, you can change the frequency to daily, weekly or monthly. Also, you can choose the specific drives to be automatically defragmented. That’s how you can defrag Windows 10 without any third-party software.
2. O&O Defrag
If you found the inbuilt Windows Defragmenter tool unreliable then O&O Defrag is a great alternative. It is a popular defragmentation tool for both beginners and advanced users. You can simply click on “Optimize all” and it will begin the defragmentation process for all the drives. You can also click on “Analysis” to get a better idea of fragmentation. The great thing about O&O Defrag is that you can visually understand the memory fragmentation through pie charts and Disk Stats. It also shows allocated and available memory blocks. In addition, you get scheduled defragmentation similar to the native tool on Windows 10. All in all, if you are dealing with a high volume of memory storage with insufficient space then this utility can help you a lot in defragmenting the hard disk.
Install O&O Defrag (Free, Premium version at one-time purchase of $29.95)
3. Other Third-party Defragmenters
The inbuilt tool on Windows 10 and O&O Defrag should be enough for you. However, if you are still looking for an alternative, then Defraggler and Auslogics Disk Defrag are two popular choices out there. Both the utilities are pretty good and do the job sufficiently well. You have a one-click button to initiate defragmentation process.
There are a few modes available on Auslogics Disk Defrag which I found interesting. Among many other things, you can run the defragmenter stealthily in the background without slowing down your PC. If you are using a hard disk without much space, this mode can help you combat fragmentation in real-time. So to sum up, if you want to defrag Windows 10 without any fuss, both the utilities are pretty good and you can choose either of them.
Install Defraggler (Free, Premium version at one-time purchase of $24.95)
Install Auslogics Disk Defrag (Free, Premium version at one-time purchase of $16.47)
SEE ALSO: How to Speed up Windows 10 in 2019 [Effective Methods]
Defrag Windows 10 and Speed Up Your PC
As we went through the article, we can see that fragmentation is no longer an issue on Windows 10 since automatic defragmentation has become a part of the OS. Still, if you want to manually defragment Windows 10 then you can very well go ahead and do it. Also, you can use O&O Defrag if you want to dive deeper into the sectors of the hard disk. To conclude, this was our short guide on how to defragment Windows 10. If you liked the article and want to learn more about Windows 10, you can let us know in the comment section below.
How to Reply to Messages from Windows 10 [Supports WhatsApp]
Microsoft is bringing some awesome changes to Windows 10 which allow you to respond to all sorts of messages from your PC. A few..
Windows Insiders Can Now Use the “Your Phone” App to Reply to Notifications
With the launch of the Galaxy Note 10 last month, Microsoft also took to the stage to announce a host of Windows 10 features..
Windows 10 Insider Build 18990 Brings FPS Counter, UWP App Improvements
Microsoft regularly rolls out Insider Preview builds to get feedback on new features from the beta testers who've signed up to receive these updates..
Windows 10 to Roll out Simpler Bluetooth Pairing Experience to All
Windows 10 April 2018 update brought along a hidden Bluetooth pairing feature called Swift Pair, which made pairing supported devices quick and easy. Well,..
How to Resolve Microphone Issues in Windows 10
Microsoft is putting all its resources on Windows 10, and yet, after every major update, it somehow manages to break basic features. Just recently,..
Lenovo Legion Y540 Review: A Sleek Laptop with Great Performance
Asus Vivobook 14 X403 Review: Insane Battery Life, Impressive Performance
Asus ROG G703GXR Review: What Can’t This Thing Do!?
Starting with Windows Vista, the built-in Windows Disk Defragmenter has been much improved upon, and more so in Windows 8 and Windows 7, and is considered to be much better than its predecessor Windows XP. The defrag engine and the manageability of fragmentation have been improved. The Disk Defragmenter runs as a low priority task in the background without affecting the performance of the computer. It runs only when the machine is idle! It uses the Task Scheduler to automatically keep the hard disk defragmented. This automated defragmentation does not affect the performance of the Windows.
