8/25/22, 3:17 PM 10 Ways to Resolve a 100% Disk Usage on Windows 10 (2022)

All Articles (https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/) →

Windows Tips & Troubleshooting (https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/windows-tips-troubleshooting/)

10 Best Ways to Fix a 100% Disk Usage on Windows 10

Updated on February 7, 2022

Written by
Jeff Cochin (https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/author/jeff-cochin/) (https://twitter.com/Jeff_Cochin)

Approved by
Brett Johnson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-johnson-56ba9382/) (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-
johnson-
56ba9382/)

Table of Contents

Way 1: Restart Your System

Way 2: Update Windows

Way 3: Disable Windows Search

Way 4: Check For Malware

Way 5: Stop the Superfetch Service

Way 6: Change Energy Options from

Balanced to High Performance

Way 7: Temporarily Turn Off Your Antivirus

Software

Way 8: Reset Virtual Memory in Windows

10

Way 9: Run Check Disk

Way 10: Change Settings in Google

Chrome and Skype

Windows 10 users who experience issues such as slow response time may look into their Task Manager for guidance. Task

Manager provides you with a wealth of information regarding the processes that are currently running on your machine.

Among the metrics, you can monitor with Task Manager is your computer’s disk usage. If you see a disk usage of 100% your

machine’s disk usage is maxed out and your system’s performance will be degraded. You need to take some corrective action.

https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/100-disk-usage-windows-10.html 1/11
8/25/22, 3:17 PM 10 Ways to Resolve a 100% Disk Usage on Windows 10 (2022)

Many users who have recently upgraded to Windows 10 have complained of their computers running slowly and Task Manager

reporting 100% disk usage.

Here are 10 methods you can use to attempt to resolve the problem of high disk usage on your Windows 10 system. Some
may take longer than usual due to the stress and increased usage that your hard drive is already under.

Read also
(/howto/recover-deleted-files-
How to Recover Deleted Files on Windows 10
windows10.html)

(/howto/disable-update-
How to Turn Off Automatic Updates on Windows 10
windows-10.html)

Way 1: Restart Your System

You know from experience that restarting your machine can often resolve all kinds of issues. Your Windows 10 100% disk

usage problem is no exception. While taking this route may not help you find out the underlying reason for the problem, if it

goes away, that may be sufficient for you.

Be sure to use the “Restart” option which starts your system in a fresh state as opposed to the “Shut Down” option which

preserves your system state and may not resolve your disk issue.

Way 2: Update Windows

Installing the latest updates can often resolve mysterious problems with your Windows 10 system. Check if you are up to date

by going into the “Update and security” section of the Windows Settings app.

https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/100-disk-usage-windows-10.html 2/11
8/25/22, 3:17 PM 10 Ways to Resolve a 100% Disk Usage on Windows 10 (2022)

You can check for new updates and install them if they are available.

Settings > Update & Security settings > Windows Update

This may improve the overall performance of your system including that of your hard drive.

➡️Also check: How to Upgrade Windows 10 to Windows 11 without Losing Data (/howto/update-windows-10-to-windows-11-
without-losing-data.html)

Way 3: Disable Windows Search

A known bug in Windows 8 and 10 can cause a search loop that can be the cause of your high disk usage. To temporarily stop

the Windows Search facility and see if it improves your disk issue, open an admin prompt and enter the command: net.exe

stop “Windows search”. This will stop Windows search from running until the next time Windows is restarted.

If it turns out that Windows Search was responsible for your Windows 10 disk usage reaching 100%, you can disable it
permanently by following this procedure:

1. Press the Windows key + R , enter services.msc and hit Enter .

2. The services window will open. Select the Windows Search entry and double-click it to update its
properties.

https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/100-disk-usage-windows-10.html 3/11
8/25/22, 3:17 PM 10 Ways to Resolve a 100% Disk Usage on Windows 10 (2022)

3. Select Disabled under Startup type and then OK to save your changes.

Way 4: Check For Malware

Your computer may be infected with malware that is causing your disk usage to spike. If you have antivirus software running in

the background it should have caught the issue. Nothing is perfect though, so force your antivirus package to scan your hard

drive for a potential infection. This could be a time-consuming process since your disk is already experiencing high usage but

might be necessary to identify and remove malicious software.

Way 5: Stop the Superfetch Service

Another Windows 10 feature that can cause problems is the Windows Superfetch service. You can disable this service

temporarily in a similar fashion to Windows search with the command: net.exe stop superfetch.

To disable the service permanently, use the same procedure as for disabling Windows search.

https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/100-disk-usage-windows-10.html 4/11
8/25/22, 3:17 PM 10 Ways to Resolve a 100% Disk Usage on Windows 10 (2022)

Way 6: Change Energy Options from Balanced to High Performance

This change of energy settings seems to have worked for a number of users who have experienced 100% disk usage on

Windows 10.

Use this procedure:

1. Go to Power Options > Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings.

2. Select the High-performance option from the drop-down box and make sure all plan settings are set to their
defaults.

Way 7: Temporarily Turn Off Your Antivirus Software

Another step to take when investigating the cause behind your Windows 10 100% disk usage problem is to turn off your

antivirus software temporarily. See if this improves your disk usage. If so, you may want to consider changing antivirus

packages. Even Windows Defender can cause problems by increasing I/O and network usage which might lead to high disk

usage.

