Key Points
- Using Settings offers fast, user-friendly visibility into SSD health so users can quickly identify early warning signs of slowness, overheating, or potential failure.
- Windows PowerShell commands, such as Get-PhysicalDisk and Get-StorageReliabilityCounter, may expose additional health and reliability indicators beyond what Settings shows.
- Manufacturer tools provide full SMART attributes, firmware details, and remaining life, making them essential for verifying SSD reliability.
- Benchmarking and monitoring real-time temperatures help uncover throttling, airflow problems, or failing controllers that basic SMART status may not reveal.
- Recording SMART data, temperatures, errors, and firmware versions across endpoints allows IT teams to forecast failures, plan replacements, and align remediation plans.
When you check drive health in Windows 11, you can view information such as estimated remaining life, available spare, and drive temperature. It allows you to more easily diagnose and resolve issues like slowness or overheating.
You can access this information directly in Settings, and Self-Monitoring, Analysis and Reporting Technology (SMART) data can be checked via built-in tools or manufacturer software for more comprehensive information.
A guide for checking drive health and SMART status in Windows 11
📌 Prerequisites:
- You need local administrator access on the endpoint you’re testing.
- You should have a recent backup ready, especially if warning signs are present.
- You should have a known-good USB boot media or recovery plan for failing disks.
Method 1: Quick check in Settings
- Open the Start Menu > Settings.
- Go to System > Storage.
- Open the dropdown menu under Advanced storage settings.
- Select Disks & volumes.
- Select the physical drive you want to check. You may see information such as the estimated remaining life, available spare, and temperature under Drive Health.
💡Note: Drive Health data is not available for all drives. If this information is not shown in Settings, use PowerShell or manufacturer tools instead.
Method 2: Read SMART with built-in Tools
Windows PowerShell can also be used to check your drive health and SMART status using the following commands:
Get-PhysicalDisk | Select FriendlyName, HealthStatus, OperationalStatus
- FriendlyName – This will display the readable name of the disk.
- HealthStatus – This will display the health state of the disk (Healthy/Warning/Unhealthy).
- OperationalStatus – This will display the current operational state of the disk. (OK / Lost Communication/In Maintenance/Predictive Failure).
To view wear, errors, and temperature where exposed, use this command:
“Get-StorageReliabilityCounter -PhysicalDisk (Get-PhysicalDisk -FriendlyName “<DiskName>”)
💡Note: Replace <DiskName> with the FriendlyName value returned by the previous Get-PhysicalDisk command.
You can also use legacy WMIC on the Command Prompt to see if there are SMART-detected issues. To do that, use this command:
wmic diskdrive get status
This command will only serve as a quick signal and not as a full diagnostic. If you want more comprehensive information, use Windows PowerShell commands.
Method 3: Use vendor and third-party utilities for details
Disk drive manufacturers have their own tools to measure drive health. Some examples include:
These tools can give you comprehensive information on your disk drives, including SMART attributes, firmware attributes, and estimated life remaining. To find your drive’s manufacturer, follow these steps:
- Right-click Start Menu > Device Manager.
- Expand Disk drives.
- Double-click the drive you wish to check.
- The manufacturer will be listed under the General tab.
💡Note: SSDs and NVMe drives have finite write endurance (commonly expressed as TBW or DWPD). Once this is consumed, long-term reliability can no longer be guaranteed. Low-cost consumer SSDs may have significantly lower endurance, making it important to monitor estimated remaining life for proactive replacement planning.
💡Note: In addition to USB enclosures, hardware RAID controllers often abstract or mask SMART and drive-level health data. In these cases, vendor disk utilities or RAID controller management tools should be used for accurate diagnostics.
Other things to do to monitor drive health in Windows
Validate Performance and thermals
It’s important to see how your drive performs under pressure and how it handles disk-intensive tasks. That way, you can be sure that the computer can handle your organization’s daily workflows.
To do that, you can follow these steps:
- Copy a large file or run your standard storage benchmark and verify that throughput is within expected ranges for the drive and interface.
