How to Run CHKDSK in Windows 11 or Windows 10

To run CHKDSK in Windows 11, right-click Start, select Terminal (Admin), type chkdsk C: /f, and press Enter. Because Windows is using the C: drive, CHKDSK asks to run at the next restart. Type Y, press Enter, and restart the PC. The check runs before Windows loads.

This guide covers CHKDSK on Windows 11 and Windows 10, on internal hard drives, SSDs and USB drives. The commands are the same in both versions. In Windows 10, search Start for Command Prompt and choose Run as administrator instead of Terminal. Windows 10 reached end of support on October 14, 2025, so it no longer gets security updates.

What CHKDSK Does and When to Use It

CHKDSK (Check Disk) examines a drive’s file system, the index Windows uses to track where every file lives. With the /f option it repairs logical errors, such as damaged index entries or files the index lost track of. With /r it also reads every sector of the drive, marks unreadable ones as bad so Windows stops using them, and recovers whatever data it can read.

Good times to run it:

• After a power cut, a crash or a forced shutdown.
• When Windows shows a message such as “Restart to repair drive errors.”
• When files won’t open, folders look empty or corrupted, or a drive asks to be formatted.
• When a drive feels unusually slow or makes Windows freeze while reading files.

CHKDSK can’t fix physical damage. If a drive keeps showing new bad sectors, the hardware is wearing out, and the real fix is to copy your files off and replace it.

Before You Start: Back Up Your Files

Copy important files to another drive or to cloud storage before you run a repair. Repairs change the file system, and if a drive is failing, a long /r scan puts extra work on it. If the files are irreplaceable and the drive is making clicking noises or disappearing, stop and get data recovery help before running any repair.

You also need an administrator account, and about an hour of downtime for a full scan of a large hard drive. Plug a laptop into power so it doesn’t shut down partway through.

Run CHKDSK From Terminal

1. Right-click the Start button and select Terminal (Admin). Select Yes if Windows asks for permission. You can also run Command Prompt as administrator instead. Both work the same way.
2. Type chkdsk C: /f and press Enter. Replace C: with another drive letter to check a different drive.
3. Because C: is in use, CHKDSK shows: “Chkdsk cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Would you like to schedule this volume to be checked the next time the system restarts? (Y/N)”. Type Y and press Enter.

4. Save your work and select Restart from the Start menu. Don’t use Shut down, and don’t turn the PC off while the check runs.
5. Windows runs the check and shows its progress before it loads, then starts normally. See the results section below to read the report.

Other drives, such as a USB drive or a second internal drive, are usually checked right away without a restart. Close any files open from that drive first.

Which CHKDSK Command Should You Use?

Microsoft’s chkdsk reference lists every option. These are the ones most people need:

Command	What it does	Restart needed for C:?
chkdsk C:	Checks and reports problems without fixing anything. It can report false errors on a drive Windows is using.	No
chkdsk C: /scan	Scans an NTFS drive online while you keep working. Problems it can’t fix online are queued for a later repair.	No
chkdsk C: /spotfix	Fixes only the problems a /scan run already logged, so the offline step is short.	Yes
chkdsk C: /f	Fixes file system errors. The drive must be locked.	Yes
chkdsk C: /r	Does everything /f does and also finds bad sectors and recovers readable data.	Yes
chkdsk E: /x	Forces the drive to dismount first, closing open files on it, then runs /f.	Yes, for C:

Two less common switches can save time on very large NTFS drives: /i does a lighter check of index entries, and /c skips checking for loops in the folder structure. Microsoft says /b clears the bad-cluster list and rescans the drive, and is meant for after you copy a disk image to a new hard drive. You don’t need it for normal checks. You also don’t need to type /f /r together, because /r already includes /f.

Before You Use /r

Back up first. A /r scan reads every sector and can run for hours on a large hard drive. High-hour runtimes aren’t uncommon on big drives, even with no errors. If the drive is failing, copying your files off before the scan matters more than the scan itself.

To run it, type chkdsk C: /r, press Enter, type Y to schedule it, and restart.

CHKDSK on an SSD

According to Microsoft’s chkdsk reference, a /r check on an SSD runs faster than on a hard drive but still reads every sector. It also says repeated full-surface scans, especially with /r, can add unnecessary wear to an SSD, while occasional checks aren’t a significant concern. In practice, use /f or /scan for routine file system problems on an SSD, and save /r for when you suspect real damage.

Check a Drive From File Explorer

This is the easiest option if you’d rather not type commands. It runs the same scan and offers a repair if it finds a problem.

1. Open File Explorer and select This PC.
2. Right-click the drive and select Properties.
3. Open the Tools tab.
4. Under Error checking, select Check. If Windows says you don’t need to scan the drive, you can still select Scan drive.

5. If errors are found, choose to repair the drive. For the C: drive, Windows may ask to restart to finish the repair.

If you can’t find the drive, read about finding the C drive on Windows 11.

