What is Pagefile.sys? Can you delete it? – Latest guide

A lot of us would have seen pagefile.sys in the C drive of our Windows computer. Have you ever wondered what is this pagefile.sys? where it is used? If yes, then you have come to the right place because in this article we have given a detailed guide on pagefile.sys in Windows 10

Also, many users reported on different forums that their pagefile.sys is too large and it is taking a large amount of space. So, we will also discuss how to shrink, or delete the pagefile.sys.

What is Pagefile.sys and Where it is used?

The pagefile.sys is something that your Windows operating system creates in your C drive that is used to swap data between the hard drive and the physical memory. It is a special paging file that is used when the physical memory is insufficient to hold the running processes or programs.

By default the pagefile.sys size can be up to 3 times the size of the Main memory. We can also say that pagefile.sys is a file that is used as virtual memory.

Virtual memory is nothing but a storage allocation scheme where the secondary storage is used as the main memory.

The use of virtual memory extends the size of the physical memory (RAM) by using the disk and also provides memory protection because each virtual address is translated to a physical address

The benefits of the pagefile.sys i.e. virtual memory are:

• A large number of processes can be managed in the physical memory.
• The Main memory(RAM) can load processes that are larger than its size.

This paging file.sys is not as efficient as the physical memory however, it can prevent your system from getting crashed. By default, Windows manages the pagefile sys.

Also, many users don’t even know this file exists on their system. This is because it is hidden to avoid tampering with the file.

However, if you are running out of space and need to free up some space then one thing that you can try is managing the pagefile.sys. That is you can either transfer the pagefile.sys to an external drive or resize the limit of pagefile sys.

You can also delete the pagefile.sys but before you do make sure to take a backup of your PC.

Also read: Bonjour Service in Windows 10

Is it safe to delete the pagefile.sys :

Pagefile is an important OS file, deleting it can have serious consequences and it can affect your system’s ability and performance.

Also, it is not recommended to delete the pagefile sys if you have low RAM on your computer. Because the system will crash if you try to do multitasking. You can either reduce the size of the paging file. (steps explained below)

However, if you still want to remove the pagefile.sys from your system, follow the below givens steps.

How to fix the pagefile.sys huge problem:

If the pagefile size is too large on your system, then here are few tricks that you can try to reduce its size.

How to reduce the size of pagefile.sys in Windows 10:

As pagefile.sys plays an important role in the system, it is hidden and protected by Windows. So, follow the below steps to locate and delete the page.sys file.

Step1:

Go to the control panel and type “advanced system settings” in the search box on the top right corner. Click on it to open the system properties window.

Step2:

Next, click on the Settings button under the Performance section. In that, click on the Advanced tab and click on the change under virtual memory

Step3:

Deselect the option that says “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives” and click on custom size

Step4:

Here, set size in the “Initial size(MB)” and “Maximum size(MB)” fields based on how much you want to reduce. After that click on set and then click on OK to close the Windows

Step5:

Lastly, restart your computer to apply the changes. In this way, you can shrink the size of the pagefile.sys.

---

How to delete pagefile.sys in Windows 10:

It is highly recommended to change or move the page file.sys file rather than deleting it. Also, it is recommended to delete the file only if you have a system that has higher RAM otherwise you may face system crashes.

So, If you think you have adequate RAM to run all the programs smoothly, then follow the below steps to delete the pagefile.

Method 1: Deleting pagefile.sys using file explorer

Here are the steps to remove the pagefile.sys from the system via file explorer

1. Open file explorer and go to the C drive
2. Now, click on the view tab on the ribbon
3. In view, click on the Options drop-down menu and then click on “change folder and search options”
4. After you click, the folder options window will open in that go to view and uncheck the checkbox that says Hide protected operating system files(Recommended) and click on apply.
5. Now, you can see the pagefile.sys in your C drive. Right-click on the file and click on delete to remove it from your system

Method 2: Removing pagefile.sys using the control panel

In this method, we will remove the paging file from the system through advanced system settings. Here are the steps to do it:

1. Go to control panel >>System and Security >> System >> Advanced system settings.
2. Now, follow the step 2 and step 3 from how to reduce the file size of the pagefile.sys guide above.
3. After that, click on the option that says “No paging file” and click on the Set and then click on Ok to close the window
4. Restart the system to apply the changes.

---

Conclusion:

Thus in the above article, we have successfully discussed what is pagefile.sys, its uses. We also discussed how to shrink the size of pagefile.sys or how to delete it. If you are facing any difficulty with the solutions let us know in the comment box.