Save Tons of Disk Space With This Easy Trick
If you’re looking for a quick and easy way to recover a significant amount of wasted disk space or you’re struggling with low disk space on your primary solid-state drive (SSD), one of the quickest and most effective ways to instantly reclaim 4GB, 6GB (or more) of storage is by disabling the Windows Hibernation feature.
When enabled, Hibernation creates a hidden system file named hiberfil.sys in the root directory of the C: drive. We’ll explain what this file does, why it is usually unnecessary, and how to remove it safely.
What is hiberfil.sys?
Unlike Sleep mode, which keeps your session active in the computer’s volatile RAM using minimal power, Hibernation writes the current state of your system directly to the hard drive and powers the computer completely down.
To ensure it can always save your session, Windows permanently reserves a chunk of storage for hiberfil.sys. The size of this file is directly tied to your system’s installed RAM—typically consuming anywhere from 75% to 100% of your total RAM capacity. On a machine with 16 GB or 32 GB of RAM, that represents a massive amount of permanently occupied storage space.
Disabling It Makes Sense for Most Users
Hibernation was once a crucial feature in the era of slow-spinning mechanical hard drives; modern technology has made it largely redundant for the average user:
Fast SSD Boot Times
Modern Solid State Drives (SSDs) boot Windows and launch applications in seconds, negating the time-saving benefits of hibernation.
Desktop users
Desktop computers are constantly plugged into a power source, making ordinary Sleep mode more efficient and practical than Hibernation.
Laptop Users
Most laptop users simply close the lid to put the device into Sleep mode, rarely utilizing the deeper Hibernation state.
If you use Sleep mode or shut your computer down entirely, hiberfil.sys is wasting valuable storage space.
How to Disable Hibernation and Automatically Delete the Huge huberfil.sys File
Because hiberfil.sys is a protected Windows system file, you cannot delete it through File Explorer. Instead, disabling the hibernation feature through the Command Prompt or Terminal instructs Windows to automatically and safely delete the file.
Follow these steps:
Click the Start menu, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator, or if available, choose Terminal (admin) from the menu.
In the prompt window, type the following command and press Enter:
powercfg -h off
The command will execute instantly without a confirmation message. You can now close the window and check your C: drive; the space previously occupied by the file will be immediately restored.
Things to Consider Before Disabling
Windows Fast Startup
Disabling hibernation will also disable Windows Fast Startup. On modern SSDs, the difference in boot time is virtually unnoticeable, but users with older hardware may notice a slight increase in startup times. From my personal experience over the years, “Fast Startup” really doesn’t do much – at least not enough so that I notice a difference when it is turned off
Reverting the Change
If you decide later that you want the hibernation feature, you can easily restore it. Reopen a Command Prompt OR Terminal as an administrator and type the following at the prompt and press Enter:
powercfg -h on
Smaal error
Huge huberfil.sys File
hiberfill.sys !!
No such thing as huberfil.sys.
hiberfil.sys is a hidden, essential system file used by the Microsoft Windows operating system to support Hibernation and Fast Startup.When your computer enters hibernation, Windows takes all the data currently active in your volatile random-access memory (RAM)—including your open applications, background processes, and unsaved documents—and writes it directly into this file on your permanent hard drive ($C:\hiberfil.sys$).