You can check an SSD’s general health in Windows 11 using built-in storage information, but detailed wear and SMART data vary by drive and controller. For the most complete information, the SSD manufacturer’s official utility is often the best source.
Check drive health in Windows Settings
- Open Settings.
- Select System > Storage.
- Open the advanced storage or disk/volume management area available in your Windows build.
- Select the SSD and review any health information Windows provides.
Windows may report warnings for supported NVMe drives, but not every SATA, USB, RAID, or externally connected SSD exposes the same data.
Use the SSD manufacturer’s utility
Samsung, Crucial, Western Digital, Kingston, and other manufacturers may provide software that reads firmware, temperature, SMART attributes, remaining life, and diagnostic information for supported models. Download it from the drive maker’s official site.
Health percentage is not a backup
An SSD can fail unexpectedly even when a utility reports normal health. Keep important files backed up independently. If Windows reports a critical storage warning, the drive starts disappearing, or read/write errors occur, back up data promptly before running lengthy tests.
A low amount of free space can affect performance, but free-space percentage is different from the SSD’s wear or remaining-life estimate.
Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.
His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.