Can you defrag a flash drive?

Muse

Lifer
Jul 11, 2001
37,358
8,010
136
I just filled my 2 GB flash drive to over 90% capacity and am wondering. I know that with HDs getting to close to maximum capacity isn't smart. Is this true of flash drives? Should they be defragged and does it matter?
 

DaveSimmons

Elite Member
Aug 12, 2001
40,730
670
126
Flash "seek" times are almost instant compared to motorized read-write heads in HDs so fragmentation only adds a tiny overhead.

Also, flash memory cells wear out much faster from writes than magnetic platters so you must leave the drive's wear-levelling logic alone.

Short answer: do nothing, be happy.