Windows 10 can make your computer use a lot of resources. Sometimes the space provided by physical RAM (Random Access Memory) will be short and make it impossible for you to run existing programs on your computer.
To solve this problem, Microsoft uses a file called pagefile.sys. This is the file that will have the effect of storing any data that RAM cannot do. Although pagefile.sys is not as efficient as RAM, it will limit problems when your computer’s resources run out.
This article will in turn introduce you to What is Pagefile.sys file and how to delete pagefile.sys in Windows 10 if you don’t want it on your computer.
Table of Contents
What is pagefile.sys?
We will learn what are pagefile.sys? As I said above, pagefile.sys was created to manage space usage and is located on the C drive. You can only see it when you turn on the feature to show hidden files on the computer.
Pagefile.sys is a page file, and it is extremely popular for use in virtual memory. Normally, Windows stores files, software, and other data on your RAM because it reads faster than on the hard drive.
For example, when you open the Google Chrome web browser, the file in Google Chrome will be read in the hard drive and transferred to RAM. That way, the computer uses copies in RAM instead of reading the same file over and over from your hard drive.
Although it takes more time to write data to the hard drive and read it back than RAM, RAM is just a backup memory – the data stored on RAM is lost as soon as you restart the computer that important files are always saved on the hard drive so that they are never lost and the program will not crash.
So what is the role of pagefile.sys on Windows? This is the file that Windows will monitor your computer when handling many requests on memory. If there are data that you don’t use, Windows will move them into the page file.
Can pagefile.sys be deleted?
Because this pagefile contains a lot of important information on your PC and the status of running programs, deleting this file can cause many serious errors and affect the computer’s stability on the computer. Even if it takes up a lot of space on your hard drive, the pagefile is still essential for your computer to run smoothly. That’s why pagefile.sys is hidden by default on Windows 10.
But if you still want to find ways to delete pagefile.sys, then follow the instructions below to perform the removal of pagefile.sys from your computer.
How to delete Pagefile.sys file in Windows 8
Step 1: Right-click This PC on your Desktop and select Properties.
Step 2: Select Advanced system settings in the list of features on the left.
Step 3: At the bottom of the Advanced tab, click the Settings button in the Performance section.
Step 4: Continue in the Performance Options window. Select the Advanced tab. Then click the Changes button.
Step 5: Then, turn off the checkbox for Automatically manage paging file size for all drives. Tick the Custom Size: box, then set the value to 0 for both items as Initial size (MB) and Maximum size (MB) as shown.
Step 6: Press Set and OK to save the settings. Then restart the computer to apply these changes.
How to delete Pagefile.sys in Windows 10
Step 1: Open regedit with the Run dialog box. Press Windows key + R to open Run. Enter regedit in the Open box. Click OK.
Step 2: Once the Registry Editor window has opened, navigate to the location below, or paste it in the address bar of regedit.
Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
Step 3: Pay attention to the keys on the right. Double-click the ClearPageFileAtShutdown key to open the editing window. Change the value from 0 to 1.
Step 4: Click OK to save. So the pagefile file will automatically delete every time you shut down or restart your computer.
After this article, I hope to have helped you to know what is pagefile.sys file and how to delete pagefile.sys in Windows 10. Therefore, you should know that Windows will use this file when the RAM is not enough to handle it, and you should try pagefile.sys automatically act as your PC’s built-in settings and should not delete them without problems which problem occurs.
