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Check and repair disk errors (CHKDSK)

Step 1 of 3

Open Terminal as administrator

Right-click Start, choose Terminal (Admin), then click Yes.

The simulation shows Windows in English, like most laptops.

  1. Open Terminal as administrator

    Right-click Start, choose Terminal (Admin), then click Yes.

    Start (right-click)Terminal (Admin)Yes

  2. Type chkdsk C: /scan and press Enter

    It checks the disk while Windows keeps running. It changes nothing.

    chkdsk C: /scanEnter

  3. Errors found? Type chkdsk C: /f, press Y, then restart

    The repair runs before Windows starts. Don’t turn the laptop off until it finishes.

    chkdsk C: /fEnterY

From basic to technician

TechnicianCheck the health of your SSD or hard disk
TechnicianCheck and repair disk errors (CHKDSK)You are here
Technician fixes (advanced)

The simple steps didn’t help? A technician would try these next, in this order. Stop as soon as the problem is fixed. Commands marked “as administrator”: right-click Start › Terminal (Admin).

  1. Faster online scan (as administrator)

    /perf lets the scan use more of the computer so it finishes sooner. Still read-only and safe while you work.

    chkdsk C: /scan /perf

  2. Fix only the errors already found (as administrator)

    After /scan finds problems, /spotfix repairs just those spots at the next restart, in seconds instead of the long full /f check.

    chkdsk C: /spotfix

  3. Read the result of the repair at start-up

    The check that runs before Windows disappears too fast to read. Its full report is saved in the event log; this shows the latest one, including any “bad sectors” found.

    Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName='Application'; ProviderName='Microsoft-Windows-Wininit'} -MaxEvents 1 | Format-List TimeCreated, Message

  4. Repair a flash drive or external disk (as administrator)

    Replace D: with its letter in This PC. /x disconnects it from Windows first, so no restart is needed.

    chkdsk D: /f /x
    Copy the files you can still read to another disk before repairing a drive that holds important data.

  5. Errors keep coming back: check the hardware (as administrator)

    Any ReadErrorsUncorrected above 0, or Wear above 80, means the disk itself is failing. Back up everything now and replace the disk; CHKDSK can’t fix worn-out hardware.

    Get-PhysicalDisk | Get-StorageReliabilityCounter | Select-Object DeviceId, Wear, ReadErrorsTotal, ReadErrorsUncorrected, Temperature
Technical details (for the curious)

What CHKDSK checks

The NTFS file system structure: the list of files, folders and free space. Errors here make files vanish, break or folders refuse to open. /scan only checks; /f repairs and needs the disk not to be in use, which is why it is scheduled for the next restart.

/r: looking for bad sectors

/r also reads every part of the disk to find bad sectors. It can take hours on a big hard disk. Rarely needed on an SSD; check the SSD’s health instead.

Physical disk health

CHKDSK repairs the file structure, not physical damage. If errors keep coming back, check Get-PhysicalDisk and back up your files right away.

Coming soon

Still not fixed?

In the next update you can tell us what happened, and our AI helper will suggest another way. Until then, restart the device and go through the steps once more.