Checking Hibernate file size, removing Hibernate file

The Hiberfil.sys file is one of the files that consumes a considerable amount of hard drive space as it stores data for Hibernate mode, including storing the current state (memory) of the computer. Therefore, you cannot delete Hiberfil.sys as it is managed and access rights are prevented by Windows. However, if you want to delete the Hiberfil.sys file, you can use methods such as disabling, turning off Hibernate mode, or disabling Hibernate on Windows to address this issue.

Remove Hibernate

Check the storage capacity occupied by Hibernate files

*Check Hibernate file size to delete Hibernate

To check the storage capacity occupied by Hibernate files, there are two methods:

Method 1: Use File Explorer to check the storage capacity occupied by Hibernate files

Step 1: Click on the Start Menu > type Folder Options and press Enter (for Windows 7 and Windows 10).

Alternatively, for other versions of Windows, you can go to Control Panel > search for Folder Options > choose File Explorer Options to open folder settings on Windows.

Step 2: In the File Explorer Options or Folder Options interface. Select the View tab > Uncheck the following items:

- Hide empty drives

- Conceal file extensions for recognized file types

- Conceal folder combination issues

- Conceal safeguarded system files (Recommended)

Press Apply >OK to save changes.

Step 3: Access drive C by pressing Windows + E to open File Explorer > go to drive C and scroll down, you will see an item named hiberfil.sys. However, remember to press the View tab > Hidden items first.

This is the file that contains all the information after each time the user activates the Hibernate feature on the computer. There, you will know the current file size of Hibernate.

Method 2: Use Settings to check Hibernate file size (applies to Windows 10)

Step 1: Press Windows + I to open Settings on Windows 10 > choose System.

Step 2: In System, continue selecting Storage > click on the icon of drive C.

Step 3: In the interface of drive C, you select the System & reserved item to access the page listing all system files and storage files occupying space on drive C. Most of these are the items occupying the most space on drive C.

Here, you will see the Hibernate file item. This is the item that allows you to check the storage capacity occupied by Hibernate mode on Windows.

Remove the storage capacity occupied by Hibernate file

To remove Hibernate, simply disable it on Windows. By default, after disabling Hibernate, you'll be able to delete the entire Hiberfil.sys file on Windows. Let's proceed with deleting Hibernate as follows.

Step 1: Access Command Prompt on Windows 10 by right-clicking on the Start menu and selecting Command Prompt. Alternatively, you can press Windows key + X > choose Command Prompt from the displayed menu. For Windows 7 or 8, 8.1, you can refer to how to access Command Prompt on Windows, including the latest admin rights introduced by Mytour.

For Windows 10, you can follow the instructions on how to access Command Prompt.

Step 2: Enter the following command line:

powercfg.exe /hibernate off

Press Enter to execute the command. However, this command only temporarily removes the Hiberfil.sys file from Windows. To completely turn off Hibernate, you need to proceed further:

Step 3: Right-click on the battery icon on the desktop > select Power Options. In the Power Options interface, click on Choose what the power buttons.

Right-click and choose Power Options.

Click on the Choose what the power buttons. option.

Step 4: By default, you won't be able to modify Hibernate settings on Windows. Therefore, you need to click on the link Change settings that are currently unavailable to alter the current values that prevent deletion.

After activation, you'll see options under Shutdown settings where you can easily turn off Hibernate, disable Hibernate on your Windows computer.

Step 5: Untick the Hibernate (Show in Power menu) option. Press Save changes to preserve all modifications.

Once activated, you won't see the Hibernate feature in the Power menu anymore, and checking the storage space occupied by Hibernation files will also show no results.

There's no Hibernate option in the Power button menu anymore. You've successfully removed Hibernate.

The storage occupied by Hibernate has been completely cleared. You've successfully removed Hibernate and regained your hard drive space.

So, Mytour has provided you with some handy tips to check and enable/disable Hibernate mode on Windows. Especially on Windows 10, the method to toggle hibernation mode previously shared by Mytour is also very straightforward to implement.

Hibernate mode is one of the most convenient modes that users often apply to store work and quickly resume when needed. However, few can accurately distinguish between shutdown, standby, and hibernate modes. This is because Hibernate is a rather special feature, allowing the storage of working data into RAM and the hard drive to activate later.

However, Hibernate is also the cause of dangerous disk overflow errors, especially the full disk error on Windows 10 that many users complain about. Therefore, if you don't need to use Hibernate, you should turn off hibernation mode and clean up your computer's hard drive to increase storage capacity. If Hibernate is not disabled, cleaning up a user's computer's hard drive is practically meaningless because the Hibernate feature takes up a lot of hard drive space.