All you need to know about how to fix 100% Disk-Usage in Windows 11 :

As we all know that Windows has released it's Latest version after long gap after releasing it's Windows 10. Windows 11 comes with many UI changes and polish, but still there are some underlying issues that just don’t seem to leave Windows in this latest version too. Many PCs won't Support this Version as it is High end version we need  decent specs along with higher TPM version but Thanks to beebom, i have managed to install it on my PC and used the same which is an awesome update. Now, Many users reported and i also observed random spikes in disk usage in Windows 11, with 100% disk usage even PC is idle. 

I have solved my issue and as per my research i have gathered all the possible solutions to resolve the problem, these ways will help you to bring down the high disk usage in Windows 11.

Following ways are the most effective methods to fix the 100% disk usage problem. Let's Dive in

1. Disable Background Apps

First things first, Check all the applications which are Running in background and Disable the apps which can we do so. There will be a high chances of background apps might be one of the reasons you are seeing 100% disk usage on computer. 

Here is how you can do that :

=>  Open Windows Settings using the “Windows + I” keyboard shortcut and move to “Accounts” section from the left pane. Here, select “Sign-in options“.

=> Next, go to the “Apps” section and click on “Apps and Features” on the right pane.

=> Now you have a list of apps installed on your PC. Click the three-dot menu icon next to the apps you want to disable from running in the background.

=> Select “Advanced options” from the menu from 3 dots and scroll down to get to the “Background apps permissions” option. Select “Never” from the drop-down menu here to prevent the app from running in the background and avoid unnecessary disk usage. Do this for all the apps which you don’t want to run in the background.

2, Perform a System Scan 

If you still see a spike in disk usage, even after following all the steps above, I would suggest performing a system scan to look for malware or hidden rootkits. Sometimes, sophisticated malware hides behind the system folders and performs all sorts of actions, including crypto mining and malicious encryption. In such cases, it becomes necessary to look for the trojan horse and eliminate it to reduce your disk usage from 100% in Windows 11. You must check the list of best malware removal tools for Windows 11, Perform a deep scan on your PC, If the antivirus finds anything suspicious, remove it and check if disk usage has gone down.

3, Run Disk Check from CMD

Sometimes, due to logical errors, disk may unable to complete a given operation, and it continues to use the disk abnormally by attempting to execute the action. And this may leads to 100% spikes in disk usage on Windows 11 PCs. So we suggest you to run Disk Check to resolve the issue.

=>  Press the Windows key once and type “cmd”. Run cmd with admin privileges.

=> Once you opened CMD with admin rights, run this command (chkdsk /r c: ). It will ask whether you want to perform a disk check the next time your PC restarts. Type Y and hit Enter. Now, restart your PC, and PC will check for all the bad sectors and logical errors and will fix them along the way. Once the computer boots, the high disk utilization issue will be gone in many cases.

          

 

=> Change the Startup type to “Disabled” and click on “Stop” to immediately halt the service. Then, click on Apply and OK.

After doing this check disk usage once, check after restart as well.

6, Disable Scheduled Defragmentation

As an Windows user from very long time, Many of us know that OS periodically conducts defragmentation of the hard disk to improve performance. While performing this it increases the disk usage to 100%, So to disable the scheduled defragmentation on Windows 11, go on below

=> Press the Windows key once and search for “defragment“. 

=>  Now, open “Defragment and Optimize Drives”. Next, click on “Change settings“.

=> Untick the “Run on a schedule (recommended)” checkbox and click on “OK”. This will disable scheduled defragmentation on your PC, 

This should reduce disk usage and prevent it from going up to 100% randomly.

7, Disable Startup Apps

Startup apps are the applications or programs that automatically start running in the background when you start your PC. These apps may consume disk usage and slow down your PC whether you use them or not but they keep running in background. Keep a check on what programs you allow to start up when you switch on your computer and disable the unnecessary ones right away. Here is how to do that here:

=> Use the Windows 11 keyboard shortcut “Ctrl + Shift + Esc” to open the Task Manager.

=> After that, move to the “Startup” tab and check out all the apps. If you see an app that you don’t use during startup and has the “Enabled” select that app next to it, then right-click on it and disable it.

This may solve your issue or else go to next steps and while installing application you may be prompted to select to start the app with startup you can disable from there itself if you really don't want that particular app starting from system start up.

