- On Windows 11, open Settings > System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Disks & volumes.
- Open the properties for the hard drive and check the health status.
- The status will show the estimated remaining life, available spare, and temperature.
Windows 11 has a storage health monitoring feature that can detect hardware problems on hard drives and notify you ahead of time to give you enough time to backup your data, and in this guide, you will learn how to use it.
The feature is part of the modern āDisks & volumesā settings, and itās available for Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) Solid-State Drives (SSDs). If a possible hardware problem is detected on the hard drive, you will get a desktop notification letting you know that āa storage device may be at risk of failure and requires your attention,ā which you can click to access more details about the problem.
If you missed the notification, the storage drive performance is degrading or acting up, and you want to check its health, you will have to access the details manually through the Settings app.
In this guide, you will learn the steps to check the hard driveās health without the need for third-party software on Windows 11.
Check hard drive health on Windows 11
To check the health of the hard disk on Windows 11, use these steps:
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Open Settings on Windows 11.
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Click on System.
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Click the Storage tab.
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Under the āStorage managementā section, select on Advanced storage settingsĀ option.
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Click the āDisks & volumesā setting.
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Select the hard drive to check the health report on Windows 11.
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Click the Properties button.
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Under the āDrive healthā section, confirm if the drive is at risk of failure.
Once you complete the steps, if the feature detects a potential problem, you will see a warning message, which it might read āreliability is degraded Back up your data in case of drive failure.ā Along with the warning, you also get estimated remaining life, available space, and temperature information.
If you get a risk of failure warning for a hard drive, it is strongly recommended to back up the data immediately, because the chances of failure are imminent.
You can also click the āBack up nowā option to access the backup settings to upload the files to OneDrive. However, you can use other tools, such as the System Image Backup tool, or third-party software to back up the data, such as Macrium Reflect.
The screenshot of the drive health for this post is from a virtual SSD, and it doesnāt reflect the real information. If the hard drive has issues, the health information may look like the screenshot below.
If you donāt see the drive health information, itās likely that you donāt have a supported drive (currently only NVMe SSDs are supported).