Check Your Hard Drive for Errors 

Check Your Hard Drive for Errors 

Windows 10 and 11 let you scan your hard drive(s) for errors while you use your computer – and it’s easy to do.

Let’s check your Windows drive (usually C:\) for errors.

Open File Explorer (Windows Key + E). On the left pane under This PC, right-click on your C:\ drive, and click “Properties”. (Windows 11 users note: You will need to click on “Show more options” to click on “Properties.”) When the “Properties” dialog opens, click the “Tools” tab, and then click the “Check” button.

Above: Windows 10. Below: Windows 11.

Once you click the “Check” button, the following dialog will appear. It will tell you if you need to scan the drive for errors. If you don’t (as below), it will also tell you that. Even if it says, “You don’t need to scan this drive,” you can still scan the drive if you want to. Just click “Scan drive.”

You can scan any hard drive using this tip.

How to check your hard drive(s) using the Command Prompt.

1.) Type CMD in the taskbar search.
2.) In the search results, click “Run as administrator”.
3.) Type the following command at the prompt and press Enter. (Make sure you leave a space before the slash.)

CHKDSK /SCAN

Windows will scan your drive…

Above Windows 10: Below Windows 11.

When the scan is finished, Windows will tell you if further action is required. As you can see, I don’t need to do anything more. My drive is fine. Yay!

Now you know how to check your hard drives for errors!

And a couple more things…

If drive errors are found, you can fix them by following the instructions displayed on the screen.

You can use this tip to scan any drive, not just the Windows drive ( usually Drive C:\).