If you are also trying to find a way to defragment your Mac hard drive, know that Mac OS X versions later than 10.2 do not need defragmentation. Apple has embedded inbuilt safeguards that prevent fragmentation. However, when updates, upgrades, installation or reinstallation take place, you might need to defragment it once in few years.
Apple supplies a handy application for working with hard drives called Disk Utility. If you open up Disk Utility, you’ll notice that it doesn’t include a tool for defragmenting any of the drives connected to your Mac. The reason for this perceived oversight is that a Mac running any version of OS X later than 10.2 does not need to be defragmented. OS X, as well as macOS, have their own built-in safeguards that prevent files from becoming fragmented in the first place.
- The Mac's HFS+ file system tries not to use recently freed file space on a disk. Instead, it looks for larger free areas already present on the drive, thereby avoiding fragmenting files just to fit them into available space.
- The Mac OS dynamically gathers groups of small files and combines them into larger areas on your disk automatically. The process of writing the files to a new larger location defragments all of the files in the group.
- OS X and MacOS implement Hot File Adaptive Clustering, which monitors frequently-accessed files that do not get changed (read-only), and then moves these often-accessed files to a special hot zone on the startup drive. In the process of moving these files, OS X defragments them and then stores them in the area of the drive that has the fastest access.
- When you open a file, the Mac checks to see if it is highly fragmented (more than 8 fragments). If it is, the operating system will automatically defragment the file.
The result of all these safeguards is that the Mac rarely, if ever, needs to have its disk space defragmented. The only real exception to this is when your hard drive has less than 10 percent free space. At that point, the Mac operating system is unable to perform its automatic defragmentation routines, and you should consider either removing files or expanding your disk storage size.
Is There Any Reason Not to Defragment My Mac's Drive?
As we mentioned above, you probably don’t need to defragment your drives, because your Mac takes care of that for you. However, there are some types of tasks that can benefit from defragmented drives; specifically, when working with real-time or near real-time data acquisition or manipulation. Think video or audio recording and editing, complex scientific data acquisition, or working with time-sensitive data.
This only applies to standard hard drives. If you’re using an SSD, or a Fusion drive, its data should never be defragmented, as doing so can lead to writing amplification, a common cause of premature failure of the SSD. SSDs have a finite number of writes that can be performed. You can think of it as the memory location within the SSD becoming brittle with age. Each write to a memory location increases the age of the cell.
Because flash-based storage requires the memory locations to be erased before new data can be written to them, the process of defragging an SSD can lead to multiple write cycles, causing excessive wear on the SSD.
Will Defragmenting Harm My Drive?
As we mentioned, defragmenting an SSD or any flash-based storage device (this includes Fusion-based drives that use a small SSD/flash device along with a standard hard drive) can lead to premature failure by increasing the amount of wear (writing and reading of storage cells). In the case of a hard drive, one that uses a mechanical rotating platter, there's no significant chance of damage to the hard drive, or to your Mac, simply by performing a defrag. The only negative comes in the time it takes to perform the defragmentation.
What If I Decide That I Do Indeed Need to Defragment?
There are third-party utilities available that can defragment your Mac's drives. One of our favorites for this task is Drive Genius 4.
Drive Genius 4 does a lot more than offer the ability to defragment a Mac's drive; it includes the ability to monitor drive health as well as repair most drive problems.
Defragmenting your hard drive is a crucial part of regular disk drive maintenance. Therefore, the best disk defragmenter tools will defrag your drive often or on-demand, once your games begin to abate or you face trouble loading up bulky files. But before digging deeper, first, let’s understand what is disk Defragmentation.
What is Disk Defragmentation?
In simple parlance, disk defragmentation includes a process where accessing or reading any particular file becomes faster, as all the tiny pieces that make up a single file are right next to each other. Hence, Defragmentation drastically improves your systems’ performance by making the reading more efficient.
Does Disk Defragmentation Free Up Hard Drive Space?
Yes, this is another useful advantage of using one of the best defrag software on your Windows. Disk Fragmentation to some extent allows you to free up disk space on your system. But how much space can be freed at a time that totally depends on how your files are stored on disk.
How Long Does It Take to Defrag a Disk?
Another frequently asked question before we proceed to our list of 10 best free disk defrag software is about how much it usually takes to defrag a disk. Well, the time cannot be defined as it depends on hardware and processor which you use. If you’re using a high-end software then defragging process might be wrapped in simply 90 minutes but can also take up an entire day if your system is running in a poor state.
10 Best Disk Defragmenter for Windows 10 and Older Versions:
Here is the list of 10 best Disk Defrag software for Windows 10, 8, 7 and other versions, which can make your PC as good as new!
