How to Disable Auto Deletion of Memory Dumps on Low Disk Space in Windows 11

Windows 11 creates memory dump files when a system crash (blue screen error or BSOD) occurs. These files contain valuable diagnostic information that can help identify the cause of system failures. However, when your system drive is running low on disk space, Windows may automatically delete memory dump files to free up storage.

If you are troubleshooting a recurring crash and need to preserve these dumps for analysis, you will want to disable this automatic cleanup. Here is how you can do it using two different methods.

Method 1: Disable Automatic Memory Dump Deletion via System Properties

This is the simplest and most straightforward method for most users.

Step 1. Open System Properties

Press Win + R on your keyboard to open the Run dialog box. Type sysdm.cpl and press Enter. Alternatively, you can open Settings (Win + I), navigate to System > About, and click on the Advanced system settings link.

Step 2. Navigate to Startup and Recovery

In the System Properties window that appears, click on the Advanced tab. Under the Startup and Recovery section, click the Settings button.

Step 3. Disable Automatic Deletion

In the Startup and Recovery window, look for the System failure section. Check Disable automatic deletion of memory dumps when disk space is low. Click OK on both open windows to save your changes.

Method 2: Disable Automatic Memory Dump Deletion via Registry Editor

For advanced users who prefer using the Registry Editor, this method achieves the same result.

Step 1. Open Registry Editor

Press Win + R, type regedit, and press Enter.

Step 2. Navigate to the CrashControl

In Registry Editor, go to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl

Step 3. Create or Modify the Registry Value

In the right pane, look for a DWORD (32-bit) Value named AlwaysKeepMemoryDump.

If it does not exist, right-click an empty area in the right pane and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value. Name it AlwaysKeepMemoryDump.

Step 4. Set the Value Data

Double-click on AlwaysKeepMemoryDump to modify it. To disable automatic deletion (and keep the dump files), set the Value data to 1 and click OK.  (Setting this value to 0 would re-enable the default automatic deletion behavior).

Conclusion

While disabling this feature ensures you don't lose crucial crash data, it also means Windows will no longer automatically clean up these often-large files.  If you need to free up space, check out our guide on How to Delete Memory Dump Files in Windows for a step-by-step walkthrough.