- Observe the device temperature during activity using Windows PowerShell or manufacturer tools.
Ensure that the temperature remains within manufacturer-recommended operating ranges and does not exceed documented maximum thresholds. If the device experiences sustained high temperatures, it can accelerate wear and tear.
Document the trends in your RMM
Capture available health status indicators, such as remaining life, temperature at idle and under load (where available), and firmware version. It’s best if your RMM tool has its own health monitoring tools. Track trends over time and make sure that all devices are performing at acceptable levels. If there are recurring issues, it’s best to schedule replacements as soon as possible to prevent total failure. Align your procedures with your remote monitoring checklist.
When to escalate after monitoring drive health
Escalate immediately when:
- You detect any critical warning, pred fail, repeated read/write errors, or rapidly rising temperatures. In these situations, you need to implement your immediate backup and replacement plan.
- You validate with a vendor long test, update firmware if recommended, and recheck health before returning a device to service.
Troubleshooting tips when checking SSD health in Windows 11
| Problem | What to do |
| Settings don’t show health data. | Some systems may not display this data in Settings due to drive, controller, or firmware limitations. If it doesn’t appear there, use Windows PowerShell reliability counters or your manufacturer’s tool instead. |
| WMIC says the temperature is normal, but the drive is slow or hot. | WMIC doesn’t give you comprehensive information. Confirm with Windows PowerShell or vendor tools and measure performance under load. |
| Intermittent failures after updates | Check the manufacturer’s website and see if there are further firmware updates or additional guidance for your SSD. |
| No SMART on USB enclosures | Many USB bridge chips do not expose SMART data. Test the bare drive on a native port or use an enclosure that passes SMART through. |
| SMART data is not visible on systems using hardware RAID. | Hardware RAID controllers may mask SMART data. Use RAID controller or disk vendor tools for accurate diagnostics. |
Best practices summary table when checking smart status in Windows 11
| Practice | Purpose | Value Delivered |
| Use Settings first. | This provides fast signals and basic visibility into overall drive health. | You’ll have a much quicker triage when a problem occurs. |
| Add PowerShell and manufacturer tools. | You can gain deeper visibility into drive health and SMART data using PowerShell and manufacturer-specific tools. | You can make more confident decisions based on more comprehensive data. |
| Measure temperature while in heavy use. | You can catch thermal issues earlier. | Your disk drives will last longer. |
| Record in your RMM tool. | Allows you to more easily plan for replacements. | You’ll have fewer surprise outages, and you won’t be caught unprepared. |
| Back up your drive data before long tests. | This will keep your data secure. | You’ll have reduced risks while you’re running your diagnostics. |
Keep your devices healthy by monitoring SMART status and drive health in all your endpoints
There are many ways to check a device’s drive health and SMART status in Windows 11. You can start with Windows Settings for a quick health check, corroborate the information with PowerShell and manufacturer tools for more comprehensive readings.
Once you’ve verified the information, document the results. Trending health and temperature lets you schedule replacements before incidents and align remediation with maintenance windows.
Related Articles:
- PowerShell Script Guide for Testing and Extending SSD Health in IT Systems
- How to Run a PC Diagnostics Report in Windows
- How to Hide or Show the Device Performance and Health Page in Windows Security
- How to Check the NVMe SSD Disk Drive Temperature in Windows 11
- How to Monitor Client Hardware Health Metrics Using RMM
Quick-Start Guide
NinjaOne provides several methods to check drive health and SMART status in Windows 11:
Using NinjaOne:
- NinjaOne RMM: If you’re using NinjaOne’s RMM solution, it includes monitoring for drive health and SMART status. You can view this information in the device dashboard under the hardware section.
- Automation Scripts: NinjaOne allows you to run automation scripts to check drive health and SMART status remotely. These scripts can be scheduled to run at intervals and alert you if any issues are detected.
By using these methods, you can effectively monitor and maintain the health of your drives in Windows 11.
