[2 Methods] How to Defrag Windows 11 without Losing Data

File fragmentation is one of the big reasons that can slow down your computer. In this article, you will learn why and how to defrag Windows 11 with 2 methods.

Posted by @Tina December 17, 2024 Updated By @Tina May 12, 2023

Scenario

 

"After I upgraded Windows 10 to Windows 11 for a while, my computer was noticeably slower. Some people say that the speed may be slowed down by too many file fragments in the PC, but how to defrag Windows 11? Command Prompt is too difficult for me, is there any other simple way? Looking forward to your answers."

Why need to defrag files on Windows 11?

Windows 11 is a new Windows operating system launched by Microsoft in 2021. Compared with Windows 10, its interface is more concise and beautiful, it has a new version of the start menu and input logic, aiming to improve the users' comfort when they’re using this operation system.

File Fragmentation: File fragmentation is the dispersed file that stored in different places throughout the hard drive. Generally, File fragmentation does not cause problems in the system, but as the number of fragmented files on the disk increases, you may encounter the Windows running slow and even computer freezes.

Disk Defragmentation: It refers to rearranging the fragmented and messy files generated by the computer disk with Windows tools or professional disk defragmentation software. This operation can improve the overall performance and running speed of the computer. But you must note that defragmenting an SSD is not recommended to optimize SSD performance, because HDD and SSD work differently, forcibly defragmenting an SSD will shorten its lifespan.

As mentioned above, if your computer is running slowly, it may be caused by too many fragmented files in your Windows system. Therefore, it is very necessary to defragment the system in time. If you are also confused about the computer freeze, you can continue reading to see how to defragment Windows 11. 

 

How to defragment Windows 11

To improve Windows 11 performance and speed up your PC, defraging hard drive on Windows 11 cannot be ignored. But many people don't know how to defrag hard drive on Windows 11, in this article you can learn two practical methods, including a Windows built-in tool and a professional defrag master.

Method 1. Via Windows 11 built-in tool

First, we can consider using the built-in disk defragmentation tool that comes with Windows 11 to learn to manually defragment the hard drive. So how does it work? Please read the following carefully.

Step 1. Click "Settings" in the Start Menu and select "System" from the left task bar.

Step 2. Click "Storage" and "Advanced storage settings" in turn.

Step 3. In the new popped window, click "Drive optimization".

Step 4. In the "Optimize Drives" window, select the target drive and click "Optimize" to operate the defrag.

● Method 2. Defrag files with a powerful defragger

Although the Windows built-in tool can help us with defragmentation, it’s useless if you don’t know anything about computers. How to defrag Windows 11 easily with a better tool? Here, I would recommend a simpler and more professional software- AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional.

This software is more user-friendly and comprehensive: under detailed guidance, you can defragment files with a few simple steps in a bright interface. In addition, the software can develop an exclusive defragmentation plan according to your personal habits, because you can set the specific time and even the degree of fragmentation. You can optimize your drive by automatically defragmenting files regularly.

When you encounter the computer running slowly and cannot do anything, it also provides you with functions such as Allocate free space, Migrate OS to SSD, Clone Windows to a larger drive to solve this problem from different perspectives.

How to defrag disk in Windows 11 more effectively? Please try to use this most suitable tool to solve it easily.

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Step 1. Download and run AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional, all drives and partitions of this PC are listed, right-click the target disk., then click "Disk Defrag".

Step 2. Check the partition that need to be analyzed and click "Analyze". 

Step 3. If you want to defragment the hard drive regularly, you can click "Schedule" to turn to the next window.

Step 4. Select the target drives, then set the specific date and time to defrag them, then click "OK" to save your new settings.

Step 5. Click "Conditions", then you can set the degree of the fragmentation. Besides, there're other options to make a detailed schedule.

Step 6. After setting all, click "Defrag" to start defragmentation.

Conclusion

How to defrag Windows 11? This article shares two methods for you: Windows built-in tool and AOMEI Partition Assistant Professional. If you want to solve the problem of computer running slow from multiple angles, AOMEI Pro must be the best choice. If you are a Windows Server user, you might as well try the Server Version. If you want multiple people to use this powerful software, the Unlimited Version is the most affordable for you.