How to Check Hard Drive and SSD Health in Windows 11

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How to Check Hard Drive and SSD Health in Windows 11

Drives rarely fail without warning. Windows 11 has built-in ways to check how healthy your SSD or hard drive is, so you can back up and replace it before you lose files. Here is what each tool shows and what to do with the result.

Back up first: if you already suspect a problem (clicking noises, freezes, files that won't open), copy your important files to another drive or cloud storage before running any scan.

Method 1: Drive Health in Settings (NVMe SSDs)

Open Settings > System > Storage.
Click Advanced storage settings > Disks & volumes.
Select the drive and click Properties.
Look at Drive health: it shows the estimated remaining life, available spare and temperature.

Microsoft notes that Windows only monitors NVMe SSDs this way. For SATA SSDs and hard drives the Drive health section doesn't appear; use Methods 2-4.

If Windows ever shows a notification such as "Reliability is degraded" for a drive, treat it as serious: back up straight away.

Method 2: PowerShell Health Status (All Drives)

Right-click Start and choose Terminal (Admin).
Run:

Get-PhysicalDisk | Select-Object FriendlyName, MediaType, HealthStatus, OperationalStatus

Each drive should show Healthy and OK. Warning or Unhealthy means the drive is reporting a problem.

For more detail from the drive's own counters (not every drive reports every value), run:

Get-PhysicalDisk | Get-StorageReliabilityCounter | Select-Object DeviceId, Temperature, Wear, ReadErrorsTotal, WriteErrorsTotal

Wear is a percentage of the SSD's rated life that has been used. Rising read or write error counts are a warning sign.

Method 3: CHKDSK (File System and Bad Sectors)

CHKDSK checks the file system for errors. The online scan is safe to run while you work:

chkdsk C: /scan

Run it in Command Prompt as administrator. If it reports problems, it will suggest a repair. To fix errors, run:

chkdsk C: /f

For the system drive, Windows asks to run it at the next restart; type Y and restart. The /r option also looks for bad sectors, but it can take hours on a large hard drive. On a drive that is already failing, back up first, since long scans put extra strain on it.

You can also run a check from File Explorer: right-click the drive, choose Properties > Tools > Check.

Method 4: Look for Disk Errors in Event Viewer

Right-click Start and choose Event Viewer.
Go to Windows Logs > System.
Click Filter Current Log and, under Event sources, tick disk and Ntfs.

A handful of old entries is normal. Frequent recent errors mentioning bad blocks or a controller error suggest the drive or its cable is failing.

Method 5: The Drive Maker's Tool

Samsung, WD, Seagate, Crucial, Kingston and other makers offer free tools that read the drive's full health data (SMART) and install firmware updates. Download them only from the maker's own website.

What the Results Mean

Result	What to do
Healthy, low wear, no errors	Nothing; check again every few months
SSD remaining life below about 10%, or wear rising fast	Plan a replacement and keep backups current
Warning / Unhealthy, critical notification, many disk errors	Back up now and replace the drive
CHKDSK errors but health OK	Let CHKDSK repair them; check again later

Keep the Drive Healthy

Keep at least 10-15% of the drive free; see storage full: how to find what is taking up space.
Keep the PC cool and dusted.
Install firmware updates from the drive maker.
Keep a regular backup, whatever the health report says.

Signs You Need Help Now

If the PC won't start, or the drive clicks or disappears from Windows, stop using it and don't run repair tools repeatedly. See Windows won't boot: 12 fixes, and if files are already missing, how to recover deleted files in Windows.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Can Windows 11 check SSD health without extra software?

Yes, for NVMe SSDs. Settings > System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Disks & volumes > Properties shows Drive health, including estimated remaining life and temperature. Windows doesn't show this for SATA SSDs or hard drives.

Is CHKDSK a drive health test?

Not exactly. CHKDSK checks and repairs the file system and can find bad sectors. It doesn't read the drive's own health data. Use it along with the other checks.

What should I do if Windows warns my drive is failing?

Back up your files immediately to another drive or the cloud, then replace the drive. Don't run repair tools first; heavy scans can stress a failing drive.

What are signs a hard drive is failing?

Clicking or grinding noises, files that won't open, very slow access, frequent freezes, and warnings from Windows or the drive's own software.