[Fixed] CHKDSK Stuck at 10%, 11%, 12%, 100% in Windows 10/8/7

Tracy King updated on Apr 19, 2024 | Home >Computer Instruction

How to fix chkdsk stuck at 10%,11%, 12%, or 100% on Windows 10/8/7? Here are four practical solutions for you to solve the problem. 

Workable Solutions Step-by-step Troubleshooting
Fix 1. Defragment Hard Drive Defragmenting hard drive can fix chkdsk frozen problem when it is caused by too many fragment files...Full steps
Fix 2. Use SFC and DISM Scan When chkdsk scanning and repairing fail to work, you can try the SFC or DISM scan to repair system file...Full steps
Fix 3. Use a Disk Repair Tool Use a third-party disk repair tool as CHKDSK alternative to scan and repair corrupted files on partition...Full steps
Fix 4. Check Bad Sectors, Clone Disk Use the Surface Test of EaseUS partition manager to check bad sectors on the hard drive, then clone...Full steps

CHKDSK Stuck at 10% in Windows 10, How Long Does CHKDSK Take

"I had been running chkdsk/r on my Windows 10 PC about two hours ago. But now, it just says 'Scanning and repairing drive D: 10% complete.' and never moves on. How long does chkdsk take? Is ChkDsk frozen or stuck?" 

Overview of CHKDSK Stuck or Frozen Issue

CHKDSK, a Windows built-in system tool, can check and repair the file system on the hard drive. When your PC is getting slower and slower, you may run ChkDsk to check and repair bad sectors or corruption for better performance.

But unfortunately, sometimes, the disk check can fail because ChkDsk stuck at particular percentages, for example, 10%, 11%, 12%, 100%, or hangs a particular stage. CHKDSK stuck stage 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 - Chkdsk has several different stages, and it can get stuck during any of these stages.

chkdsk stuck

Chkdsk stuck, or chkdsk frozen issue might happen when:

  • The hard disk file system is corrupted/damaged, or there is an error with the file system.
  • There are too many disk fragmented files.
  • The disk itself has bad sectors that cause check stuck.

Now, try the following methods to fix the chkdsk stuck issue in Windows 10/8/7 and get the disk scanning and repairing stuck process completed successfully.  

Further Reading: CHKDSK not working

4 Effective Fixes for CHKDSK Stuck on Windows 10/8/7

When chkdsk scanning and repairing process stalls, you can first wait for a while. If you don't have the patience to wait for hours, you can solve the problem by the following methods.

1. Defragment Hard Drive

Defragmentation is the process of eliminating file fragmentation, which causes files to be spread across the disk after disk operations. As mentioned before, one of the major causes of chkdsk stuck is too many fragment files. So, defragmenting your hard drive can be a way out.

Step 1. Select the partition drive that has the checking matter.

Step 2. Right-click the partition, click "Property" > "Tools" > "Optimize".

Step 3. Choose the partition again and click Optimize. Then, the defragmenting process begins.

defragment and optimize drives to fix chkdsk stuck issue

2. Use SFC and DISM Scan to Repair System File

When chkdsk is stuck or frozen:

Step 1. Restart your computer by pressing the power button. 

Step 2. During the next boot, press the Esc or Enter the appropriate key to stopping the running of ChkDsk. 

Step 3. Run Disk Cleanup utility to clear your junk files.

Step 4. Open an elevated CMD type sfc /scannow and hit Enter to run the System File Checker. Once the scan is completed, restart your computer. Remember to exit chkdsk during boot.

Step 5. Next, again open CMD as admin type Dism /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth and hit Enter to repair the Windows image.

Step 6. Run chkdsk again and check if it can complete the scan.

Read Also: SFC scannow There is a system repair pending

3. Use a Third-Party Disk Repair Tool as CHKDSK Alternative

At most times, the above steps can help to fix chkdsk frozen or stuck issue in Windows 10/8/7. But if they fail, try EaseUS Partition Master - a reputable Windows partition manager that can manage the disk scanning and repairing job.

