Do this to check your device health on Windows 10

• To check the health of your Windows 10 computer, you can use the “Device performance & health” feature in the “Windows Security” app. You can also run the “PC Health Check” app or a full system diagnostic with the “Performance Monitor” app.

On Windows 10, you can use the “Windows Security,” “PC Health Check,” and even the “Performance Monitor” app to get a quick overview of your device’s health. Usually, if a device has problems, you will notice the different signs. For instance, the computer may experience issues during startup, it may feel sluggish, or you may come across different errors and even a Blue Screen of Death.

Although you can use different third-party tools to check the overall health of your computer or specific components (such as the hard drive), Windows 10 comes with the “Windows Security” app that offers a quick way to ensure everything is working smoothly in addition to offering access to the default antivirus and firewall settings among other security features.

In addition, you can use the “PC Health Check” app, which is designed to check your computer’s hardware and software compatibility to confirm if you can upgrade to Windows 11 and give you a glimpse of its overall health.

Alternatively, the operating system also comes with the “Performance Monitor” app, which you can use to run several diagnostic tests and collect data in real-time to quickly determine whether your device has software or hardware-related problems.

In this guide, I will teach you the easy steps to quickly check your device health on Windows 10.

Check computer health on Windows 10

The “Device performance & health” page in the Windows Security app and the PC Health Check app provide basic information about the health of your machine. If you want a more advanced diagnostic, you can use the “Performance Monitor” app.

From Windows Security app

To check your device performance and health on Windows 10, use these steps:

1. Open Start.

2. Search for Windows Security and click the top result to open the app.

3. Click on Device performance & health from the left navigation pane.

This page summarizes your current computer health, including any issues that may require your attention.

Windows Security periodically performs automatic scans in the background to check the performance and health, as you can see in the “Last scan” date. The report highlights several pillars, including:

• Windows Time Service: If your computer is showing the wrong time and the time-syncing service is disabled, you can re-enable the service and re-sync the correct time.
• Storage capacity: Checks the available storage and alerts you when the drive is running out of space or there is not enough space to install updates.
• Device driver: Scans the drivers installed on your device, and if they’re not working as expected, you’ll get an alert with possible solutions.
• App and software: Reports issues with apps and other pieces of software. If an application requires your attention, for example, if it didn’t install correctly, you’ll see an alert with possible solutions.
• Battery life: If you use a laptop, Windows Security can also check the impact of the brightness and sleep configurations on the battery and alert you of any recommendations to optimize the battery life.

From PC Health Check app

To review your computer health with the PC Health Check app, use these steps:

1. Open Start.
2. Search for PC Health Check and click the top result to open the app. Quick note: If you’re running the latest version of Windows 10, the app should be already installed. However, you can always get it using this direct link from Microsoft.

The app is divided into five sections if we count the left pane with basic tech specifications and an option to rename your computer. 

• In the “Backup & sync” section, you can manage the file and settings backup to your OneDrive account (if applicable).
• The “Windows Update” section shows whether your computer is up-to-date. If the device is missing updates, you will receive an alert.
• The “Storage capacity” section gives you a report on storage usage, and it includes an option to access the Settings app to free up space as necessary.
• The “Startup time” section surfaces information about the startup time of your computer and details on what is actually affecting these times. If everything is working as expected, you won’t see any information.
• The “Battery capacity” section shows the battery performance by comparing the original capacity. The information is only available for devices older than three years.

From Performance Monitor

To create a system health report using the Performance Monitor, use these steps:

1. Open Control Panel.

2. Click on System and Security.

3. Click on Administrative Tools.

4. Double-click the Performance Monitor shortcut.

   

5. Expand the System branch.

6. Right-click the System Diagnostics item.

7. Select the Start option.

   

Once you complete the steps, the Performance Monitor will run several tests to analyze your device, including basic system checks for the operating system, disks, security and User Account Control (UAC), system services, and hardware and drivers.

After collecting the data, you can see the report under Reports > System > System Diagnostics and select the latest report from the list.

In addition, during the diagnostic test, you can also see an overview of system resources, including processor, disk, memory, and network performance, which allows you to identify anomalies.

The report is extensive, but under “Basic System Checks” and “Resource Overview,” you can see the “Result” and “Status” columns to identify the health of your system quickly. If the columns show a green or yellow indicator, everything is working as expected, but if you notice a red indicator, it indicates the area you need to investigate. However, before jumping to conclusions, it’s a good idea to run the Performance Monitor one or two more times, and if you are still getting some red indicators, then you can confirm that there’s a problem.

If you are already experiencing problems with your device, it is a good idea to recreate the issue while running the diagnostic tests to allow the system to record this information to give you a better understanding of the problem.

If the computer is experiencing performance issues and other problems, you can wipe out and reinstall the operating system or perform a clean installation of Windows 10 to restore the health.