How to remove hibernation file to save space?

Question

How do I delete the Hibernation file to save space?

Answer 1

Hi David Skillman,

Welcome to Microsoft Q&A!

I hope it's safe to assume that the Hibernation file you mentioned is hiberfil.sys. Windows does not support manually deleting, so the only supported way is to disable Hibernation feature. Please note that it means:

• Hibernate and Fast Startup won't work anymore.
• Sleep and normal shutdown continue to work normally.

The Q&A Assist's provided steps using powercfg /h off are accurate, supported in Windows to turn off Hibernation. Once the feature is disabled, Windows will automatically remove this file and frees the space.

If your storage is running low and even removing Hibernation doesn't help, let me know and we will look into other options to give your system more space!

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Answer 2

To remove the hibernation file and save space on your Windows system, you can disable hibernation using the Command Prompt. Here are the steps to do that:

1. Press the Windows button on your keyboard to open the Start menu.
2. Search for cmd. In the search results, right-click on Command Prompt and select Run as Administrator.
3. When prompted by User Account Control, select Continue.
4. In the Command Prompt window, type the following command and press Enter:

powercfg /h off

5. Type exit and press Enter to close the Command Prompt window.

This command will disable hibernation and delete the hibernation file (hiberfil.sys), freeing up space on your drive.

Please note that by disabling hibernation, you will lose the ability to use this feature until you re-enable it by using the command powercfg /h on.

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References:

• How to disable and re-enable hibernation on a computer that is running Windows
• Compact OS, single-instancing, and image optimization