Windows 10: Is initiating “clear pagefile on shutdown” necessary?

Discus and support Is initiating “clear pagefile on shutdown” necessary? in Windows 10 Software and Apps to solve the problem; Hello!I think it’s difficult to get a clear answer on if pagefile purges or cleans out old data with time as part of its function, or if data never... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Software and Apps' started by Wilhelm Hjelm, Mar 23, 2025.

  1. WILHELM HJELM
    Wilhelm Hjelm Win User

    Is initiating “clear pagefile on shutdown” necessary?


    Hello!I think it’s difficult to get a clear answer on if pagefile purges or cleans out old data with time as part of its function, or if data never leaves it on its own and it just continues to gather more and more data with time, so that you must manually go in and erase that data.I have heard that you can set your computer to clear pagefile during shutdown, but I want to know if this is necessary at all, and if Windows will do this process on its own at some point? I don’t want to collect lots and lots of sensitive data, especially on a laptop I share for work.

    :)
     
    Wilhelm Hjelm, Mar 23, 2025
    #1
  2. GREGYURKON
    gregyurkon Win User

    Clear Pagefile on Shutdown


    I've been looking into clearing the pagefile, and I found the following steps at a somewhat dated webpage:
    1. In the registry editor, navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Memory Management
    2. Set ClearPageFileAtShutdown to the REG_DWORD value of 1.
    3. Restart Windows.
    I'm just wondering whether those steps are still valid, and, if so, does clearing the pagefile work as advertised?
     
    gregyurkon, Mar 23, 2025
    #2
  3. ESTHEREMILY
    EstherEmily Win User
    Clear Pagefile At Shutdown

    If I completely preinstalled and updated my genshin impact game. Then next day, is clear pagefile at shutdown delete my genshin update files?
     
    EstherEmily, Mar 23, 2025
    #3
  4. THRASHZONE
    ThrashZone Win User

    Is initiating “clear pagefile on shutdown” necessary?

    Clear Virtual Memory Pagefile at Shutdown in Windows 10


    Hi,
    Nice one Shawn
    What's the listing above about is that to help with the new fake shut down features ?


    Is initiating “clear pagefile on shutdown” necessary? 181759d1521654629t-clear-virtual-memory-pagefile-shutdown-windows-10-a-above.png
     
    ThrashZone, Mar 23, 2025
    #4
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Is initiating “clear pagefile on shutdown” necessary?

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