One of the things that Windows does behind the scenes is run TRIM on an SSD in your PC. TRIM keeps the SSD in top shape and helps it run at optimal speed. This is done automatically but you can modify the schedule for Windows to do it more frequently. Here’s what you need to know.
Why optimize your SSD to a schedule?
SSDs aren’t the same as HDDs — not only is the data not stored on spinning disks, but SSDs are also much faster — therefore the defragmentation that’s used to optimize a hard disk drive is irrelevant for an SSD. But when files are deleted from an SSD a TRIM function is necessary to mark those blocks for future storage. That’s how Windows’ Defragment and Optimize utility is useful. Windows runs scheduled drive optimizations by default on a weekly schedule, but you can decide to change this to daily if you wish.
When Windows optimizes an SSD it retrims the blocks, telling the drive which areas are rewritable again. The function is important to the SSD because an SSD with untrimmed blocks can get sluggish.
How to optimize your SSD to a schedule
- Type Dfrag into the Windows Search bar and select Defragment and Optimize Drives.
- Here you will get a list of your SSD drives and their status including whether they need to be optimized. You can choose to optimize them right away by selecting Optimize or click on the Change Settings button to see the optimization schedule.
- Now select how often you want Windows to optimize the drives – either daily, weekly, or monthly
Dominic Bayley / Foundry
And that’s it! Windows will do the rest. You might like to check back here occasionally to ensure that the optimization is taking place and run manual optimizations when you see fit.