Docs

Getting started

System Workbench lets you peek under the hood of your PC and keep it in shape, quickly. Start it from Steam or the Start menu. It opens its window and adds an icon to the system tray.

• Win+Alt+Del opens it from anywhere. Ctrl+Shift+Esc still opens Windows' own Task Manager.
• Closing the window keeps it in the tray, so it opens instantly next time. Quit in the tray menu exits.
• Start with Windows in the tray menu is on after the first run, so the shortcut works after a restart. Turn it off there, or on its own Startup screen.
• The links at the foot of the sidebar: this website, Themes and Graph settings (speed and how much history one graph holds).

Startup apps

The Startup screen lists the programs Windows starts when you sign in: the Run entries in the registry and the Startup folders, for your account and for all users.

• Switching one off is what Windows' own Settings and Task Manager do. The entry stays where it is and Windows skips it. Switch it back on and it starts again.
• Missing means the program it points to no longer exists, usually a leftover from an uninstalled app. It is harmless; you can switch it off.
• A change takes effect the next time you sign in. Programs already running keep running; end them on the Processes screen if you want them gone now.

Disk Usage

Pick a drive or a folder. The map fills in as the scan runs, biggest folders first: every block is a file, sized by the space it takes, coloured by file type.

• Scroll the mouse wheel over the map to zoom into the spot under the pointer, even while the scan is still running. Drag to pan, double-click to zoom into a folder, Backspace to step back out. The + and − buttons in the map's corner do the same.
• Delete moves things to the Recycle Bin; Delete permanently skips it. The space comes back only when the Recycle Bin is emptied, and each drive's card shows how much is waiting there.
• The Recycle Bin tab lists deleted items by their original names and locations, and can restore them.
• Duplicate Files matches files by size, then by content, and offers to keep the newest copy.
• Clean-up measures first and shows what each option would free: Windows Update cache, temporary files, crash dumps, hibernation, old restore points and the component store.
• Windows, Program Files and other system folders are protected and cannot be deleted from here.

Administrator rights

System Workbench runs as you, so it can only change what your account can. Two things need more:

• Startup apps that start for all users. Windows asks for administrator approval for that one change.
• Clean-ups and fast drive scans. Quit it from the tray, then right-click it and choose Run as administrator. As administrator, NTFS drives are read straight from the master file table, which takes seconds even with millions of files.

The reliability score

The score starts at 100 and subtracts a penalty for each failure Windows recorded in the chosen 7, 30 or 90 days. Recent failures count fully; older ones count less, down to nothing at the start of the range. The same failure repeated all day counts once.

90 or more reads Stable, 70 to 89.9 Review recommended, below 70 Needs attention. If Windows' logs do not reach back over the whole range, or one could not be read, there is no score: missing logs do not mean a healthy PC.

Privacy

No account, no cloud and no telemetry. Everything System Workbench shows is read from this computer while you look at it, and none of it is sent anywhere. The Steam version talks to Steam only for the Supporter Pack and achievements. Links to this website open in your browser.

Requirements

64-bit Windows 10 or 11, with the Microsoft Edge WebView2 runtime (already part of Windows 11 and current Windows 10).