How to use the Windows troubleshooter and why you should do it

The Windows troubleshooter has been one of the tools that has received the most improvements over the years. I remember perfectly that, in its first version, Its practical usefulness was so limited which never solved any of my problems, even though I had quite a few at that time.

That bad experience made me completely lose faith in the Windows troubleshooter, to the point that I stopped using it altogether for a while. I only turned to it again years later when I had a network problem on Windows 10. I didn’t have high expectations, but to my surprise it worked and solved the problem in no time.

From that moment on, my perception of this tool changed, and in later years I had other positive experiences that led me to recommend using the Windows troubleshooter. It doesn’t work miracles, but it can make a difference in certain cases, and since it is very easy to use, It’s worth giving it a try.

How to use the Windows 11 troubleshooter

It’s very easy, we just have to follow these steps:

1. Press the Windows key and type “Troubleshooting Settings.” Click on the first result.
2. Now we click on “Other Troubleshooters”.
3. This will take us to a section where we can click directly on different options to solve problems related to sound, printers, networks and the Internet and more, as you can see in the attached image.
4. We run the troubleshooter we need, let it complete the self-guided process, and that’s it.
5. If a problem has been found, it will appear identified at the end of the process, where we will also see whether it has been resolved or not.

We can also use the troubleshooter to review previous cases using the case history, where the automatically resolved cases will appear. In my case, I have never had to use it since I installed Windows 11, which is why I don’t get any results when I review the history.

When and why it is a good idea to use this tool

Because it works, and because it is a very simple tool to use that works automatically and very quickly, which makes it an excellent option when:

• We are faced with a problem whose origin we cannot identify.
• It is a failure that mainly affects the network, the printer, sound or Windows updates.
• We have tried restarting the PC to resolve the issue but this has not worked.
• We are not clear on what we should do to solve the problem.
• The crashes started after making changes to the settings, or after installing new software or new drivers.

From my personal experience, I can tell you that I have achieved the best results with problems in Windows 11 related to network and internet connectionand also with the sound.

We can also configure the troubleshooter to run automatically when necessary, or set the preference that Windows asks us first before running it. This last option is precisely the one I have selected, and it is the one I recommend, mainly to avoid surprises or interruptions that could occur when letting it run automatically.

AI-generated cover image.