Run CHKDSK With PowerShell

PowerShell has its own version of these checks. Open Terminal (Admin), which opens PowerShell by default, and use one of the commands from Microsoft’s Repair-Volume reference:

• Repair-Volume -DriveLetter C -Scan checks the drive online, like chkdsk /scan.
• Repair-Volume -DriveLetter C -SpotFix fixes the problems that scan logged, like chkdsk /spotfix.
• Repair-Volume -DriveLetter C -OfflineScanAndFix takes the drive offline and fixes errors, like chkdsk /f.

Typing the plain chkdsk commands above in PowerShell also works.

Run CHKDSK When Windows Won’t Start

If Windows won’t boot, run CHKDSK from the Windows Recovery Environment, a set of repair tools that loads before Windows.

1. Open the Windows Recovery Environment. If Windows still starts, hold Shift and select Power > Restart, or go to Settings > System > Recovery and select Restart now next to Advanced startup. If Windows doesn’t start, it opens recovery automatically after repeated failed starts. You can also boot from a recovery USB.
2. Select Troubleshoot > Advanced options > Command Prompt. If an Automatic Repair screen appears first, select Advanced options to reach these choices. If your drive is encrypted, you may need your BitLocker recovery key.

3. Type diskpart and press Enter, then type list volume and press Enter. Drive letters often change in recovery, so Windows may not be on C:. These two commands only display information. Don’t run format, clean or partition commands.

4. Type exit and press Enter to leave DiskPart.
5. Type dir D:\Windows, using the letter you think holds Windows, and press Enter. If it lists Windows folders, that’s the right drive.
6. Run CHKDSK on that letter, for example chkdsk D: /f, and press Enter.
7. When CHKDSK finishes, close Command Prompt and select Continue to start Windows.

Don’t have a recovery drive? You can make a Windows 11 recovery USB on another PC.

How to See CHKDSK Results

A check that runs during restart disappears when Windows loads. To read the results afterward:

1. Press Windows key + R, type eventvwr.msc, and press Enter.
2. Expand Windows Logs, right-click Application, and select Filter Current Log.
3. In Event sources, check Chkdsk and Wininit, then select OK.
4. Open the newest event to read the report. Look for lines about errors found, files fixed and any bad sectors.

Or run this in PowerShell to show the latest restart-time results:

Get-WinEvent -FilterHashtable @{LogName="Application"} | Where-Object {$_.ProviderName -match "wininit"} | Format-List TimeCreated, Message

For more on Event Viewer, read about checking error logs on Windows 11.

What the Exit Codes Mean

When CHKDSK runs in a script or batch file, it returns a number that Microsoft defines this way:

Exit code	Meaning
0	No errors were found.
1	Errors were found and fixed.
2	Disk cleanup was done, or skipped because /f wasn’t used.
3	The disk couldn’t be checked, or errors weren’t fixed (for example, because /f wasn’t used).

Check or Cancel a Scheduled Check

If you scheduled a check by mistake, or want to know whether one is waiting, use these commands in Terminal (Admin). They come from Microsoft’s chkntfs reference:

• chkntfs C: shows whether C: is marked as dirty (flagged for a check) or scheduled for one at the next restart.
• chkntfs /x C: skips the check at the next startup, even if the drive is flagged.
• fsutil dirty query C: reports whether the drive is flagged as dirty.

When a check is about to start at boot, Windows usually shows a short countdown in which you can press a key to skip it. Skipping is fine for one restart, but a flagged drive should be checked soon.

If CHKDSK Seems Stuck or Won’t Run

• It’s stuck at a percentage. A /r scan can sit on one number for a long time on a large or failing hard drive. Give it at least an hour or two, longer for a multi-terabyte drive, before you assume it has frozen. Cutting the power in the middle can create new errors.
• It didn’t run after restarting. Use Restart, not Shut down, and make sure you typed Y when asked. Check with chkntfs C: that the check is scheduled.
• “Access denied” or “insufficient privileges.” Open Terminal as administrator, as shown in step 1.
• “Cannot lock current drive.” A program is using the drive. Close it and try again, schedule the check for the next restart, or use /x on a non-system drive.
• It asks to convert lost chains to files. On FAT and FAT32 drives, such as many USB sticks, typing Y saves recovered pieces as files named like File0000.chk in the drive’s root folder. Open them to look for anything you need. N fixes the drive without keeping them.
• It keeps finding errors. Back up your files right away. Repeated errors or growing numbers of bad sectors usually mean the drive is failing and should be replaced. The drive maker’s diagnostic tool can confirm it.

CHKDSK checks the drive’s file system. If Windows itself is misbehaving, the System File Checker (sfc /scannow) repairs Windows system files instead. They fix different problems, so running both is fine.

Frequently Asked Questions