In every PC, there is a folder called System Volume Information. It is located in the root of every drive.
According to Microsoft, the System Volume Information Folder is “A hidden system folder that the system Restore tools uses to store information and restore points.”
It also contains information used by the content indexing service databases that speed up file search, VSS for backups, and Distributed Link Tracking Service databases used to repair links and shortcuts.
On several occasions, users have reported that they cannot open the folder.
On drivers that are formatted using an NTFS file system, the folders’ permissions are restricted to prevent everyone from accessing the folder, even users with administrator privileges. If you double-click on the folder, you will see an error “location is not available” and “access denied.” The errors are normal.
Access to this folder is always denied since Windows uses this folder for system-level features; thus, the permissions are set to prevent programs and users without appropriate permissions from tampering with the files.
If you want to gain access to system volume information in Windows 10, use the steps below.
- Press Windows Key + X on the keyboard.
- Select File Explorer .
- Click on View .
- Under Options , click change folder and search folders .
- Click View under Folder Options .
- Locate Hidden files and folders.
- Select the radio tab for “ Don’t show hidden folders, files, and drive .”
- Click Ok or Apply .
Can I delete System Volume Information folder?
Sometimes, you might find the size of the System Volume Information folder is large. It happens when you enable shadow copies on any volume.
More Volume Shadow Copy Services (VSS) snapshots are created on the folder, causing the size of the volume to grow exponentially.
System Volume Information folder stores content for restore points, therefore, deleting the contents of the folder will corrupt your restore points. However, if you want to save on space used by, restore points you should either:
- Disable the system restore features or
- Configure disk space usage for system restore.
How to Reduce the Size of Large System Volume Information Folder?
Windows has inbuilt protection against unwanted changes to files on your drive.
Therefore, it means that if a software update causes your computer to crash, you can restore your Windows to an earlier point that it worked.
The Restore Points are created automatically whenever you install new drivers, game or applications on your PC.
On your device, for every hard drive that the system protection is enabled, some space is automatically allocated for storing data for each restore point. Notably, the spaces may be as little as 5 percent, however, it could be up to 20 percent.
The more significant the percentage, the more space set apart, and the more disk space you will lose when the folder gets full.
More allocations that are considerable indicate that you will keep more restore points, while small space means few restore points will be created before older ones are automatically deleted.
However, to configure the amount of space used on the hard drive, follow the procedure below.
- From the start menu search for Advanced.
- Choose View Advanced System Settings .
- A window will open on the Advanced tab and select System Protection Tab.
Note: After selecting the System Protection Tab, a list of drivers showing whether the system protection is enabled shows up.
- Select a drive where it is enabled.
- Click on configure button.
Note: You can as well turn the protection entirely off, but this is not something that we would recommend since it will leave your PC vulnerable.
- Use the slider to reduce the volume used to a level of your choice. We recommend at least 3%.
- Click Ok.
Final Words
System volume information folder is a delicate folder on your PC that should never be deleted. In case it is taking up a lot of space, you can follow the highlighted process to shrink the volume of the folder.
However, while reducing the size of the folder, older files are deleted fast; thus, freeing up space that can be used to keep other files.
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