Question Is hiberful.sys needed if PC only sleeps?

[cormanaz]

I've got hiberfil.sys taking up 24 GB on a disk that is filling up. I researched this, and the consensus seems to be that you don't need this file if you don't hibernate your machine. I don't and never have. In fact it's not even an option on my shutdown window so idk how this file even got here. I do have it set up to sleep after a few hous of inactivity. Am I safe to issue powercfg -h off to get rid of this file?

 

[Ralston18]

FYI:

https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/t.../deployment/disable-and-re-enable-hibernation

First take a closer look at the current configuration:

https://pureinfotech.com/enable-hibernate-windows-11/

You should be able to delete hiberfil.sys but it may take just a bit more effort than just delete.

Reference:

https://superuser.com/questions/175...s-on-a-system-that-doesnt-support-hibernation

 

[ubuysa]

The hiberfil.sys file is the hibernation file. Even though you're not hibernating, if you have Fast Startup enabled then you are using this file. Fast Startup hibernates the WIndows kernel when you shutdown.

If you're not using Fast Startup then open an elevated command prompt and enter the command powercfg -h off. This turns the entiore hibernation feature off (including fast startup) and deletes the hiberfil.sys file. Do not manually delete hiberfil.sys, use the powercfg command.