Since fragmented files are in tiny bits and pieces across your entire drive, it takes much longer to access them. Over time, as you add more files to your computer, the free space shrinks and they get stored in smaller and smaller areas.Įventually, they get stored in the “fragment” areas, which are tiny little pieces of free space that are almost impossible to read.įragmentation is a problem because your computer’s operating system looks for files in contiguous sections. That means that the data for one file could be stored in several different areas on the disk. Whenever an application writes data to your disk, the operating system places it in the first available space. #Why Should You Defrag?Īs you use your computer, files are added, deleted, and modified. If you’re dealing with old-fashioned hard drives and a fragmented drive, defragging can significantly decrease the amount of time it takes to locate and read files, as well as free up space on your hard drive. If you are working with a large number of files, you could experience a significant amount of lag time as programs open and data is retrieved. Since the advent of SSDs and cloud storage, disk fragmentation has become less of an issue, but there are still a few instances where it can be problematic. The result is that the computer’s operating system can more easily locate files and programs, and booting operations are more efficient. Many third-party utilities exist to help you defragment your hard drive - but what are they, why do you need them, and how often should you defrag? #Let’s start with, what is Defragging?ĭefragging is the process of rearranging files on a computer’s hard drive so that sections of the drive (called “fragment” areas) are consolidated together. This problem is known as “fragmentation” or “disk fragmentation,” and it can slow down almost any computer.Īs you use your computer over time, more and more files get scattered about, making it take longer to access things like photos or word documents. This increases the time it takes for your computer to locate specific files because they’re not accessible in contiguous locations. Over time, as new files are added and existing ones read and written to, these fragments get scattered across the disk. Fragmentation occurs when files are stored in non-continuous blocks on a disk. In the early days of personal computing, disk fragmentation was a serious problem.

Windows 10 disk defragmenter