1. Disk Speedup
Disk Speedup is one of the best disk defragmenter for Windows 10 and occupies minimum space on your system. Over time, the files on your system become fragmented. With the installation and uninstallation of software and all the modifications done on files, these files tend to be stored in chunks on your hard drive. That’s where Disk Speedup comes in use. It not only defragments the hard drive in a few clicks but also arranges fragmented files consecutively.
The software is safe and secure because it checks if the new data has been written correctly or not, before overwriting the old data, . You can pause and stop the defrag process anytime without fear of losing data. With the inbuilt Disk Doctor, it checks the files and drives for errors and fixes them. Moreover, it lets you know about the health of your hard disk by accessing the data maintained by the hard drives about the wear and tear experienced and presents it simply.
2. Defraggler
Defraggler is one unique defrag software for Windows that comes along with a choice to either individually defrag the files or defragment the entire disk in one go. This disk optimizer allows you to defragment by selecting individual files and completes any task within less than no time All you would like to do is run an analysis and it’ll list down all the fragmented files on the drive, therefore, you’ll be able to choose the files that you just need to defrag.
Also Read:Best Free PC Cleaning Software For Windows 10
3. O & O Defrag
O&O Defrag Free Edition has a composed and simple to utilize interface. It underpins regular components found in comparable defrag programming, such as advancing a drive, survey a rundown of all the divided documents, and checking a drive for any errors. The app possesses all those features which make it one of the best disk defragmenter for Windows amongst other available apps.
Not just this, it defrags your disk on a weekly basis as well, which you can likewise arrange O&O Defrag Free Edition to begin a defrag automatically when the screensaver pops up.
4. Smart Defrag
When it comes down to scheduling an automatic defrag process then, in this case, Smart Defrag proves out to be one of the best defrag software for Windows. Smart Defrag is capable of prohibiting records and folders from a defrag, replace Windows Disk Defragmenter, defrag just Windows Metro Apps, and skip defragging documents that are over a specific file size
5. GlarySoft Disk Speedup
GlarySoft Disk Speedup is a fast and efficient disk frag software that comes with a handy and neat user interface design. This tool is optimally designed to optimize your Windows system and improve the overall performance of your PC.
Also Read:14 Best Duplicate File Finder Tools For Windows 10, 8, 7
6. Auslogics Disk Defrag
If you’re having a hard time with a specific file or application, then Auslogics Disk Defrag is the perfect choice for you. The app will also optimize your file system for faster file reads and writes, show you a list of fragmented files instead of showing a vague fragmentation report.
7. MyDefrag
The app is easy enough to drive magic on your disk drive. However, if you would like to induce beneath the hood, the app includes variety of scripts and a scripting engine that offers you access to the tool’s underpinnings.
8. WinContig
WinContig quickly defrags files without having the need to defrag the whole disk. It’s easy to use and doesn’t create any installation directories or Registry entries on your computer.
9. Diskeeper 18 Home
One of the most unique highlights about this defrag software is the fact that it can work on up to 3 computers at the same time. Diskeeper 18 home keeps your system in optimum state, as good as new. Once you’ll use this tool on Windows you will experience a whole new improvements in system performance be it faster boot times or faster Internet browsing.
10. UltraDefrag
UltraDefrag is ideal for both novice as well as advanced users. The software comes along with as common features that everyone can use and on the other hand, advanced options too if you need to make any specific changes to the program.
Also Read:15 Best Disk Cloning Software for Windows 10
Benefits of Disk Defragmentation
Apart from keeping your drive happy, here are a few other useful benefits of using Disk defragmentation on Windows.
- Improved System Performance
- Faster Boot Time
- Files Load Faster
- Organized Disk Space
- Reduces the time to read and write files from disk
- Clears up unused Disk Space
Does Disk Optimization Speed up PC?
This is another commonly asked questions which most of us often wonder. Well, yes disk optimization certainly speeds up your PC’s performance. Disk Optimization focuses on improving the overall performance of your system in terms of reliability and speed. One of the most important tasks of a disk optimizer is to compress the data and to maximize free space on your system.
Conclusion
As we’re now through with some of the best disk optimization software, it is really important to understand the importance of this whole process. If you’re confused which disk optimizer you should pick from the list, then we would recommend you to go for Disk Speedup. Disk Speedup not only comes with a simple interface but is also safe and secure for your system’s health. Get ready to wipe out the junk and run your system in the best possible state!
So here a quick rundown of 10 best disk defragmenter software for Windows 10, 8, 7 and other versions, that can keep your system optimized and your hard disks clean and tidy. If you have any personal favorite feel free to drop us a comment!