Free Download 

Windows 11/10/8/7100% Secure

Apart from disk optimization, EaseUS Partition Master provides other one-stop partition and disk management solutions for your Windows computer, for instances:

  • Resize/move partitions (the Pro version allows to drag to move space from D drive to C drive), create, format, delete, and merge partitions
  • Copy and clone an entire disk to another even the target partition is smaller than the source
  • Convert a logical partition to primary or primary partition to logical, FAT to NTFS partition, MBR disk to GPT, or GPT disk to MBR
  • Completely wipe out all the data on the hard disk to prevent information from being leaked or recovered
  • Migrate OS to SSD to upgrade HDD to SSD to speed up Windows

4. Check Bad Sectors and Clone Hard Disk

If none of the above solutions works, you need to check your disk for physical bad sectors. Use the Surface Test of EaseUS partition manager to finish the job.

Step 1. Right-click the disk that you want to check and then click "Surface test".

Step 2. The operation will be immediately performed. Bad sectors will be marked as red.

Clone a hard disk to HDD or SSD

If it turns out that your disk does have many bad sectors, you'll need to copy or clone the data to a new disk and replace the damaged disk. How to clone hard drive to HDD or SSD? Don't worry, EaseUS partition management tool provides you the robust disk cloning functions to transfer and back up data.

Step 1. Select the source disk.

  • Click the "Clone" from the left menu. Select the "Clone OS Disk" or "Clone Data Disk"  and click "Next".
  • Choose the source disk and click "Next".

Step 2. Select the target disk.

  • Choose the wanted HDD/SSD as your destination and click "Next" to continue.
  • Read Warning message and confirm "Yes" button.

Step 3. View the disk layout and edit the target disk partition size. 

Then click "Continue" when the program warns it will wipe out all data on the target disk. (If you have valuable data on the target disk, back up it in advance.)

You can select "Autofit the disk", "Clone as the source" or "Edit disk layout" to customize your disk layout. (Select the last one if you want to leave more space for C drive.)

Step 4. Click "Start" to start the disk cloning process.

To Sum UP

CHKDSK stuck issue often arises when the hard drive file system getting corrupted or when there are bad sectors and fragment files on the disk. To resolve the problem, you can defragment the partition, use the SFC scan, apply EaseUS check file system utility, check for bad sectors, or clone the damaged disk to another HDD or SSD.  

FAQs About CHKDSK Stuck in Windows 10

Here are the top four frequently asked questions related to chkdsk stuck at 10% or other stages in Windows 10. If you also have any of these problems, you can find the methods here.

How long does chkdsk repair take?

Chkdsk check can take a couple of hours depending on the size of your drive and the number of corrupted files. The chkdsk process usually takes 5 hours for 1TB drive. If there are bad sectors on the hard drive, it may need more time.

How do I stop chkdsk in progress?

How to stop chkdsk Windows 10? There are several ways to stop a chkdsk scan. Usually, chkdsk starts automatically while booting Windows, and there's a short time frame that allows you to press any key and skip the scan. But once it starts, you can't stop the chkdsk process until it completes. Stopping the computer during the check might lead to file system corruption.

Why is chkdsk taking so long?

The time chkdsk takes depending on the size of the selected partition. The bigger the capacity, the longer it takes. If there are too many sectors and corrupted files that need to be fixed on the HDD or external hard drive, it can take even more time.

Can chkdsk stop Stage 4?

You can stop chkdsk at stage 4. In the fourth stage, the chkdsk tool only reads data from the disk. It writes to the disk only when a bad sector is found. It should be safe to stop it at this stage. The chances you actually have a bad block, and that chkdsk is repairing it when you stop it are so small. 

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Updated by Cici

Cici is the junior editor of the writing team of EaseUS. She accepted the systematic training on computers at EaseUS for over one year. Now, she wrote a lot of professional articles to help people resolve the issues of hard drive corruption, computer boot errors, and disk partition problems.

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Written by Tracy King

Tracy became a member of the EaseUS content team in 2013. Being a technical writer for over 10 years, she is enthusiastic about sharing tips to assist readers in resolving complex issues in disk management, file transfer, PC & Mac performance optimization, etc., like an expert.

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