How to Use DISM Command on Windows 11

For various reasons, you may need to run DISM command on Windows. This article will tell you how to do it ✅

July 31, 2023

As a Windows user, you probably know the significance of the DISM command in Windows. This command tool helps you fix system errors, such as missing or corrupted files, BSOD errors etc. If you don’t know much about this tool, don’t worry. This article will show you how to use DISM in Windows 11.

It’s quite important to run DISM.exe to maintain and prepare both the online and offline versions of Windows. Using the DISM tool, Windows users can quickly mount and maintain a Windows image from a.wim file, .ffu file, .vhd file, or a.vhdx file.

What is DISM command?

Deployment Image Servicing and Management is referred to as DISM. It is a command-line tool to maintain Windows images. The service includes Windows PE, Windows Recovery Environment (Windows RE), and Windows Setup. You can also use it for service virtual hard disks.

The DISM /Mount-Image and DISM /Unmount-Image commands can mount and unmount Windows images. It can be useful if you want to access the contents of a Windows image or if you need to make changes to a Windows image.

Also, The DISM /Update-Image command can be used to update Windows images. And, if you are experiencing problems with blue screens of death or applications that are not working properly, the DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth command will be helpful.

How do I run DISM command?

Running the DISM command is not complicated at all. At first, know for which cause you want to run the command, and then execute the command accordingly.

Run as an Administrator

Before running the DISM command, the first action is to run the Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell as an administrator. It gives you additional permissions to perform operations and finish tasks on your device while running as an administrator.

Press Win + S keys to open Windows Search.
Type cmd or Terminal into the search box at the bottom.
From the search result, right-click on Command Prompt or Terminal.
Click on the Run as administrator option from the context menu.

Execute DISM Command

The DISM command offers the CheckHealth, ScanHealth, and RestoreHealth commands. You can use these options serially to scan and detect issues with your Windows. After the can, if the errors return in images, use the RestoreHealth option to fix them.

Now let’s know how to execute these three options in your Windows 11-

1. CheckHealth Option

You should execute the CheckHeatlh option in the DISM command to check the image to see whether corruption has been detected. The scan outcome will tell you whether the images are healthy, repairable or non-repairable. To execute this command-

Open the Terminal (Admin) like before.
Type the following command for a quick check and press Enter: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /CheckHealth

After completing the steps, the Deployment Image Servicing and Management tool will detect any data corruption that should be fixed.

While executing, if any of the commands seems stuck, don’t worry. The process will be complete without further action after waiting a few minutes.

2. ScanHealth option

This option performs an advanced scan to find issues with the image, which CleanHealth could not detect.

Open the Terminal (Admin) like before.
To perform an advanced DISM scan, the following command and hit Enter: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /ScanHealth

After finishing the steps, the scan may take time to check if Windows 11 needs repairs.

3. Restore health option

This option automatically scans and repairs common issues detected in Windows 11. To execute this command-

Open the Terminal (Admin) like before.
To automatically repair the Windows 11 image, type the following command and press Enter: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

Once completing all these steps, DISM will download damaged files from the Windows Update servers and replace them when necessary.

Install and Use .wim image option as an Alternate

You have to provide another image using the Source option if DISM has trouble repairing the damaged data or the device doesn’t have an internet connection.

Download Windows 11 ISO

Now to download the Windows 11 ISO file, follow these steps-

Go to the Microsoft Support website.
Download the ISO.
Double-click on the ISO file to mount it to File Explorer.
From the left navigation pane, Confirm the drive letter of the mount

Repair image with recovery image

Use these steps to execute DISM with the install.wim image to repair Windows 11-

Open the Terminal (Admin) like before.
Type the following command to To repair the local image, and hit Enter: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:E:\Sources\install.wim

Note: Change “E:\Sources,” for the path to the “install.wim” file location in the command.

You can also type the following command as an alternate and hit Enter: DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /Source:E\Sources\install.wim /LimitAccess