Optimize Drive Usage in Storage Pool for Storage Spaces in Windows

By default, when you add a new drive to an upgraded pool in Windows 11/10, the Optimize to spread existing data across all drives box will be checked. However, if you deselected that check box or added drives before upgrading a pool, you’ll need to manually optimize drive usage. Optimizing will move some of your data to the newly added drive to make the best use of the pool’s capacity. In this post, we will show you how to optimize Drive Usage in Storage Pool for Storage Spaces in Windows 11/10.

Optimize Drive Usage in Storage Pool for Storage Spaces

We can optimize Drive Usage in Storage Pool for Storage Spaces in Windows 10 in 3 quick and easy ways. We’ll explore this topic under the methods outlined below in this section:

Let’s take a look at the description of the step-by-step process in relation to each of the methods.

1] Via Settings app

To optimize Drive Usage in Storage Pool for Storage Spaces via Settings app in Windows 11/10, do the following:

Press the Windows key + I to open Settings.
Tap or click System.
Click Storage on the left pane.
Next, scroll down and click on the Manage Storage Spaces link on the right pane.
Click on the chevron to expand a storage pool you want to optimize drive usage for.
Click on the storage pool.
Click Optimize. Drive usage optimization process will now commence until complete.

Note: Optimization might slow down your PC for a while, but you can cancel it without losing your progress if needed.

Once the process completes, you can exit Settings app.

2] Via Control Panel

To optimize Drive Usage in Storage Pool for Storage Spaces via Control Panel in Windows 10, do the following:

Press Windows key + R to invoke the Run dialog.
In the Run dialog box, type control and hit Enter to open Control Panel.
From the top right corner of the window, set the View by option to Large icons or Small icons.
Click the Change settings button and click Yes if prompted by UAC.
Click on the Optimize drive usage link for the storage pool you want.
Click the Optimize drive usage button to start the process.
Once done, exit Control Panel.

3] Using PowerShell

To optimize Drive Usage in Storage Pool for Storage Spaces via PowerShell in Windows 10, do the following:

Press Windows key + X to open Power User Menu.
Tap A on the keyboard to launch PowerShell in admin mode.
In the PowerShell console, type in the command below and hit Enter:

Get-StoragePool

Make note of the friendly name of the storage pool you want to optimize.
Now, type the command below into the elevated PowerShell window and hit Enter. Substitute the <Name> placeholder with the actual friendly name of the storage pool you made a note of from the output previously.

Optimize-StoragePool -FriendlyName "<Name>"

Exit PowerShell when done.

That’s it on the three ways to optimize Drive Usage in Storage Pool for Storage Spaces in Windows 10!