Storage Spaces reports a warning or degraded state

Troubleshooting guideSources checked: 2026-09-05FaultNote editorial team

What to do first

Storage Spaces reports a warning or degraded state. A disconnected or failed pool drive, insufficient free capacity, or an unfinished repair job may have removed redundancy. Record the current state before changing it, use only the supported Windows path described below, and verify the same operation again after any required restart.

This is a general troubleshooting guide, not an announcement of a current outage.

Affected products and symptoms

Product: Windows Storage Spaces
Versions and conditions: Windows 11 (confirm the edition and hardware requirements for the feature)
Error codes and identifiers: Degraded

Symptoms

Storage Spaces reports a warning or degraded state.
The same condition can persist after a retry or restart.

Causes and conditions

A disconnected or failed pool drive, insufficient free capacity, or an unfinished repair job may have removed redundancy.

Before you start

Save open documents and allow time for a Windows restart if required.
Run administrative actions only on a personally managed PC or with administrator approval.
Save the diagnostic command output so the before and after states can be compared.

Precautions

Do not bulk-delete registry entries, system folders, credentials, or storage metadata.
Do not run unofficial scripts or unknown drivers with administrator rights.

Windows Storage Spaces troubleshooting sequence: Reduce writes and protect important data; Check the state with Get-StoragePool;; Repair through the supported path; Do not remove the drive until removal is safe; Verify under the same conditions — Procedure overview created by FaultNote. Read the precautions and full instructions before changing settings. Read the full steps

Step-by-step instructions

01
Reduce writes and protect important data
#
A degraded state can mean redundancy has been lost. Copy readable important files to separate healthy storage and stop unnecessary retries if reads fail or the drive makes unusual noises. Do not initialize disks or delete the pool to clear a warning.
02
Check the state with Get-StoragePool;
#
Back up important data and record FriendlyName, SerialNumber, HealthStatus, and OperationalStatus for the pool, virtual disk, and each physical disk.
Command or path
```
Get-StoragePool; Get-VirtualDisk; Get-PhysicalDisk
```
03
Repair through the supported path
#
Open Settings > System > Storage > Advanced storage settings > Storage Spaces, identify the warned disk, and add a compatible replacement with enough capacity. Do not remove the failed disk while repair work is active.
04
Do not remove the drive until removal is safe
#
Match the serial number to the physical drive, not just its name. Follow the management interface’s replacement, addition and prepare-for-removal instructions, and do not unplug healthy drives during processing. Recovery differs for mirror, parity and simple spaces and depends on available capacity. If the required action is unavailable or data is unreadable, record the configuration and seek specialist support.
Avoid restarting while repair or optimization is active, and use Get-StorageJob to confirm completion. Do not assume that adding a drive completed recovery; recheck the virtual disk's HealthStatus and OperationalStatus.
05
Verify under the same conditions
#
Run Get-VirtualDisk | Select-Object FriendlyName,HealthStatus,OperationalStatus and repeat the original operation once under the same conditions. If it succeeds, verify again after a restart and record the setting that changed.
Check that no new critical event with the same timestamp and component appears in Event Viewer.
Command or path
```
Get-VirtualDisk | Select-Object FriendlyName,HealthStatus,OperationalStatus
```

Check the result

The feature starts, connects, or completes without the original error.
The verification command reports the expected enabled, healthy, or connected state.
The result remains correct after a Windows restart and no new matching critical event appears.

If the problem continues

If the same code persists, provide the full message, Windows build, command output, and occurrence time to the PC administrator or Microsoft Support.
If hardware requirements, organization policy, or server settings are responsible, ask the owner to make the change instead of bypassing it on the client.

Scope of this guide

Troubleshooting guide — Restore the feature so it starts, connects, or completes normally and passes the same verification after a Windows restart.

Frequently asked questions

Can I keep using a degraded storage space?

It may still read and write while redundancy is lost. Back up important data and arrange replacement and repair promptly.

Can I pull the failed drive immediately?

Do not remove it before checking mirror/parity state and replacement capacity. Match the physical disk by SerialNumber.

Official sources and dates

Storage Spaces in Windows ↗

Source publication or resolution date: Not specified. Sources checked: 2026-09-05. The check date is not the date the problem first occurred. Interface labels can vary between versions and display languages.

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