How To Enable/ Disable NTFS Compression In Windows To Improve Performance

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How To Enable/ Disable NTFS Compression In Windows To Improve Performance:- NTFS file compression is a feature available in Windows operating systems. The NTFS file compression feature plays a great role in compressing files to save space on NTFS hard drives. This feature works perfectly in some situations and with some file types. But in some other cases, it could degrade the system performance as this is a resource intensive process. In that case, you might want to disable or enable the NTFS file compression feature available in Windows. Well, don’t worry. You are in the right place. Dive into the article to explore the best ways using which you can efficiently disable or enable the NTFS file compression feature in Windows.

Method 1 : By Making Changes In Local Group Policy Editor

STEP 1



  • Press WIN+R keys together to open the Run dialog box. When it opens up, type in gpedit.msc and hit enter key.

1gpedit

STEP 2

  • When the Local Group Policy Editor window opens up, navigate to the following path: 
    Computer Configuration --> Administrative Templates --> System --> Filesystem --> NTFS
  • As next, find the entry Do not allow compression on all NTFS volumes from the right window pane and double click on it.

2path

STEP 3

  • In the new window that opens up, check the radio button corresponding to Enabled option to Disable the file compression feature as shown in the screenhot given below. Once you are done, hit on Apply and Ok buttons.

3disable

STEP 4

  • To Enable the file compression feature, check the radio button corresponding to Disabled option as shown in the screenhot given below. Once you are done, hit on Apply and Ok buttons.

4enable

That’s it. Restart the system for the changes to take over. If it doesn’t work for you, you could try the other 2 methods explained below.

Method 2 : Using Command Prompt

STEP 1

  • First of all, open the Command Prompt in the administrator mode. For that, start typing in cmd to Windows search and when the Command Prompt appears in the search results, right click on it and choose the Run as Administrator option.

5runAdmin

STEP 2

  • Now copy paste the following command into the Command Prompt to Disable the NTFS file compression feature and hit enter key. 
    fsutil behavior set DisableCompression 1

6toDisable

STEP 3

  • If you want to Enable the NTFS file compression feature, copy paste the following command into the Command Prompt and hit enter key. 
    fsutil behavior set DisableCompression 0

7toEnable

That’s how you can disable or enable the NTFS file compression feature using Command Prompt. Restart the system for the changes to take over.

Method 3 : By Making Changes In Registry Editors

The next method involves some changes to the registry editors. You might want to create a system restore point just to be on the safer side as registry changes are a bit dangerous. You can refer to our article on the topic How To Create Restore Point In Windows 10 A Step By Step Guide to create a system restore point.
STEP 1



  • Press WIN+R keys together to open the Run dialog box. When it opens up, type in regedit and hit enter key.

8regedit

STEP 2

  • As next, navigate to the following path and make sure the path is correct: 
    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem
  • In the right window pane of the FileSystem key, find and double click on the value named NtfsDisableCompression.
    9pathSTEP 3
  • To disable the NTFS file compression feature, enter 1 as the value in the Value data field. Hit OK button and restart the system for the changes to take over.
  • 10toDisableSTEP 4
  • To enable the NTFS file compression feature, enter 0 as the value in the Value data field. Hit OK button and restart the system for the changes to take over.
  • 11toEnableHope you found the article useful. If you are stuck with any of the steps, feel free to leave comments, we would be happy to help. Stay tuned for more tricks, tips, and hacks.

 



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2 thoughts on “How To Enable/ Disable NTFS Compression In Windows To Improve Performance”

  1. @Agusti Cerdan:

    It’s the latest windows update. They run out of space with all the “important updates” they keep adding each time. So they decided it would be a good idea to just compress the user files to make room for more “important updates”.

    https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/help/4023057/update-to-windows-10-versions-1507-1511-1607-1703-1709-and-1803-for-up

    “This update may compress files in your user profile directory to help free up enough disk space to install important updates.”

    You can check if a folder is compressed by looking in the folder properties and pressing Advanced. “Compress contents to save disk space” will be enabled for some of the folders in your user profile like AppData, Desktop, Documents..

  2. I don’t know how, Windows turned that feature on two days ago.
    Since then, I keep seeing double-blue arrows every place, doesn’t matter what I do.
    I have checked the C unit and it clearly says that the compression is deactivated.
    I have access the regedit and it says value 1 (so, it is deactivaged).
    Doesn’t matter: each new file I generate, it comes out with the double-arrow thing and the compression is on (I have to manually access every file and folder and deactivate it within the properties).

    I’m getting crazy with this: my computer seems to took over me. I’m its owner, for God’s sake! Why have Windows to overrule my commands?

    Any useful ideas (other that go to Linux)?

    Thanks in advanced!

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