Microsoft is currently testing a fix for a bug in Windows 10 that could cause the operating system to defrag solid state drives (SSDs) more frequently than necessary. While regular defragmentation of mechanical hard disk drives (HDDs) is a good thing, frequent defragmentation on SSDs can degrade their integrity and shorten their lifespan.

Simply put, defragmentation is the process of rearranging scattered bits of data on a drive so that they are next to each other. This has to do with how data is written to the drive. Data is written to storage drives in blocks, so the more you access a file, the more scattered the data becomes on the hard drive or solid state drive. [This is because it takes time to spin the platters and retrieve file fragments from very different locations on the disk. Defragmentation organizes these blocks so that they are next to each other and can be accessed more quickly (HP compares it to a closet full of boxes of clothes). [There are no moving parts or platters, and the number of times a NAND flash memory cell can be written to is limited. Therefore, frequent defragmentation may shorten the life of the SSD.

As discovered by Bleeping Computer, when Microsoft rolled out the May 2020 update for Windows 10, a bug was introduced into the drive optimization feature that incorrectly determined the last time the drive was optimized. When activating this feature, you may notice that your SSD is showing "needs optimization" even though the routine was run recently (Windows 10 handles this automatically).

After all, Windows 10 defragments the SSD every time you reboot the system. Fortunately, I have been able to confirm this on my own PC, although I rarely reboot. However, this phenomenon is most harmful to users who turn their PCs off and on daily, and in some cases Windows 10 will defragment the SSD once a day.

According to our friends at TechRadar, Windows 10 can usually tell whether to defrag or run a harmless TRIM process, depending on the type of drive. However, if volume snapshots are enabled (which can be reverted back to a backup using System Restore), it will actually defragment the drive, even if it is an SSD.

Be that as it may, Microsoft has a fix implemented in the Windows Insider program.

"Thank you for reporting that the Drive Optimization control panel incorrectly indicated that optimization was not running on some devices. We have fixed this in this build," Microsoft says.

Apparently, Microsoft plans to roll out this fix to the general public in a future update. At this point, it is probably best to sit tight and be patient. However, you can work around the issue by typing "drive defragmentation and optimization" in the Windows 10 search box, highlighting SSD, clicking "Change Settings," and unchecking "Run on a schedule."