In Microsoft Windows, as files are deleted the space they were allocated eventually is considered available for use by other files. This creates alternating used and unused areas of various sizes. Wha

Network file storing refers to saving files on a remote networked storage device, which has nothing to do with how local disk space becomes fragmented after repeated deletions.

Free space fragmentation occurs when file deletions leave behind scattered, non-contiguous regions of available space interspersed among active data, creating the alternating used and unused areas described. This condition develops naturally over time as the OS allocates and reclaims disk space and makes it harder to store large files contiguously without running a defragmentation utility.

Alternate data streaming is an NTFS feature that allows additional hidden data streams to be attached to a file object, which is entirely unrelated to free space allocation patterns.

Defragmentation is the remediation process that consolidates fragmented files and coalesces free space into contiguous regions - it is the solution to fragmentation, not the name of the condition itself.