Admin sections and elevation
Sections 12, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 20 change things only an administrator may change. windowsweep never asks for a password and never stores one; it detects whether the current console is elevated and, when it is not, skips those sections with the exact command that runs them.
What each admin section does
| # | Section | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| 12 | Windows Update and system temp | Stops wuauserv/bits, clears the update download cache, restarts them; Delivery Optimization cache; C:\Windows\Temp; old CBS/DISM/WU logs; system WER queues |
| 13 | Disk Cleanup engine | cleanmgr /sagerun:77 with a curated handler list - never Downloads, Recycle Bin, File History, ESD files or language packs |
| 14 | Component store | Dism /StartComponentCleanup (slow; --reset-base opt-in) |
| 15 | Hibernation file | powercfg /hibernate off or /type reduced |
| 16 | Event logs | wevtutil cl for every log (permanent) |
| 20 | Disk-image compaction | Stops Docker Desktop and WSL, diskpart compact vdisk on selected .vhdx files |
12 and 13 join --all automatically when the console is already elevated. 14 is opt-in, because it is slow, and stays out of --all even when elevated. 15, 16 and 20 are deep-gated.
--elevate
windowsweep --profile system --yes --elevate
The tool relaunches itself through Start-Process -Verb RunAs, Windows shows the UAC prompt, and the elevated
run opens in a new window with its own log and report under ~\.windowsweep. The original window waits and
prints the child's exit code. Your account must be a member of Administrators; a standard user is told so by
section 0.
The one-liner that also removes the hibernation file:
windowsweep --only 12,13,14,15 --hiberfil off --yes --i-understand-deep --elevate
The hibernation decision
hiberfil.sys holds a copy of RAM and is roughly 40% of it - 16 GB on a 40 GB machine - permanently, on the
system drive.
| Choice | