One of the servers (running Windows Server 2016) has run out of free disk space on a system drive (C:). I checked and cleaned all resource-consuming locations (WinSxS, TEMP folders, inactive user profiles, old update files, etc.), but it didn’t give a noticeable effect. There was still not enough disk space. At last, I have found that a large part of a system drive has been occupied by System Volume Information folder. In this article I will try to tell you how the System Volume Information folder is used on Windows, what is stored in it, and how to properly clean it up.

How to Access System Volume Information Folder on Windows?

The System Volume Information folder is automatically created at the root of each drive (be it a local HDD, SSD, removable USB flash drive, SD card). It stores system data related to System Restore, Indexing, File History, etc.

By default, the System Volume Information folder is hidden and only the NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM account can access it.

In order to show this folder, you need to disable the option “Hide protected operating system files” in File Explorer or run a PowerShell script:

Even the administrator cannot open it and view the contents of the folder. If you try to open the System Volume Information folder in File Explorer under any user (even under the built-in administrator account), you will receive an access denied error:

 Location is not available. C:System Volume Information is not accessible. Access is denied.

To view the contents of the folder, you have to assign yourself as the directory owner and grant your account the NTFS permissions to access it (this can be done through the Security tab in the folder properties). But it is much faster to assign yourself the owner and grant access to the directory from the command prompt:

Check in the folder properties on the Security tab that your account now has full control permissions.

What is System Volume Information Folder in Windows?

What is stored in the System Volume Information folder? I found information about the following services, which store their files in this folder (the list is not exhaustive):

WindowsImageBackup —system restore points on desktop Windows versions or System State backups made using Windows Server Backup (wbadmin) in server OSs;
The contents of Indexing Service database used for fast file search (including Outlook search);
Distributed Link Tracking Service database;
Disk snapshots made by Volume Shadow Copy, which can be used to recover older versions of files. For each snapshot, a separate file is created with a long ID as a name;
NTFS disk quota settings;
Base and chunks of the Data Deduplication service;
DFS Replication database (dfsr.db);
WPSettings.dat file – created by the storage service (StorSvc);
The USB drives will also store an IndexerVolumeGuid file that defines the unique disk label used by the Windows Search service;
AppxProgramDataStaging, AppxStaging – Windows UWP app backups (it can be used for recovery after removal).

If you are using shadow copies on your computer or server to roll back to old versions of files/system states, keep in mind that each new VSS snapshot saves data to the System Volume Information directory, increasing its size. The more often shadow copies are created and the more often the files on the disk change, the faster the size of this directory grows.

In the screenshot below, you can see that in the System Volume Information folder there is a system file larger than 160 GB.

How to Clean Up System Volume Information Folder?

You can radically clean up the System Volume Information directory by disabling the system restore points and file history. But this is not always acceptable.

Firstly, let’s see what is stored in this directory. Display the statistics of using shadow copies:

vssadmin list shadowstorage

vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool (C) Copyright 2001-2013 Microsoft Corp. Shadow Copy Storage association For volume: (E:)?Volume{5a419164-9eba-11e5-84c5-004046bbefbb} Shadow Copy Storage volume: (E:)?Volume{5a419164-9eba-11e5-84c5-004046bbefbb} Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 3.08 MB (0%) Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 896 MB (1%) Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: 19.0 GB (29%) Shadow Copy Storage association For volume: (C:)?Volume{843c6330-9866-11e5-80b3-806e6f6e6942} Shadow Copy Storage volume: (C:)?Volume{843c6330-9866-11e5-80b3-806e6f6e6942} Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 912 MB (2%) Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 1.20 GB (3%) Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: 3.98 GB (10%)

As you can see, 10% of system drive (C:) space is allocated for shadow copy files and only 2% of which is used. If the value of Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space is set to UNBOUNDED, it means that the limit for shadow copies is not set and they can potentially take up all available free disk space. Windows by default allocates 10% of the total disk size for storing shadow copies.

You can reduce the disk usage limit of VSS to 2 GB using the vssadmin command. The vssadmin command has the following syntax:

vssadmin resize shadowstorage /on=[drive letter]: /For=[drive letter]: /MaxSize=[maximum size]

In our example it will look like this:

vssadmin resize shadowstorage /on=c: /for=c: /maxsize=2GB

vssadmin 1.1 - Volume Shadow Copy Service administrative command-line tool (C) Copyright 2001-2013 Microsoft Corp. Successfully resized the shadow copy storage association

If you create system state backups using WSB (Windows Server Backup), all old system state copies can be deleted as follows (in the Windows Server editions):

wbadmin delete systemstatebackup -keepversions:0

To quickly clean up old versions of VSS snapshots on Windows Server, use the diskshadow tool:

Each time the command is run, the oldest shadow copy (snapshot) of the volume is deleted.

When you run the wbadmin delete systemstatebackup command in Windows 10, an error appears: “The DELETE BACKUP command is not supported in this version of Windows“. The fact is that on desktop OS (Windows 10/ 8.1/ 7), restore point and limits can only be managed from the Windows GUI. Open the System properties and click on the System Protection tab.

Select the system drive and click the Configure button. The quota configuration dialog box for storing system restore points will open. You can reduce the size of the disk for storing shadow copies. Here you can either delete all existing restore points (Delete button), or completely disable the creation of restore points by selecting Disable system protection.

To reduce the size of the System Volume Information directory you can also:

Move the VSS data to another NTFS drive (vssadmin add shadowstorage /for=c: /on=d: /maxsize=30%);
Disable or reconfigure the Windows File History feature;
Clean up system files using the built-in tool cleanmgr.exe (disk properties -> Disk Cleanup).

Clean Up Dedup ChunkStore in System Volume Information

When analyzing the contents of the System Volume Information folder on Windows Server, you may notice that the DedupChunkStore directory is consuming a lot of space. This means that file deduplication feature is enabled for this volume.

If the Windows Data Deduplication service found identical chunks (fragments) in files on a volume, it replaces them with a link to the unique chunk, which is saved to the System Volume Information directory. If you move or delete optimized files from a deduplicated volume, old chunks are not deleted immediately. These blocks are removed by a special GarbageCollection job that runs once a week. This is why space on a deduplication-enabled volume is not immediately reclaimed.

To immediately start the process of removing unused chunks, run the PowerShell command:

start-dedupjob -Volume C: -Type GarbageCollection

The next dedup job will check the integrity of the remaining chunks:

start-dedupjob -Volume C: -Type DataScrubbing

To monitor these tasks, use the Get-DedupJob cmdlet.

After the completion of the tasks, unused chunks in the System Volume Information directory will be deleted, and additional disk space will be freed.

— Update: 06-03-2023 — us.suanoncolosence.com found an additional article What Is System Volume Information? | Explained from the website recoverit.wondershare.com for the keyword system volume information folder.

Each computer’s partition contains a “System Volume Information” folder. The System Restore Tool uses a system folder called this to restore points. In addition to restoring points, the System Volume Information folder houses content indexing database files to enable faster file searches, etc. System Restore Points, Volume Shadow Copy, Indexing Service Database, NTFS Disk Quota Settings, DFS Replication, and File Deduplication Service Database are examples of necessary information stored within.

Essentially, Windows uses it to process system-related operations. For this reason, you cannot access it. It is noticeable to know that some system-level features are stored in this folder. Permissions are set so that no users or programs without the appropriate access rights can alter the files inside and interfere with the operation of the System.

1. What Is System Volume Information?

Let’s define system volume information in detail. It is a virtual folder in computers, and some system-level features are stored in this folder. Among other things, the permissions are set to prevent users and programs without the appropriate authorization from altering system files and interfering with important functions.

You will find this folder in each partition of your hard drive, as well as on external hard drives and USB flash drives. It is a Windows System folder used for storing data about your disk and your partitions.

2. Why Is the System Volume Information Not Accessible?

NTFS drives have permissions that prevent users with administrator permissions from accessing this folder. When you double-click this folder on a drive formatted with the NTFS file system, you will receive an error message stating that the location for this folder is not accessible: “System Volume Information is not accessible. Access is denied”

Users and programs without the appropriate permissions can’t tamper with the files inside this folder because windows use them for certain system-level functions. The permissions are set so that unauthorized users and programs do not interfere with these files.

3. How to Access System Volume Information Folder on Windows?

As you cannot view the contents of this directory, two methods are mentioned below to teach you how to gain access to the system volume information folder.

Method 1: Open System Volume Information Folder via Command Prompt

Method 2: Open System Volume Information Folder via Windows GUI.

4. How to Delete System Volume Information?

Delete the system volume information folder if you want to prevent the System Restore snapshots store from being wiped away. The system volume information folder is not just part of the System Restore snapshots store. This folder should not be deleted since it contains information and metadata essential to back up, Volume Shadow Copy, and Search indexing, especially if the drive is listed in Windows Search.

Although you should never manually delete files from the System Volume Information folder, because it contains information that could be used to recover your computer if something goes wrong, here is a way to teach you how to meet your need and delete the system volume information folder.

Follow these steps to meet your required need and delete system volume information:

5. How to Reduce the Size of System Volume Information When the Folder Is Too Large?

Furthermore, as the system volume information folder contains so much information, it is not practical to manage it all. One possibility is to reduce the maximum size that the utility can use in a drive, since system restore points take up a significant portion of the available space. Here is how you can do that:

6. How to Recover Deleted or Lost System Volume Information Folder?

Suppose you accidentally deleted the System Volume Information folder and emptied the recycle bin, or lost it due to system crashes, virus attack, hard drive formatting, etc., don’t worry, you can use a data recovery software like Wondershare Recoverit to bring this folder back.

Follow these 3 steps to retrieve your deleted system volume information immediately:

6. People Also Ask

Conclusion

Every computer partition has a hidden system folder called System Volume Information. This folder is used by Windows System Restore Tool to store information and restore points, as it is a system-level folder. It is not accessible because it stores the content indexing service databases and restores points along with the Restore Points.

This allows for faster file searches, etc. Data regarding volume shadow copy for backups are stored in the System Volume Information, which is used for storing System restore points, information regarding service databases (which increases your access time), and data related to the Distributed Tracking Service for sharing information between systems.

You have already known what System Volume Information is and why you cannot remove it. Besides, you have learned the methods to reduce the System Volume Information folder size and the way of deleting it if it is really necessary to do so.

— Update: 19-03-2023 — us.suanoncolosence.com found an additional article What is System Volume Information and Can I Delete the Folder from the website www.winhelponline.com for the keyword system volume information folder.

The System Volume Information folder is a hidden and protected folder located at the root of every drive or partition. It’s even found on your SD card, USB pen drive, and external hard disk if you have connected them to your Windows computer earlier. It’s is not a virus or malware.

But, what exactly is the System Volume Information folder? Why is the folder so huge? Can you delete the folder?

This System Volume Information FAQ page has answers to all your questions.

What is the System Volume Information folder?

System Volume Information (SVI) is the datastore folder used by the System Restore feature. However, it’s not only used by the System Restore feature. It’s also used by Windows Information Protection (WIP), formerly known as enterprise data protection (EDP), to store the encryption keys. In addition, SVI stores metadata and information used by Windows Backup, System Image Backup, Volume Shadow Copy service, and Windows Search indexing.

Why is System Volume Information not accessible?

The System Volume Information folder is restricted using NTFS permissions. By default, only the NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM account (“LocalSystem”) has access (Full control) to the folder and its subfolders.

Even if you’re logged in as an administrator, you’ll see the following error message when accessing the folder:

Location is not available System Volume Information is not accessible. Access is denied.

Read more:

Walkthrough: Use Group Policy to configure Windows Update for Business
[Solved] How to Recover Files Lost After Cut and Paste on Windows/Mac
Pin links to the Start menu from any browser
Snipping Tool in Windows 11/10: Tips & Tricks to capture screenshots
Microsoft Teams Apps for Project Management

If you need to get into the folder to check its contents, see the next paragraph.

How to gain access to System Volume Information

Only the SYSTEM account has full access to the SVI folder by default. No other user or group can view the contents of this directory.

However, you can gain access to the System Volume Information folder using two methods:

Option 1: Run Command Prompt under the SYSTEM account

Using Microsoft’s PsExec.exe utility or other third-party tools, you can start a Command Prompt session under the SYSTEM account. It lets you view, modify or delete the contents of System Volume Information.

For more information, see the article How to Run a Program as SYSTEM (LocalSystem) Account in Windows

This option is preferred as there is no need to modify the folder permissions or access control entries (ACE or ACL) and later revert to the default.

Note that you can’t run File Explorer under the LocalSystem account. If you want to manage the SVI folder using GUI, you may use a third-party tool like File Commander or Total Commander (run as SYSTEM)

Option 2: Take ownership & assign full access to your account

(This is not the preferred method. There are hundreds or thousands of files in the SVI folder, and you don’t want to mess up their permissions. But, if you need to do that, follow the steps below:)

You can modify the access control entry to assign your user account full control permissions for System Volume Information and its subfolders and files:

First, you need to change ownership of those files individually — using Takeown.exe or via File Explorer.

From an admin Command Prompt window, run the following commands:

To gain access to the System Volume Information folder only:

takeown /f "C:System Volume information" icacls "C:System Volume Information" /grant username:F

You should be able to do a directory listing of the System Volume Information folder, but not in the subfolders. If that doesn’t serve your purpose and you want to alter the permissions recursively (across subfolders), run the set of commands mentioned below:

Restore the default permissions

If you’ve not made the permission changes recursively, you can restore the original permissions easily. To do so, run these two commands:

icacls "C:System Volume Information" /setowner "NT AuthoritySystem" icacls "C:System Volume Information" /remove username

You should see the message Successfully processed n files; Failed processing 0 files

As said earlier, the above commands (to restore the default permissions) won’t help if you’ve modified the SVI folder permissions, subfolders, and files en masse.

What does the System Volume Information folder contain?

Here is the typical directory structure of the System Volume Information folder on the system drive:

C:. │ IndexerVolumeGuid │ Syscache.hve │ WPSettings.dat │ ├───EDP │ └───Recovery ├───Windows Backup │ └───Catalogs │ GlobalCatalog.wbcat │ GlobalCatalogCopy.wbcat │ GlobalCatalogLock.dat │ ├───SPP │ └───OnlineMetadataCache │ └───SppCbsHiveStore │ └───SppGroupCache ├───SystemRestore │ └───AppxProgramDataStaging │ └───AppxStaging │ └───ComPlusStaging │ └───FRStaging │ └───FRStaging{8665F319-6B09-46AE-AAEE-75CF8D2D0EC8} └───WindowsImageBackup ├───Catalog │ BackupGlobalCatalog │ GlobalCatalog │ └───SPPMetadataCache {17466c2b-b1e0-4958-b962-c0c19974d1a0} {24499217-fe70-4f88-89e7-77fae19d93b5} {4149d215-92c7-447c-bcb6-0cbfbe517afd} {4277e4fa-9920-40c7-b307-22bcf52d492d}

The Volume Shadow Copy, System Restore, Microsoft Software Shadow Copy Provider, and the Windows Backup services store data in SPP, SystemRestore, and other folders.

IndexerVolumeGuid is a file used by the Windows Search service. The file contains the GUID of the current volume or partition. The search indexer, instead of just relying upon a drive-letter, uses the volume GUID for indexing. This is because the drive letters can change every now and then, especially for flash drives and external hard disks, but the volume GUIDs won’t.
Tracking.log in the System Volume Information folder is used by the Distributed Link Tracking Client service (TrkWks) in Windows, which tracks links to files on NTFS-formatted partitions. It tracks links in scenarios where the link is made to a file on an NTFS volume, such as shell shortcuts and OLE links. If that file is renamed, moved to another volume, Windows uses Distributed Link Tracking to find the file.
Remember seeing this “Problem with Shortcut” prompt before?

You must have seen this “missing shortcut” message

If Distributed Link Tracking service is turned off and the shortcut target is moved or deleted from your system, Windows fails to track the link.
WPSettings.dat – (No info available)
{GUID_n} files may be used by Volume Shadow Copy service
AppxProgramDataStaging contains a backup of your AppRepositoryPackages folder under ProgramData folder.
AppxStaging contains a backup of your WindowsApps folder.

Why is System Volume Information not visible in Explorer?

System Volume Information is hidden and protected for obvious reasons. This means it won’t show up in File Explorer unless you configure Folder Options → View tab to show hidden and protected system files.

After you dismiss the dialog by pressing OK, you should see the SVI folder on each drive.

Can I delete the System Volume Information folder?

It is not advisable to delete the SVI folder. The folder, as said before, is not just the System Restore snapshots store folder. Because it contains information and metadata used by Backup, Volume Shadow Copy, and Search indexer, this folder should not be deleted, especially if it’s a system drive or the drive included in the Windows Search index.

On USB flash drives and SD cards, you may delete the folder if you don’t plan to include its locations in the Search index. However, I’d recommend leaving the folder as it is even on external drives, as it takes not much disk space. As the folder is hidden and protected (attributes: System + Hidden), it won’t be much of an annoyance.

However, if you need to delete the folder for some reason (e.g., malware infestation) and let Windows create a new folder, run these commands from the admin Command Prompt:

(Assuming C: drive)

cd /d c: takeown /f "System Volume Information" /r /d y rd /s /q "System Volume Information"

Alternately, you can run Command Prompt under System privileges and delete the SVI folder by running the 3rd command only.

Why is System Volume Information too large?

System Volume Information can consume gigabytes of disk space if System Restore is enabled on the drive. In Windows 8 and earlier, Windows used to create a restore point daily. If the disk space allocation is incorrect or generously set by the user, then the SVI folder can occupy huge disk space–even hundreds of gigabytes.

In the following screenshot from a Windows 7 computer, you can see that the System Volume Information folder occupying 300GB of disk space on a 500GB hard disk drive.

(You can easily track disk space usage using WinDirStat or TreeSize.)

Here’s a case where the SVI folder in Windows Server 2008/2012 occupying more than 300GB. This is most likely caused by scheduled system state backups using Windows Server Backup Features from Server Manager.

You can reduce the disk space allocation using the vssadmin.exe command-line:

From an admin Command Prompt, run “vssadmin list shadowstorage“. This will list the amount of storage used.

Shadow Copy Storage association For volume: (C:)?Volume{098cc206-0000-0000-0000-500600000000} Shadow Copy Storage volume: (C:)?Volume{098cc206-0000-0000-0000-500600000000} Used Shadow Copy Storage space: 18.577 GB (92%) Allocated Shadow Copy Storage space: 18.89 GB (94%) Maximum Shadow Copy Storage space: UNBOUNDED (100%)

Running the command below will set a limit to the space used — e.g., 5GB.

vssadmin resize shadowstorage /For=C: /On=E: /MaxSize=5GB

You should see the message Successfully resized the shadow copy storage association.

Additionally, the old system state backups created using Windows Server Backup can be deleted using the following command in Windows Server:

wbadmin delete systemstatebackup -keepversions:0

Windows 10

The above wbadmin command-line is valid for Windows Server editions only. When you run the command on Windows 10, you’ll see the following error:

Warning: The DELETE SYSTEMSTATEBACKUP command is not supported in this version of Windows. The operation ended before completion.

On Windows 10, you can use the System Properties GUI to increase or decrease the disk space allocation for System Restore or the Volume Shadow Copy feature. And, the old restore points and shadow copies can be deleted using Disk Cleanup. Using Disk Cleanup, you can clear all but the latest Restore Point and Shadow Copy.

Start Disk Cleanup as administrator and select the system partition. Click on More Options. Click Clean up…

This option removes all but the most recent restore point. It also erases shadow copies and older Backup images as part of restore points. As a result, the System Volume Information folder’s disk space usage will be remarkably reduced.

Unlike earlier versions of Windows, Windows 10 doesn’t automatically create restore points every 24 hours. It creates it only when needed so that there won’t be unnecessary restore points. But if you need, you can create one daily using a custom script with Task Scheduler.

If you’re using low capacity hard disk, you can either lower the disk space allocation for System Restore or clear all restore points to save disk space.

Launch sysdm.cpl from the Run dialog
Click “System Protection”
Select the drive for which you want to reduce the disk space allotment. Click Configure.

This tab shows the current disk usage by System Restore in the SVI folder.
Under Disk Space Usage, drag the Max Usage slider towards the left.

If you reduce the slider to the left, the disk space allocation to the System Restore feature is lowered, keeping the SVI folder size low. The oldest restore points are purged automatically (FIFO) so that the System Restore doesn’t use more space than what you allocated.
Click OK, OK.

Prevent System Volume Information Creation on USB drives

The System Volume Information folder appears on the root of every disk partition in your system. The folder is created on external hard drives, SD cards, and USB flash drives as well.

Let’s now see how to prevent the creation of the SVI folder on your USB flash drive, external drive, or SD card formatted with NTFS.

On USB flash drives or SD cards, the Windows Search Indexer SearchIndexer.exe creates the System Volume Information (SVI) folder and two files: IndexerVolumeGuid and WPSettings.dat in that folder. The IndexerVolumeGUID file stores the unique identifier (GUID) of the current partition or volume.

Step 1: Delete the System Volume Information folder on USB

On NTFS volumes, the SVI folder by default can be accessed only by the SYSTEM account, which has the Full Control permissions. You can remove the System Volume Information folder using the following commands from an admin Command Prompt.

Replace H: in the following example with the actual drive letter of your USB/SD card media. Make sure you don’t inadvertently remove the SVI folder in your system partition or elsewhere.

cd /d h: takeown /f "System Volume Information" /r /d y rd /s /q "System Volume Information"

This removes the folder along with the sub-folders (if any) and files.

Step 2: Prevent the creation of System Volume Information on a USB drive

The SVI folder is created by the Windows Search indexer program, which runs under the SYSTEM account. This is the process that creates the SVI folder along with the two files in it.

By denying Write access for the SYSTEM account to the root directory of a USB drive, you can stop the SVI folder from being created. This, of course, works only if your USB drive uses the NTFS file system.

Important: Don’t perform the following steps on a USB drive or SD media if you’re using it as a storage volume for File History, Windows Backup, System Image Backup, etc. If you deny ‘write’ access to the SYSTEM account on the drive, none of those tools will be able to work correctly.

From an admin Command Prompt, run the following command:

icacls h:  /deny system:W

The above command denies “Write” access to the SYSTEM account on the root of H: (USB media drive-letter).

If you want to do this via the Security tab → Advanced Security Settings, configure it as shown in the image below:

How to reverse or undo the Permission entry?

To undo or reverse the above permission setting, run this command:

icacls h:  /remove:d system

With the “Deny” permission entry removed, the SYSTEM account will now be able to write to the root of the drive. Search indexer will create the System Volume Information folder on the drive.

Read also:

I hope this article provided detailed information about the System Volume Information folder in Windows.

— Update: 20-03-2023 — us.suanoncolosence.com found an additional article A Brief Introduction to System Volume Information Folder [MiniTool Wiki] from the website www.minitool.com for the keyword system volume information folder.

What is System Volume Information? It’s a folder presented by default for each drive on your computer, even the external USB devices plugged in your PC. Usually, the folder is hidden, so if you want to see it, you need to enable the option Show Hidden Items in File Explorer.

Introduction to System Volume Information

What is System Volume Information used for? In fact, it is used for storing necessary information including System Restore Points, Volume Shadow Copy, Indexing Service Database, NTFS Disk Quota Settings, Distributed Link Tracking Service Database, DFS Replication and File deduplication service database.

However, if your drivers are formatted with the NTFS file system, then you cannot access the System Volume Information folder, even you use administrator privileges. And if you double-click the folder, you’ll receive an error message saying that “Location is not available” or “Access is denied”.

So why does this thing happen? This is because Windows uses this folder for certain system-level features. The permissions are set to protect against users and programs without the appropriate permissions amending the files inside and interfering with important system functions.

Luckily, you can open the System Volume Information folder if your drive is formatted with the exFAT or FAT32 file system. And if you open the folder, you can see that there are two files present there – WPSettings.dat and IndexerVolumeGuid.

The IndexerVolumeGuid file is used to assign a unique identifier to the drive. Then the Windows Indexing Service analyzes the drive’s files and indexes them to make you can access them faster.

Whenever a drive is connected to the computer, Windows looks for the identifier and determines which search database to query and associate with the drive. Therefore, you can use Cortana on Windows 10, the search box in the File Explorer or in the Start menu.

The WPSettings.dat file is also created by Windows service, but the function of it is not sure.

How to Reduce the Size of System Volume Information?

Is System Volume Information large? Sometimes it is. This is because it contains your system restore points. So how to reduce the size of System Volume Information? You can delete some restore points.

Here is the tutorial:

Step 1: Open Control Panel and then choose System and Security.

Step 2: Click System and then click System Protection in the left panel.

Step 3: Select the drive you want to reduce the size of the System Volume Information folder and then click Configure….

Step 4: By default, the System Restore can take up to 10 GB space for system restore per drive, which means the system restore can consume 10 GB, so you can reduce the size of the System Volume Information folder by reducing the maximum space using Max usage. Then click OK to save changes.

Note: If you are sure that you don’t need the system restore points, you can click Delete to clear the previous restore points. In addition, you can also choose to check Disable system protection to disable the system restore mechanism for the drive.

Can I Delete System Volume Information?

Actually, you shouldn’t delete the System Volume Information folder. You cannot access it on NTFS-formatted drives, leave alone deleting it. However, you can delete it on exFAT or FAT32 formatted drives, Windows will recreate it again automatically. So there is no need to delete it.

What’s more, the System Volume Information folder is vital for the Windows operation and has lots of necessary functionalities. So if the folder is too large, just reduce its size according to the method mentioned above. Never try to change the permissions on the folder to delete it.

Final Words

From this article, you can know what System Volume Information is and why you cannot delete it. Besides, you can know the methods to reduce the size of the System Volume Information folder.

— Update: 22-03-2023 — us.suanoncolosence.com found an additional article System Volume Information folder in Windows 11/10 from the website www.thewindowsclub.com for the keyword system volume information folder.

What is the System Volume Information folder in Windows 11/10? Is it consuming huge disk space on your system and is the size growing large? We will try to answer these questions in this post and also discuss if you can delete this folder.

System Volume Information folder

The System Volume Information folder is a protected Windows operating folder. To see it, you have to make Windows show hidden and protected files and folders. Then you will see it on the root of a drive. It is present in every partition on your computer and stores crucial information including:

System Restore Points
Volume Shadow Copy
Indexing Service Database
NTFS Disk Quota Settings
Distributed Link Tracking Service Database
DFS Replication and File deduplication service database.

It is present in every drive by default. However, you can prevent its creation on USB drives.

To gain access to the System Volume Information folder execute the following command:

cacls "driveletter:System Volume Information" /E /G username:F

This command adds the specified user to the folder with Full Control permissions.

To remove the permission, execute:

cacls "driveletter:System Volume Information" /E /R username

Running the following command will show you what is stored in this directory:

vssadmin list shadowstorage

System Volume Information folder is large or huge

With limited space on hard drives and even worse on external drives, the fact that the System Volume Information folder occupies a few GBs of the volume could be concerning. By default, the setting for System Restore is set to allow using up to 10GB of space for system restore per drive. The System Volume Information folder could occupy all that volume and yet be larger.

Can you delete the System Volume Information folder?

The System Volume Information folder stores some crucial information and neither should you delete the folder not are you allowed to do so with internal drives and NTFS partitioned external drives. For exFAT or FAT32 partitioned external drives, it is your choice after considering the pros and cons.

You can do two things:

Delete all old System Restore Points and Previous versions of files
Restrict the disk usage by System Restore Points.

While the System Volume Information folder stores a lot of information, it is not feasible to manage all of it. However, since the System Restore points occupy the major chunk of space in the folder, we could reduce the maximum size the utility could use in a drive. The procedure to restrict the disk usage by System Restore Points is as follows:

Select System protection on the list on the left-hand side.

In the list under Protection settings, select the drive for which you intend to delete the System Volume Information folder and then click on Configure.

While keeping the radio button checked at Turn on system protection, you can reduce the maximum space allocated for system restore points using the Max usage bar. Reducing the count will reduce the volume the system restore points could occupy in the System Volume Information folder.

However, if the folder is large already, you might consider deleting the system restore points using the Delete button, obviously after considering the pros and cons.

You could also shift the radio button to Disable system protection to do away with the system restore mechanism for the drive – but that is something you should not do for the System Drive.

I hope this answers your questions.

— Update: 23-03-2023 — us.suanoncolosence.com found an additional article How to Disable System Volume Information Folder for Removable Drives from the website winaero.com for the keyword system volume information folder.

You can make Windows stop creating System Volume Information folder on removable drives every time you connect your flash drive to the computer. If you have such a folder on your removable drive, it means that its file system is NTFS. If File Explorer shows it, you must have enabled the ‘show system files’ in folder options.

The System Volume Information folder is located in the root of the drive. It contains important system data like restore points, search index database, shadow copies, and a variety of other files.

By default, NTFS permissions set of that folder prevent the user from deleting it. That requires changing them or running some app like command prompt as TrustedInstaller. However, if the drive has the FAT32 or exFAT file system, the user can easily remove it.

If you remove the System Volume Information folder from your flash drive, Windows will quickly recreate it. It will contain at least two files.

The IndexerVolumeGuid file that will be created by the Windows Search service (WSearch).
The WPSettings.dat file that is generated by the Storage Service (StorSvc).

So, you need to disable the creation of the System Volume Information folder on removable drives before you delete it. This will prevent Windows from instant recreation of the folder.

Disable the System Volume Information Folder for Removable Drives

Press Win + R and enter regedit into the Run box open the Registry editor.
Navigate to the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindows
key.
Right-click Windows and select New > Key from the context menu. Name the new key Windows Search.
Finally, to the right of the Windows Search key, create a new 32-bit DWORD value named DisableRemovableDriveIndexing and set it to 1.
Now, press Win + R and type services.msc in the Run dialog to open the Services snap-in.
Find the “Storage Service”, and double-click it. Select Disabled for the startup type.
Restart the operating system.

Done. From now, Windows won’t create the System Volume Information folder on on removable drives. You can now remove that folder from your USB stick.

Tip: If you are running Windows Pro edition or above, you can use a group policy instead of the Registry tweak. Run gpedit.msc, navigate to “Computer Configuration Administrative Templates Windows Components Search“, and enable the policy “Do not allow locations on removable drives to be added to libraries“.

Remove the System Volume Information folder

Before removing, please keep in mind to the following things.

Removing this folder is not mandatory. With default File Explorer settings you will never seen it; unless you make it show protected system files.
If your flash drive doesn’t contain anything important, you can simply format it. It is much faster than removing the folder using any method.
Since you have already disabled the System Volume Information folder for removable drives, it won’t reappear on you computer. But if you connect your flash drive to some other computer, Windows will create it again.

So, here’s how to delete the folder.

Method 1

To remove System Volume Information from a removable drive, do the following.

Right-click the folder and select Properties from the menu.
Switch to the Security tab, and click on the Advanced button.
Click on the Change link next to the Owner value.
Now, click the Advanced button, click on Find Now and select your user account from the list, then click OK.
Click OK again, and check the Replace the owner for objects and subcontainers.
Press the OK button in the advanced properties dialog, and confirm the replacement in the Windows Security prompt.
Open a command prompt as Administrator, and type the following command: rd "G:system volume information" /s /q. Replace G: with the drive letter assigned to your removable drive.

You are done. The System Volume Information directory is now removed.

Method 2

Download some tool like PowerCMD, ExecTI, or Winaero Tweaker. Now, run the Command Prompt app (cmd.exe) as TrustedInstaller. The latter is a hidden built-in account in Windows which is set as the owner for mission-critical files and Registry keys. However, if you execute a program as TrustedInstaller, then you are able to access these protected resources without taking ownership and changing access permissions.

Finally, in the Command Prompt, type the familiar command rd "e:system volume information" /s /q. It will remove it directly.

Instead of the cmd.exe app, you can run your favorite file manager app, such as Far or Total Commander, and delete the folder from them.

The Storage Service (StorSvc)

As you may remember, earlier we have disabled the Storage Service to prevent it from creating the WPSettings.dat file. However, this service is important for the operating system, so keeping it always disabled is a bad idea. For example, it is required to install and update apps from the Microsoft Store.

Alternative to disabling the service, you can stop it on demand. E.g. before plugging in your flash disk, stop the service. After you remove the disk from the USB port, you can start it again.

Finally, you can create an empty file named “System Volume Information” without any extension right after removing the eponymous folder. The file will prevent Windows from creating the folder on any computer. But you will end up having an extra file instead of the extra folder in the root of the removable drive.

To create such a file, open a new command prompt and type the following command

Replace G: with the actual letter of your removable drive.

That’s it.

Source: https://woshub.com/how-to-clean-up-system-volume-information-folder/