Solution: By Editing the Registry Editor . At the next shutdown, the system will clear pagefile.sys, overwriting it with zeros. Method 1: Make Windows Clear Pagefile at Shutdown Using GPO. To prevent such potential security risk, you can configure Windows to automatically clear the paging file on every shutdown. 5. Clear your page file at Shutdown in Windows 10. regedit Click the Search button on the taskbar. The swapfile.sys and pagefile.sys files should disappear from your hard disk. Please note that this could add a significant delay to your shutdown or reboot times as Windows basically rewrites the Pagefile with 0’s to clear it. To clear the pagefile on system shutdown you need to perform a registry tweak. Using Regedit You should also make a backup of your registry settings as a safeguard against possible errors. Therefore, deleting the page file on each shutdown is a solution so that on ever restart, Windows creates an all new paging file. Clear Pagefile on Shutdown in General Support I've been looking into clearing the pagefile, and I found the following steps at a somewhat dated webpage: In the registry editor, navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management … You can also change the file size by setting it yourself. Also, when this policy is enabled, hiberfil.sys is cleared as well (if the sleep mode is disabled). 3. highlight/click on the text "Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile" (... see Image-1 Arrow-2) 4. This is how you clear the pagefile when shutting down. Now a window opens called "Shutdown: Clear virtual memory pagefile Properties". Ensure Windows Isn’t Clearing Your Page File at Shutdown. (... see Image-1 Arrow-3) Press the Windows logo key and the R key simultaneously. Depending on the size of paging file, the shutdown (or restart) time may increase significantly – by 10-30 minutes. Clear the “Automatically manage pagination file size for all drivers” check box and enable the “No pagination file” option. As a best practice, it is sometimes recommended that the Windows Pagefile be cleared at every shutdown or reboot. Type Run in the search box and then click the Run option as the following image is showing. Type in the box. RELATED: What Is the Windows Page File, and Should You Disable It? Here enable or disable clearing the paging file at shutdown of the computer (PC). Windows uses a paging file, also known as a page file, as additional virtual memory.Windows has a hidden option—disabled by default—to clear the paging file at shutdown. Let’s see how to delete the page file on each shutdown. However, it will also slow down the boot and the shut down times of your system. At the end click on “Apply” and “OK” and restart your PC. Learn how to disable, delete, recreate paging file. Click Start and go to Run. Tutorial: How to disable 'Clear Pagefile at Shutdown' Credits: From CNet's Insider Secrets: Speedup Windows XP Step 1: Go to Start-> Run. To clear your page file at Shutdown in Windows 10, follow any of these procedures step by step. Article Summary: This article provides information on configuring a Windows Server 2008 or newer server to clear its paging file automatically at shutdown. To clear or delete the Page File (pagefile.sys) at shutdown use Ultimate Windows Tweaker or tweak Registry. Issue: The paging file (pagefile.sys) is the file that Windows uses for virtual memory - a dedicated area of disk storage that's treated as additional RAM by server applications. The tweak presented here is for Windows XP based computers. Method #1.