To start with, page files work as a physical extension of RAM. Windows 10 moves infrequently or least used memory pages from the physical RAM to page files or pagefile.sys when the physical RAM usage is very high. Pagefile .sys has another important role. It records information about the Windows status during a crash.
Can I delete the pagefile.sys file?
On computers that have large RAM, Windows 10 might not use the page file as the large physical RAM might be large enough for all operations. If you have large RAM (16 GB+) on your PC and you are sure that programs won’t take up all the physical RAM, you can consider deleting the pagefile.sys file. In short, the more RAM you have, the less you need pagefile.sys.
What happens if I delete the pagefile.sys?
Well, you won’t see any difference as long as the physical RAM usage is within limits. If and when your physical RAM usage reaches 100%, applications might crash or hang, and you might lose unsaved work. At times, even the Windows operating system might hang as well. So, it’s best not to touch the pagefile.sys file.
As pagefile.sys is a system file, it doesn’t show up with default settings. Open the File Explorer, click the File menu and then click Options/Change folder and search options to open the Folder Options dialog. Here, deselect Hide protected operating system files option. Select Show hidden, files, folders, or drives option. Click the Apply button.
Curated: Web Netology - Start with a Free Tier Web Hosting Services
