How to Check Your Disk for Errors on Windows 10 (3 Reliable Ways)

Disk errors are sneaky. They start as an occasional freeze, a file that won’t open, a program crashing for no reason — and they end, if ignored, with a drive that won’t boot. The good news: Windows 10 has excellent built-in tools for finding and fixing disk errors, and checking takes minutes of your time (plus some waiting while the scan runs).

This guide covers the three reliable methods: the graphical Check tool for quick scans, CHKDSK from the command line for thorough repairs, and SMART health monitoring to catch drives that are physically failing. Use them in that order — quick to deep — and you’ll know exactly where your disk stands.

Why this happens

• Improper shutdowns: Power loss or forced shutdowns interrupt writes, leaving the file system inconsistent.
• Aging drive mechanics: HDDs develop bad sectors over time; SSDs wear their flash cells with writes.
• Failing hardware: Dying controllers or degrading NAND produce errors faster than normal aging.
• Bad cables/connections: Loose SATA cables or failing USB enclosures cause I/O errors that look like disk errors.
• Driver issues: Buggy storage drivers corrupting transfers between Windows and the drive.
• Malware damage: Some malware deliberately corrupts file-system structures.
• Overheating: Hot drives (especially in cramped laptops) produce transient errors under thermal stress.

How to fix it

Work through these in order — diagnose first, then act.

Fix 1: Quick check with the drive Properties tool

The fastest, friendliest check — start here.

1. Open File Explorer > This PC, right-click your system drive (usually C:) > Properties.
2. Go to the Tools tab and click Check under “Error checking.”
3. Windows may say “You don’t need to scan this drive” — click Scan drive anyway for peace of mind.
4. The scan runs in a few minutes on SSDs (longer on HDDs). It reports either “no errors found” or repairs what it finds automatically.
5. Repeat for your other drives (D:, external drives) — errors on a data drive cause the same symptoms as system-drive errors. If the laptop is generally slow too, see speeding up a slow Windows 11 laptop — many of the principles apply to Windows 10 as well.

Fix 2: Thorough check with CHKDSK

When the quick check isn’t enough, CHKDSK goes deeper.

1. Open Command Prompt as administrator: search cmd in Start, right-click > Run as administrator.
2. For a standard repair scan, type chkdsk C: /f and press Enter. If it’s the system drive, Windows will ask to schedule the scan at next reboot — type Y and press Enter, then restart.
3. For a deep scan including bad-sector detection, use chkdsk C: /r instead. Warning: this takes much longer (30 minutes to several hours) — run it overnight on AC power.
4. After the scan, review the summary: “0 KB in bad sectors” is what you want. Note the counts of repaired errors for your records.
5. To check the detailed results afterward, open Event Viewer > Windows Logs > Application, filter for source Wininit — the full CHKDSK log is there.

Fix 3: Read the drive’s SMART health data

CHKDSK fixes file systems; SMART tells you if the hardware itself is dying.

1. Download CrystalDiskInfo (free) and run it — it reads every connected drive’s SMART data.
2. Check the top-line Health Status: Good (blue) = healthy; Caution (yellow) = degrading, back up now; Bad (red) = replace immediately.
3. For HDDs, watch Reallocated Sectors Count, Current Pending Sector Count, and Uncorrectable Sector Count — any raw values above zero are warning signs.
4. For SSDs, check Percentage Used / Media Wearout Indicator and Available Spare — these show how much of the drive’s write lifespan is consumed.
5. Also note Temperature — consistently above 55–60°C in a laptop shortens drive life; improve cooling if it’s hot.

Fix 4: Fix what CHKDSK can’t — bad sectors and corruption

When scans find problems, act on the results.

1. If CHKDSK repaired errors and SMART is Good: you’re done — the file system is consistent again. Monitor for recurrence over the next weeks.
2. If CHKDSK finds bad sectors (/r scan): the drive marked them unusable, which is fine in small numbers — but growing bad-sector counts mean the drive is failing. Back up immediately.
3. If CHKDSK can’t complete or hangs at a certain percentage: that’s itself a bad sign — the drive may have unreadable areas. Try the scan from Windows Recovery (Shift + Restart > Troubleshoot > Command Prompt) where nothing else accesses the disk.
4. For external drives with errors: try a different USB port and cable first — enclosure/cable issues cause errors that vanish with better connections.
5. If errors keep recurring after repairs, the drive is telling you it’s done — clone it to a replacement with a tool like Macrium Reflect Free before it fails completely.

Fix 5: Prevent future disk errors

An ounce of prevention for your storage.

1. Always shut down properly — avoid holding the power button except as a last resort. Enable a UPS if your area has unstable power.
2. Keep at least 15–20% free space on every drive — full drives fragment more and give the file system less room for safe operations.
3. Keep storage drivers current: Device Manager > Storage controllers > update, or get chipset drivers from your vendor (Dell , HP , Lenovo ).
4. Run sfc /scannow in an elevated Command Prompt periodically — corrupt system files can cause symptoms that mimic disk errors.
5. Maintain backups: Windows 10 File History (Settings > Update & Security > Backup) for documents, plus periodic full system images. A healthy backup makes any disk problem a minor inconvenience.

Fix 6: Know when the drive must be replaced

Recognize the point of no return.

1. Replace immediately if: SMART status is Bad, bad-sector counts grow between scans, the drive makes clicking/grinding noises (HDD), or CHKDSK can’t finish.
2. Plan replacement soon if: SMART shows Caution, the drive is over 5 years old with heavy use, or you see occasional Event Viewer disk errors (IDs 7, 11, 51, 154).
3. Before replacing, back up everything — clone the drive if it’s still readable; copy critical files first if it’s marginal.
4. Consider upgrading to an SSD if you’re still on an HDD — it’s the single biggest performance upgrade for an older Windows 10 laptop, and new drives come with warranties.
5. After replacement, verify with a fresh CrystalDiskInfo reading (should show Good, 100% health) and a clean chkdsk pass. Microsoft documents disk tools at Windows support.

Closing

Checking your disk for errors is straightforward: quick GUI check, thorough CHKDSK, and SMART health reading. Most “mystery” freezes and crashes trace back to something these three reveal. Run the checks when symptoms appear, act on what they find, and keep backups — that’s the entire disk-health discipline in one paragraph. For general performance tune-ups alongside disk health, see speeding up a slow Windows 11 laptop .

Frequently asked questions