8, Reset Virtual Memory

If your PC got short of RAM, it sometimes utilizes the hard disk memory as a swap to hold programs and files in memory. in some cases PC takes up major disk space, which could increase the disk usage considerably. To avoid such a scenario, we can reset virtual memory or increase it, so that the OS does not keep the hard disk engaged all the time.

=> Open the Run window using the “Windows + R”, input sysdm.cpl. It will open the “System Properties” window directly.

=> Now, Move to the “Advanced” tab and click on “Settings” under Performance.

=> Under “Performance Options” window, move to the “Advanced” tab and click on “Change”

=> Untick the “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” option's checkbox and choose “Custom size“

=> Now, enter the “Recommended” size (mentioned in the screenshot) into the Initial size field. And in the Maximum size field, enter the amount (in MB) 1.5x times your RAM size. For example, Your RAM is 8GB, so I have entered 1024 x 8 x 1.5 = 12288. Finally, click Set -> OK. Now, restart your PC, Done.

Now your issue may resolved, if not yet go through the next process steps

9, Disable Connected User Experiences and Telemetry

Connected User Experiences and Telemetry is another service by Microsoft that runs under svchost.exe and there is a chance of high disk usage. It basically tracks diagnostic data and sends it to Microsoft’s servers. So to disable it, follow steps below.

=> Open the Run prompt by pressing the “Windows + R” shortcut. Here, type services.msc and enter

=> There, Under the Services window, look for “Connected User Experiences and Telemetry” and open it. Then, set the Startup type to “Disabled” and stop the service right away. Click Apply then OK to save the changes.

=> Many Techies also suggest to disable the “Connected Devices Platform Service” as well. by changing the Startup type to “Disabled” and stop the service. Disabling both of these services should significantly bring down disk usage.

10, Disable MSI Mode

Microsoft reported that, in some cases, high disk usage actually stems from Advanced Host Controller Interface PCI-Express (AHCI PCIe) controllers that have firmware incompatibility. If your PC is using the “StorAHCI.sys” driver, you are most likely affected by this issue. Microsoft further states that if Message Signaled Interrupt (MSI) mode is disabled, disk usage can be reduced drastically. here is the steps below on how to disable the MSI mode, Thanks to beebom for this steps :

=> First, use the “Windows + X” shortcut to access the Quick Links menu and open Device Manager.

=> Expand “IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers” and right-click on the entry. Now, select “Properties” from the menu.

=> From the Properties pop-up window, move to the “Driver” tab and click on “Driver Details“.

=> If you find “StorAHCI.sys” under the path, proceed to the next step. In case a different driver name appears on your PC, you don’t need to proceed ahead. This solution is not for you and won’t help you solve the 100% disk usage issue.

=> Next, go to the “Details” tab and change the Property to “Device instance path” from the drop-down menu. Now, right-click on the “Value” here and copy it.

=> Paste the Value into a Notepad file as we will need it ahead.

Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\CurrentControlSet\Enum\PCI\

=> Now, match the entry with the one you pasted in the Notepad file and expand it.

=> Further, move to Device Parameters -> Interrupt Management -> MessageSignaledInterruptProperties.

=> On the right pane, look for “MSISupported“. Open it and change the value data to 0.

=> Close the Registry Editor and restart your PC. Now onwards, you will find that your disk utilization does not go above the 10-20% mark.

11, Update Windows 11 or Perform a Clean Install

You should try updating Windows 11 to the latest version if it is not in latest version. Use the “Windows + I” shortcut to open Windows Settings, move to “Windows Update” from the left pane, and click on “Check for Updates”. Download and install all the pending updates and restart your PC. After that leave your PC idle for an hour after the update so that it applies all the changes.

In case it does not work, you need to perform a clean install of Windows 11. Don’t worry, none of your files from other drives will be erased, except for the C drive, so remember to back up all your valuable files. This method will most certainly fix the issue.

12, Update Storage Drivers

Due to faulty storage drivers, the disk can be stuck in a memory loop and may perform an action repeatedly. It can increase disk usage and cause your Windows 11 PC to slow down. To solve this issue, you should try updating the storage drivers to the latest version. And here’s how you can do that:

=> Press the “Windows + X” and open the Quick Links menu and open “Device Manager“.

That's for the story guys, Hope you got the information useful. If you have any word about us kindly let us know.

That's for the article, Hope you find the information well and if you have any topic recommendations or need any improvements in our content let us know and you can join our social groups through below and stay tuned to our social handles as well. If you want to join in Whatsapp, Telegram, Signal.