Way 8: Reset Virtual Memory in Windows 10

https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/100-disk-usage-windows-10.html 5/11
8/25/22, 3:17 PM 10 Ways to Resolve a 100% Disk Usage on Windows 10 (2022)

Virtual memory treats your disk as if it is RAM and uses it to swap out temporary files when it runs out of actual RAM. Errors in

the pagefile.sys can cause 100% disk usage on your Windows 10 machine. The remedy to this problem is to reset your virtual

memory settings.

Follow these steps to reset your virtual memory:

1. In your computer’s “System Properties” you need to click on “Advanced system settings”.

2. Click “Settings” in the Performance section.

3. Select the “Advanced” tab and click the “Change” button.

https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/100-disk-usage-windows-10.html 6/11
8/25/22, 3:17 PM 10 Ways to Resolve a 100% Disk Usage on Windows 10 (2022)

4. Make sure the box titled “Automatically manage paging file size” is checked.

5. You can also choose “No paging file”, Press OK and then reboot. This will inhibit the use of virtual
memory and may improve your system’s disk performance.

https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/100-disk-usage-windows-10.html 7/11
8/25/22, 3:17 PM 10 Ways to Resolve a 100% Disk Usage on Windows 10 (2022)

Way 9: Run Check Disk

A check disk can show you if there are any physical problems with your hard drive. Usually, a high disk usage indicates that

there is an application or logical issue driving the disk usage, but it is worth your time to rule out any physical damage. Run

check disk and note its results.

Way 10: Change Settings in Google Chrome and Skype

Some users have reported that making these changes to your Google Chrome and Skype settings can have a beneficial effect

on your disk usage.

For Chrome, make this change:

Settings -> Show advanced settings.

https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/100-disk-usage-windows-10.html 8/11
8/25/22, 3:17 PM 10 Ways to Resolve a 100% Disk Usage on Windows 10 (2022)

Under Privacy section, uncheck the “Use a prediction service to load pages more quickly” option.

You should also try disabling Flash in Google Chrome.

To update your Skype settings use this procedure:

1. To start Skype for Windows 10, select the Start menu from the bottom left of your screen. In the list of
available applications, scroll down to Skype for Windows 10 and click to open it.

2. Select the Security tab and click on the Edit option.

3. In the list of “Groups or Usernames” select “ALL APPLICATION PACKAGES”. Check the Write option to
select Allow which lets Skype write to your disk.

4. Press OK .

If these methods don’t resolve your issue with 100% disk usage on your Windows 10 computer, you may need to look into

replacing your hard drive. One last thing to try is to disable any automatic defrag processes that are running as they may be

causing you problems. In general, your hard drive should never be at 100% usage, so if it is, there is some reason for the

condition. You need to fix the issue or risk a very slow moving computer.

(https://twitter.com/Jeff_Cochin)
Jeff Cochin

Jeff Cochin is a data management and recovery expert. He also serves as a technical writer, testing and reviewing tech solutions in
various fields. Jeff Cochin is a professional data management, warehousing and recove...

Read full bio (https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/author/jeff-cochin/)

Approved by
Brett Johnson (https://www.linkedin.com/in/brett-
johnson-
56ba9382/)
This article has been approved by Brett Johnson, Data Recovery Engineer at ACE Data Recovery. Brett has a Bachelor's Degree in
Computer Systems and Network, 12 years of experience.

Related Articles

https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/100-disk-usage-windows-10.html 9/11
8/25/22, 3:17 PM 10 Ways to Resolve a 100% Disk Usage on Windows 10 (2022)

January 9, 2020
How to Detect a Disk Failure on Windows Computers
(https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/disk-failure-windows.html)

January 9, 2020
How to Fix a Slow Running MacBook
(https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/fix-macbook-running-slow.html)

February 9, 2021
How to Recover Files from External Hard Drive Not…
(https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/recover-external-hard-drive-not-showing-up-on-mac.html)

January 9, 2020
The List of Best Mac Partition Manager Applications
(https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/partition-hard-drive-mac.html)

May 2, 2022
How to Fix USB Device Not Recognized on Windows 11/10/8/7
(https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/fix-usb-device-not-recognized.html)

February 22, 2022

Detecting Disk Failure on a Mac
(https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/disk-failure-mac.html)

April 5, 2022
Recover a USB Flash Drive That has Turned RAW
(https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/recover-data-raw-usb-drive.html)

January 9, 2020
Frequently Asked Questions about Computer Forensics…
(https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/forensic-data-recovery.html)

Try Disk Drill for Free

Your Companion for Deleted Files Recovery in Mac OS X 10.8.5+

and for Windows XP/Vista/7/8/10

Free Download (/download-disk-drill-windows.html)

4.8

https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/100-disk-usage-windows-10.html 10/11
8/25/22, 3:17 PM 10 Ways to Resolve a 100% Disk Usage on Windows 10 (2022)

based on 467 users review

About (/about.html) Help (/help/) Partners (/partners.html) Press (/press.html) Uninstall (/help/tag/uninstall/)
Legal (/help/tag/policy/)

© 2022 508 Software, LLC, its affiliates and licensors

901 N Pitt St, Ste 325-D, Alexandria, VA 22314, USA

https://www.cleverfiles.com/howto/100-disk-usage-windows-10.html 11/11