High Disk Read (100%) on WSL vhdx Disk During Docker Desktop Stop/Restart

[DHclly]

Description

When stopping or restarting Docker Desktop, the disk where the WSL vhdx file is located experiences sustained 100% disk read usage. This high read activity lasts for approximately 20 seconds.

This behavior suggests that Docker Desktop is performing significant I/O operations on the WSL virtual disk during shutdown or startup. While the system remains functional, the disk spike may impact overall system responsiveness and potentially affect the lifespan of SSDs with limited read endurance.

I would like to understand the cause of this behavior and whether it can be optimized to reduce unnecessary disk wear or improve shutdown/startup performance.

Reproduce

just stop、restart 、apply config for docker desktop

Expected behavior

No response

docker version

Client:
 Version:           28.4.0
 API version:       1.51
 Go version:        go1.24.7
 Git commit:        d8eb465
 Built:             Wed Sep  3 20:56:28 2025
 OS/Arch:           linux/amd64
 Context:           default

Server: Docker Desktop 4.46.0 (204649)
 Engine:
  Version:          28.4.0
  API version:      1.51 (minimum version 1.24)
  Go version:       go1.24.7
  Git commit:       249d679
  Built:            Wed Sep  3 20:57:37 2025
  OS/Arch:          linux/amd64
  Experimental:     true
 containerd:
  Version:          1.7.27
  GitCommit:        05044ec0a9a75232cad458027ca83437aae3f4da
 runc:
  Version:          1.2.5
  GitCommit:        v1.2.5-0-g59923ef
 docker-init:
  Version:          0.19.0
  GitCommit:        de40ad0

docker info

Client:
 Version:    28.4.0
 Context:    default
 Debug Mode: false
 Plugins:
  ai: Docker AI Agent - Ask Gordon (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.9.11
    Path:     /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-ai
  buildx: Docker Buildx (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.28.0-desktop.1
    Path:     /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-buildx
  cloud: Docker Cloud (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.4.27
    Path:     /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-cloud
  compose: Docker Compose (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v2.39.2-desktop.1
    Path:     /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-compose
  debug: Get a shell into any image or container (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  0.0.42
    Path:     /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-debug
  desktop: Docker Desktop commands (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.0
    Path:     /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-desktop
  extension: Manages Docker extensions (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.2.31
    Path:     /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-extension
  init: Creates Docker-related starter files for your project (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.4.0
    Path:     /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-init
  mcp: Docker MCP Plugin (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.18.0
    Path:     /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-mcp
  model: Docker Model Runner (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v0.1.40
    Path:     /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-model
  sbom: View the packaged-based Software Bill Of Materials (SBOM) for an image (Anchore Inc.)
    Version:  0.6.0
    Path:     /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-sbom
  scout: Docker Scout (Docker Inc.)
    Version:  v1.18.3
    Path:     /usr/local/lib/docker/cli-plugins/docker-scout

Server:
 Containers: 1
  Running: 0
  Paused: 0
  Stopped: 1
 Images: 8
 Server Version: 28.4.0
 Storage Driver: overlay2
  Backing Filesystem: extfs
  Supports d_type: true
  Using metacopy: false
  Native Overlay Diff: true
  userxattr: false
 Logging Driver: json-file
 Cgroup Driver: cgroupfs
 Cgroup Version: 2
 Plugins:
  Volume: local
  Network: bridge host ipvlan macvlan null overlay
  Log: awslogs fluentd gcplogs gelf journald json-file local splunk syslog
 CDI spec directories:
  /etc/cdi
  /var/run/cdi
 Discovered Devices:
  cdi: docker.com/gpu=webgpu
 Swarm: inactive
 Runtimes: io.containerd.runc.v2 nvidia runc
 Default Runtime: runc
 Init Binary: docker-init
 containerd version: 05044ec0a9a75232cad458027ca83437aae3f4da
 runc version: v1.2.5-0-g59923ef
 init version: de40ad0
 Security Options:
  seccomp
   Profile: builtin
  cgroupns
 Kernel Version: 6.6.87.2-microsoft-standard-WSL2
 Operating System: Docker Desktop
 OSType: linux
 Architecture: x86_64
 CPUs: 12
 Total Memory: 13.65GiB
 Name: docker-desktop
 ID: 852451d4-4f0e-475a-94c6-049f6927b194
 Docker Root Dir: /var/lib/docker
 Debug Mode: false
 HTTP Proxy: http.docker.internal:3128
 HTTPS Proxy: http.docker.internal:3128
 No Proxy: hubproxy.docker.internal
 Labels:
  com.docker.desktop.address=unix:///var/run/docker-cli.sock
 Experimental: true
 Insecure Registries:
  hubproxy.docker.internal:5555
  ::1/128
  127.0.0.0/8
 Live Restore Enabled: false

Diagnostics ID

28E5D003-21ED-4883-BEDE-B192EBDCEB8F/20251030052437

Additional Info

No response

[oldium]

Just noticed the same during Docker shutdown, Docker Desktop 4.49.0, Windows 11 25H2 build 26200.7019. The disk I/O gets insanely high.

[bsousaa]

cc @Xeeynamo

[f2bo]

I notice this as well. In my case, it started happening before v4.49.0, perhaps one or two releases before that. It now takes more than a minute to shut down Docker Desktop where the disk activity it at 100% while it reads docker_data.vhdx. Though the title of the thread describes high disk write activity, the included screenshot suggests otherwise.

It has been reported previously here though I have yet to attempt the proposed solution.

[DHclly]

I notice this as well. In my case, it started happening before v4.49.0, perhaps one or two releases before that. It now takes more than a minute to shut down Docker Desktop where the disk activity it at 100% while it reads docker_data.vhdx. Though the title of the thread describes high disk write activity, the included screenshot suggests otherwise.我也注意到了这一点。就我而言，它开始在 v4.49.0 之前发生，也许在此之前有一个或两个版本。现在需要一分多钟才能关闭 Docker Desktop，其中磁盘活动在读取 docker_data.vhdx 时处于 100%。尽管线程的标题描述了高磁盘写入活动，但包含的屏幕截图表明并非如此。

It has been reported previously here though I have yet to attempt the proposed solution.之前已经在这里报道过 ，尽管我还没有尝试过建议的解决方案。

Yes, I only noticed this in recent versions of Docker. I used to store Docker on drive D, but drives C and D are actually on the same physical disk. When I shut down Docker and exported images, the disk read/write activity became extremely high—so high that it once even caused my computer to blue-screen. This was especially frustrating because my Windows 10 system had been running smoothly for two months straight 😢. To avoid system freezes or crashes due to excessive I/O, I ended up buying an external SSD specifically to store the Docker VHDX file.

[julbra]

I experience a similar issue but the disk is reading, not writing.

[suprunchuk]

+1

[DHclly]

I experience a similar issue but the disk is reading, not writing.

You're right ， I made a mistake. It's "reading". I wrote it wrong.