Where Are Windows Automatic Maintenance Tasks in Windows 11?

This guide explains how to find the Windows Automatic Maintenance (WAM) tasks on your Windows 11 computer.

Windows Automatic Maintenance (WAM) is a feature that groups background chores together. Windows runs these at a set time, usually 2 AM. It is turned on by default, and you should keep it that way. These tasks keep your system updated, check your security, and scan for viruses.

You can adjust these settings in the Control Panel under System and Security > Security and Maintenance > Automatic Maintenance. If your computer is off at 2 AM, you can schedule a different time for the tasks to run.

How to see your maintenance tasks

Windows runs these tasks every day to keep things working well. If you want to see what is on your list, follow these steps.

Step 1: Open PowerShell as Administrator

Admin Required

First, open the Windows Terminal app.

Step 2: Run the command to see your tasks

Copy and paste the command below into the window and press Enter.

Get-ScheduledTask | ? {$_.Settings.MaintenanceSettings} | Out-GridView

A new window will open showing all your maintenance tasks.

Step 3: Save the list to a file (Optional)

You can save this list to a text file on your desktop for easy reading later.

Get-ScheduledTask | ? {$_.Settings.MaintenanceSettings} | Format-Table -AutoSize | Out-file -FilePath "$Env:userprofile\Desktop\WAM.txt"

Summary

Why use this? You might want to see exactly what Windows is doing in the background or check when these tasks are scheduled.

What happens when done? You will see a clear list of all your maintenance tasks on your screen, or you will have a new text file saved to your desktop containing that same information.

Key points:

• Maintenance runs daily at 2 AM by default.
• It keeps your PC safe and updated.
• You must have administrator rights to run these commands.
• It is best to leave this feature enabled.

Reference: Microsoft Learn

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