What is Hiberfil.sys File on Windows and Can I Delete It?

What is Hiberfil.sys File on Windows and Can I Delete It?

/ Shayne Sherman

If you are reading this, maybe you have problems with your storage as a gigantic file named Hiberfil.sys occupies most of your free storage. Maybe you are wondering if this file is a virus or if you can even delete it.

Windows has a feature that lets you hibernate your computer to save power when you are not using it but don’t want to turn off your system completely.

Hibernate allows you to retain all your system’s current progress, including all the running applications on your computer. It conserves power by writing the information in memory to the hard drive and shutdown itself while saving all your progress.

This is where the large hiberfil.sys file comes into place; it is created by your Windows operating system to store the current state of your computer before going into hibernate mode.

In this way, the computer can startup faster and restore all your progress after coming out of hibernation instead of booting up Windows again when you shut down your computer.

Hiberfil.sys is normally hidden on the file explorer, and the only way for you to see it is when you enable the “Show Hidden Files” option on the Windows File Explorer.

In this case, if you don’t want to use this feature already, as it takes up a lot of space on your hard drive, we will show you how you can get rid of the large Hiberfil.sys file on your computer.

Let’s get started.

How to Disable Hibernation Mode Using Command Prompt

Since Hiberfil.sys is a system file and it is currently being used by your operating system. You can’t just delete the file using the file explorer. In this case you would need to perform a few steps first.

The first thing that you can do to try and avoid large Hiberfil.sys file on your hard drive is to disable Hibernation mode on your computer. Disabling hibernation mode on your computer is technically the same for all versions of Windows.

You would need to run the action using Command Prompt and requires you to have administrative privileges on your computer.

Check out the steps below to guide you in disabling hibernation mode on your Windows system.

1. On your computer, press on the Windows key + S and search for Command Prompt.

2. After that, click on Run as Administrator to open the Command Prompt with administrative permissions.

Command Prompt run as Administrator

3. Lastly, inside Command Prompt type powercfg -h off and hit Enter.

powercfg -h off

Now, this command will disable the hibernation feature on your Windows computer. You will notice the difference when you try to turn off your computer, the Hibernate option is now gone. 

On the other hand, if you wish to use Hibernate once again, just follow the steps above and go to the Command Prompt once again. Now, instead of typing powercfg -h off, type powercfg -h on to enable the feature again on Windows.

How to Disable Hibernate Feature using Registry Editor

If you want another option on how to disable the hibernation feature on Windows operating system. You can also use the Windows Registry Editor to turn off the feature on your computer to save storage space.

Check out the steps below to guide you through the process.

1. On your computer, press on Windows Key + R on your keyboard.

2. After that, type regedit and click OK.


3. Now, inside the Registry Editor, navigate to


4. Next, inside the Power tab, double-click on HibernateEnabled.

5. Lastly, edit the value of to 0 if you wish to disable it and 1 if you want to turn it on again.

HibernateEnabled value data is 0

After editing your registry, exit the Registry Editor and restart your computer. Now, navigate back to the File Explorer to see if the huge Hiberfil.sys file on your hard drive is already deleted. Also, check the Power options on the Start menu to see if the Hibernate option on your computer is already disabled.

Other Windows guides & fixes include: windows 10 audio troubleshooter, Microsoft printer troubleshooter, and RPC Server is Unavailable.