How to Delete Page File in Windows 10?

What is pagefile.sys?

Pagefile.sys is a file built to support the RAM if it runs out of memory. Windows 10 employs a way of moving part of the contents of RAM to a hard drive file called Pagefile.sys. It has been demonstrated through the use of the Hiberfil.sys file for saving the complete contents of RAM while the machine is set to hibernate. The only problem with these files is that they take up a lot of space on the disk. Like the Hiberfil.sys, it retains a snapshot of the current session when the machine is set to hibernate.

When the actual RAM becomes full and a virtual RAM is required, the contents of the RAM are transferred. This often occurs when a user repeatedly opens apps on his computer while shutting those that are no longer required. Pagefile.sys also preserves information about Windows' present status if the operating system unexpectedly freezes or crashes.

Can I delete pagefile.sys?

In all, the more RAM your PC has, the less you need pagefile.sys.

If your computer has a considerable amount of physical RAM, like 16 GB, and you don't have any program that consumes many resources, you should remove the Pagefile.sys. This way, you may save a lot of space for other important things like films and photographs.

Pagefile.sys, on the other hand, is a blessing for individuals with less RAM, since Windows 10 maintains its working with the tiny RAM and transfers the data to the disk and remembers it as needed. Also, for individuals who use high-end applications such as video editing and conversion, or who play games that demand high specifications, Pagefile.sys is a crucial component since you never know when you'll need that extra RAM.

If you delete pagefile.sys, the effects will only show when your RAM reaches 100% usage. In this instance, because the RAM has not been allotted room on the hard drive to shed its burden, the computer will cease responding, freeze, crash, and shut down. In addition, all unsaved work will be lost. However, systems with more than 8GB of RAM are less likely to have problems.

Check pagefile.sys in Windows PC

Because Pagefile.sys is a system file, it is well concealed from common users' sight. These files are kept secret because they do not want unskilled or inexperienced people to mess with them. The Pagefile.sys file is found on the Windows installation drive.

Step 1. Open the C drive folder from This PC or Windows Explorer.

Step 2. On the top, choose Options and click on it, and select Change Folder and Search options.

Step 3. A new window will open and click on the View tab. Locate Show hidden files, folders, and drives and check the radio button beside it.

Step 4. Scroll down and locate Hide Protected Operating System files and uncheck it. Click on Apply and return to the folder displaying the contents of the C drive.

Now, you can see some new files in the C drive.

How to delete page file in Windows 10?

Deleting any system file in Windows 10 is not a simple operation, and these files cannot be erased from Windows Explorer by just using the delete key on the keyboard. To remove any file, first, disable the functionality that needs it, and then delete it. In this instance, we must disable Windows 10's Page Files capability.

Step 1. Press Win + S to open Windows Search. Type SYSDM.CPL in the search box located on your taskbar.

Step 2. Select the Advanced tab, and in the Performance section, click the Settings button.

Step 3. Switch to the Advanced tab. In the Virtual memory section, you can see the size of the paging file. Click on the Change button to open the Virtual Memory dialog.

Step 4. Uncheck the Automatically manage paging file size for all drives. Select No paging file radio button. Click the Set button. Click the Yes when you get the warning dialog and click the Apply button.

When you are asked to reboot, restart your computer once to delete the pagefile.sys file. Be sure to restart the PC even if you are not asked to do so.

Further reading: How to clean RAM cache files in Windows 10?

In fact, besides paging files in Windows 10 RAM, the RAM cache files are also able to delete to retrieve more RAM resources back.

Cached RAM (CPU memory) is a sort of high-speed Static Random Access Memory. The goal of cached RAM is to make the CPU function faster and more smoothly. Cache RAM is linked to the CPU either directly or indirectly. The purpose of cached RAM is to store the basic instructions and commands that a computer needs often. And the data that the CPU is expected to demand next. Because the computer can retrieve such instructions from Cache faster than from the main memory, it will assist to improve the application's overall performance.

However, If the cached memory approaches the limit of your RAM usage, especially when you run too many applications or games simultaneously, you may have difficulties such as abrupt slowing and lag when using the application, out-of-memory errors, or even app or game crashing.

So, here we recommend you a free RAM cleaner—AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, a disk and partition manager for Windows 11/10/8/8.1/7/XP systems.

This tool can scan your system and disks to filter all outdated and unnecessary files, then you can easily clear all junk files from your PC to protect your devices from running out of resources caused by useless files.

Step 1. Download and open AOMEI Partition Assistant Standard, and click "Free up" and "PC Cleaner" in turn.

Step 2. Click "Start Scan" in the new pop-up window to scan your computer for unwanted files.

Step 3. After starting the scan, please wait for a while until the progress bar is loaded.

Step 4. Unneeded data will be automatically selected, you can directly click "Clean All" to delete them. If you still have other unnecessary files, you can tick the boxes of the corresponding files.

Summary

To delete page file in Windows 10, you can follow the steps we’ve shown above. If you wish to deeply clean your computer, AOMEI Partition Assistant is a great option. With the free edition, you can also enjoy features like cloning MBR data disk, converting data disk from MBR to GPT disk without deleting data, merging partitions, etc.

If you upgrade to the Professional Edition, you can unlock more practical functions like cloning system disk, allocating free space from one partition to another, migrating OS to another disk without reinstalling, and moving installed programs to another location without reinstalling, etc.