In most cases, Windows 11 will be installed on a system with more than enough resources to run optimally. However, if you want to run Windows on a low-end device, you may want to shrink and optimize Windows 11 images to run on the device with fewer resources. In Compact mode, Windows installs the operating system files as compressed files. It updates and replaces individual files as needed to help maintain the drive footprint size over time. Compact OS is supported on both UEFI-based and BIOS-based devices. Below is how to enable or disable Compact OS with Windows 11.
How to enable Compact OS with Windows 11
As mentioned above, Compact OS allows Windows to be installed on low-end devices that don’t have all the resources to run Windows normally. Compact OS shrinks and optimizes Windows 11 images by removing individual files as needed to help maintain the drive footprint size over time. To enable Compact OS, open Windows Terminal as administrator. Then run the commands below to enable compressed Windows files. After running the commands above, you’ll see Windows compressing the OS binaries. Depending on your system’s speed and the size of your system’s hard drive, this could take a while. Wait until the process is complete and you can see a message similar to the one below. To query Compact OS status, run the commands below. Windows will display whether the system is in a compact state or not. You can now close Windows Terminal.
How to disable Compact OS in Windows 11
If Compact OS is enabled and you want to disable it, simply open Windows Terminal and run the commands below. Windows will run and begin decompressing the system binaries. Once done, you’ll see a message that the systems’ files are uncompressed. That should do it! Conclusion: This post showed you how to enable or disable Compact OS in Windows 11. If you find any error above or have something to add, please use the comment form below.
