How to delete or reduce pagefile.sys?

Have you ever come across a surprisingly large file named pagefile.sys on your computer? You’re not alone. Many Windows users wonder about the purpose of pagefile.sys and how to manage it effectively without affecting their system’s performance. This article will help you understand what pagefile.sys is, why it can become large, and how you can manage its size safely.

What is pagefile.sys?

In Windows operating systems, pagefile.sys is known as a “page file” or “paging file.” It serves as an extension of your computer’s physical memory (RAM).

When you have multiple programs open or run a resource-intensive application, Windows can run out of physical RAM. To compensate, the operating system uses your hard drive or SSD as additional virtual memory.

Pagefile.sys acts as a spillover for RAM usage, allowing your system to handle more processes than the physical memory can support. When RAM gets full, less-used data moves to pagefile.sys, freeing up RAM for new information.

However, reading from and writing to a hard disk or SSD is significantly slower than accessing RAM. While pagefile.sys can’t replace physical memory, it functions as an effective temporary solution.

Why is pagefile.sys taking up so much space?

Here are three main reasons why your pagefile.sys might be huge:

1. High resource usage: Running multiple programs or resource-heavy applications increases the need for virtual memory, enlarging the pagefile.sys.
2. Default settings: Windows manages the size of pagefile.sys automatically, which might allocate more space than necessary based on available disk space and other factors.
3. Memory leaks: Some applications don’t release all the memory they use after closing, causing an unnaturally large pagefile.sys over time.

A large pagefile.sys might not always indicate a problem—it could simply mean your computer is handling many tasks. However, if you notice sluggish performance or vast amounts of unused RAM, it’s wise to consider reducing the size of pagefile.sys.

Impact of a large pagefile.sys on system performance

An oversized pagefile.sys can affect your computer’s performance in several ways:

• Drive storage consumption: A large pagefile.sys can occupy significant storage space, limiting room for software installations or personal files.
• Performance issues: Swapping tasks from RAM to the page file causes delays and slowdowns. Even the fastest SSDs are much slower than modern RAM.
• Increased wear on drives: Constant read/write actions on a large pagefile.sys can wear out traditional hard drives and reduce the longevity of SSDs due to their finite write cycles.

You might also encounter frequent “Out of Memory” warnings despite having plenty of unused disk space tied up in a large pagefile.sys. So, what can you do about these issues?

What to do about a large pagefile.sys

There are three main strategies for managing a large paging file: moving it, reducing its size, or deleting it (carefully).

Move pagefile.sys

Moving pagefile.sys from your system drive (most of the time the C: drive) to another drive can free up space on your primary drive, potentially improving performance, especially if the secondary drive is faster (like an SSD). Here’s how:

1. Step: Open System Properties by right-clicking This PC or My Computer on your desktop and selecting Properties.

2. Step: Go to “Advanced system settings” and click the “Settings…” button in the Performance section.

3. Step: In the Performance Options window, go to the Advanced tab and click “Change…” under Virtual Memory.

4. Step: Uncheck “Automatically manage paging file size for all drives.

5. Step: Select the system drive with the large pagefile.sys, choose “No paging file,” and press Set.

6. Step: Choose another drive where you want to move pagefile.sys.

7. Step: Select “System managed size” or “Custom size” and click Set.

8. Step: Click OK and restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

Reduce the size of pagefile.sys

If moving pagefile.sys isn’t feasible, you can manually reduce its size:

1. Access Virtual Memory settings by following steps 1 through 4 in the previous section.
2. Select your current system drive from the hard drive list.
3. Choose “Custom size” and enter a lower value than the current setting.
4. Confirm by pressing Set, then OK.

Be cautious—resizing pagefile.sys too much can cause system instability. If necessary, you can revert to “System managed size” to let Windows manage the file size automatically.

Delete pagefile.sys (not recommended)

While pagefile.sys is necessary for your system’s stability, some advanced users might consider deleting it temporarily. Note that this action should be limited to users with in-depth OS knowledge, as Windows will recreate pagefile.sys upon reboot.

If you still wish to delete pagefile.sys, follow these steps:

1. Close all open files and back up important data.
2. Open File Explorer and go to the C: drive.
3. Press Control + F1, click View, then “Options” to view the drop-down menu.
4. Click “Change folder and search options.”
5. In the window, click the “View” tab and uncheck “Hide protected system operating files.”
6. Check “Show hidden files, folders, and drives” and click Apply.
7. Right-click pagefile.sys and select “Delete.” Note that large files may bypass the Recycle Bin and be deleted immediately.
8. Restart your computer.

Get support for pagefile.sys and more

Managing pagefile.sys can be complex. For additional support with pagefile.sys issues and other IT fundamentals, consider:

• Tech forums frequented by IT professionals (such as the Atera Community, Atera Blog, Reddit communities, Tech forums or Microsoft’s official support forum).
• Instructional content in various knowledge bases and technology blogs.
• Remote technical support services for step-by-step guidance.

Managing pagefile.sys doesn’t have to be challenging—neither should managing your IT systems. Atera offers powerful, flexible, and robust endpoint management software to help IT departments monitor and manage devices within an organization. From software deployment and patch management to monitoring and alerting, Atera ensures you stay on top of all your devices.