Disk Defragmenter in Windows 10/8
Now, by default, the defrag tool only defragments files smaller than 64 MB, for according to Microsoft’s benchmarks, fragments of this size, which already consist of at least 16000 contiguous clusters, have a negligible impact on performance. This means that games and large media files are effectively left as they are! So if you still want to defrag files larger than 64 MB too, you need to use the -w parameter mentioned below to defragment files of all size.
Starting with Windows 7, defragmentation became even more comprehensive – many files that could not be re-located in Windows Vista or earlier versions can now be optimally replaced. In particular, a lot of work was done to make various NTFS metadata files movable. This ability to relocate NTFS metadata files also benefits volume shrink, since it enables the system to pack all files and file system metadata more closely and free up space “at the end” which can be reclaimed if required.
In Windows 7, Microsoft had turned off defragmentation for Solid State Disks. In Windows 8 however, since the tool has undergone a change into a general disk optimization tool, you will see it enabled by default for SSDs too. You can read more about the Improved Disk Defragmenter and Storage Optimizer in Windows 8. If you use a Solid State Drive, you may want to read this post on Defragmentation and SSD in Windows 8.
The Disk Defragmenter process starts according to a schedule that you can adjust. You can open the Disk Defragmenter in Windows 8 or Windows 7, by right-clicking on a Drive’s icon, selecting Properties and clicking on the Tools tab.
Here, you can change settings by clicking on the Change settings button and opt to run scheduled scans on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. or choose to defragment “now’ by clicking on Analyze or Optimize.
Some Points To Remember:
- Disk Defragmenter does not defragment files in the Recycle Bin. It is best to run Disk Cleaner first and then empty the Recycle Bin before defragmenting
- Disk Defragmenter will also not defragment files which are in use. Best to try and shut down as many processes as possible and then defragment.
- Disk Defragmenter does not defragment the following files: Bootsect DOS, Safeboot fs, Safeboot CSV, Safeboot RSV, Hiberfil sys, Memory dump and the Windows page file. However using the -b parameter, as mentioned below, will optimize the boot files.
Disk defragmenter Command line options
There are various command line options for you to exercise control over the defragmentation process.
To defrag a specific drive, say Drive C, open a command prompt and type:
You can use the following parameters or switches with the Defrag command to further fine-tune your control:
-r This is the default setting and defragments file fragments that less than 64 MB.
-a Analyze the selected drive / volume & display a summary report, consisting of analysis and defragmentation reports.
-c Defragments all volumes on the computer. Don’t specify a drive letter while using this.
-w Perform FULL defragmentation of files of ALL sizes.
-f Forced defragmentation even when there is less amount of free space on the drive being defragmented. A volume must have at least 15 % free space before Disk Defragmenter can completely defragment it.
-i This makes Defrag run in the background & operate only if the computer is idle, like when running as a scheduled task.
-v Install wifi driver windows 7. Displays complete reports.
-b It optimizes boot files and applications only.
The only indication you will get is a blinking cursor. This means that the process is going. To interrupt the defragmentation process, press Ctrl + C in the command window.
You can read more here on Defrag Options & Command line switches.
Disk defragmenter does not run
If you find that you are unable to defragment or cannot run the defragment utility in Windows or that a drive or volume has been marked as having errors, run chdsk by entering
at any command prompt; where c is the drive letter. You will be able to then run Defrag after Chkdsk has repaired the file system. If you still face problems, see this post on Disk defragmenter could not start or Failed to initialize.
Disk Defragmenter Windows 10 Passes
In Windows 10/8, while the default defragger is good enough for most of us, there are some who prefer to use Free Defragmentation Software. You may want to have a look at these too.
Do you know about the Hidden Partitions displayed in Disk Defragmenter Tool?
Disk Defragment Win 10
TIP: Download this tool to quickly find & fix Windows errors automatically
Disk Defragmenter Windows 10 Shortcut
Related Posts: