Possible Ways To Fix – Defrag Not Working in Windows 10

There are many reasons why hard-drives might start to respond less efficiently and one of the most common reasons for this is the presence of fragments on your hard disk. In simple terms, when over time, data gets scattered across your hard drive, fragments take place. To resolve the issue, Windows 10 offers ways to defragment your hard disk. But, imagine if Windows 10 defrag is not working. How would you then resolve this issue?

How To Defragment Your Windows 10 PC

If you are new to the concept of defragmenting Windows 10. Here is how you defragment your Windows 10 PC –

1. In the Windows search bar, type Defragment and optimize hard drives
2. Click on open from the right-hand pane
3. Click on the drive where you see some percentage of fragmentation in the Current Status section
   
4. Click Optimize

However, what if you find that defrag is not working on your Windows 10 PC? Let’s first see what can be some of the common reasons because of which this problem may occur.

Reasons Why Defrag is Not Working on Your Windows 10 PC?

1. Defrag service is not properly set up
2. Your antivirus is interfering with “Defragment and optimize hard drives” functionality
3. Applications running in the background and not letting the Disk Defragmenter open
4. Presence of corrupt files

Ways To Make Disk Defrag Work on Windows 10 Again

1. Check if Disk Defragmenter Service is Running The Way It Should

If the disk defragmenter service is not set properly, it will not run properly or not run at all. Here is how you can check or set up defrag service in Windows using the services –

1. Press Windows + R and open the Run dialog box
2. Type msc and press Enter
3. Scroll down and locate Optimize Drives
   
   
4. Check in the Startup Type if it is set to manual (check the Startup Type tab)
5. Also, the below-mentioned services should be set to automatic (check the Startup Type tab)

• Remote Procedure Call (RPC)
• DCOM Server Process Launcher
• RPC Endpoint Mapper

This procedure should help you get back your Disk Defragmenter back on track.

2. Perform System File Checker

System File Checker or SFC is a Windows 10 command which scans and identifies any impending errors and then delivers appropriate solutions. In case, the defrag facility is not working on your Windows 10 PC due to an error, the SFC command will scan for the error and help resolve it.

1. In the Windows search bar, type cmd
2. Choose Run as administrator from the right-hand side
3. When the command prompt window opens, type sfc /scannow
4. Wait for the process to complete

You can now try and relaunch the Disk Defragmenter and check if it has started to function again.

3. Check if Your Antivirus is Causing Hindrance

If the Disk Defragmenter refuses to run on your PC, chances are that your antivirus software is to be blamed. Some antivirus programs are known to interfere with Windows’ components. When that happens, applications cease to function properly. One such application is Disk Defragmenter. This situation can be evident if you have recently installed an antivirus program and are not able to run defrag on Windows 10. You can try disabling the antivirus in the first place. If the defragmenter works soon after you have disabled your antivirus, you can try switching over to a different option.

4. Close All Background Applications

Apart from your Antivirus, there might be some other application running in the background because of which defrag might not work on your Windows 10 PC. You can try and close all these background applications. For this –

1. Press Shift + Ctrl + Esc
2. This will open the Task Manager
   
   
3. Select applications one by one and then click on the End Task button present at the bottom right of the Task Manager’s window

5. Run Defrag In Safe Mode

If there are any nonessential components that are causing interference with the defrag functionality, you can try restarting your computer in safe mode. Running disk defragmenter in safe mode will most preferably help, you run it without any hassles. Here’s how you can run Windows 10 in Safe Mode.

6. Use An Alternative Tool

If you are unable to operate the disk defragmenter on your Windows 10 computer, you can instead try an alternative third-party software. One such software is Disk Speedup. It is a powerful maintenance tool for Windows 10 that can help you remove fragments from your hard drive, clear every ounce of junk, and even repair any file system issues that are hampering the performance of your computer. To get a comprehensive insight on its features and why it is the best disk defragmenter tool for Windows PC, read this post.   

How Disk Speedup Works?

Click Here to Download Disk Speedup 

1. Download and install Disk Speedup
   
2. Click on the Scan option from the left-hand side
   
3. Select the drive you want to scan and then click on Start Scan Now
4. Once the scanning is complete, you can initiate the defragmentation process by checking the Direct Defrag

Wrapping Up

Defragmentation is the way to reorganize those scattered pieces of data and improve your computer’s efficiency. In that regard, we hope that we were able to resolve the issue and is defrag working now on your Windows 10 PC? If yes, do let us know in the comments section below. For more such content keep reading Tweak Library.