System File Checker (SFC.exe) – Complete usage guide with example

SFC.exe is a pre-installed tool in Windows-based systems used to repair corrupted system files. You can use this tool when you feel that your Windows operating system is not working smoothly and showing random errors. Mainly this tool checks the integrity of core windows files and if it founds any bugs then it replaces the corrupted files with a new one.

SFC.exe or System File Checker tool is a command-based utility, which means it can be used with the elevated command prompt. There are several command options available that are used with SFC.exe to find and repair the corrupted windows files. In this article, we will test all these commands and know the best way to repair Corrupted Windows Files.

Syntax

sfc /option = file path

Example:

sfc /scannow
sfc /scanfile = c:\windows\system32\xxx.dll

SFC Command Options

/scannow – It is mostly used option with SFC. It scans and fixes the problem if found in Windows files.

sfc /scannow

/verifyonly – This option only scans the file and does not perform the repair if detected.

sfc /verifyonly

/scanfile <file> – It scans and repair the specified files if corruption detected.

sfc /scanfile=C:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll

/verifyfile <file> – It only scans the integrity of specified files and does not perform the repair.

sfc /verifyfile=C:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll

/offwindir <offline windows directory> – This option is used when you perform the offline repair. Through this option, you can specify the location of the offline Windows directory.
/offbootdir <offline boot directory> – This option is used to specify an offline boot directory for offline repairs.

sfc /SCANFILE=d:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll /OFFBOOTDIR=d:\ /OFFWINDIR=d:\windows

/offlogfile=<log file path> – You can use this option to store the log file in your desired location.

sfc /SCANFILE=d:\windows\system32\kernel32.dll /OFFBOOTDIR=d:\ /OFFWINDIR=d:\windows /OFFLOGFILE=c:\log.txt

/? – This is a help command and is used to list all the options.

sfc /?

What if SFC.exe fails to repair Windows Files?

Most of the time in the situation of critical windows damage on your PC, you might see that SFC couldn’t fix your problem. In this situation, you need to have a more powerful tool installed on your PC that could fix all Windows-related problems easily. So, it is advised to use Advanced System Repair Tool as a great alternative to the SFC.exe tool.

Windows is made with huge number of dll files, exe files, sys files, various types of services, databases, etc so, it is not possible to keep monitoring all the files always. A brilliant PC Optimizer tool repairs damages, fix errors, update windows and drivers, and eliminate various types of errors silently.

Outbyte PC Repair Tool does all the above task easily and provides you an errorfree and smooth Windows environment to work so that you can focus on your business only.

3 Steps to Fix this Error
Step 1. Download Outbyte PC Repair Tool [File Size: 16.4 MB]
Step 2. SCAN your Windows PC
Step 3. Click Fix button to Repair Error
System Requirements       Features      Awards      Windows 11/10/8/7 Comaptible

Summary:

In this article, I tried to explain all the command options with sfc.exe. The tool sfc.exe becomes more powerful with its various command options. If you know all those commands, you can save time and efficiently repairs the corrupted windows files.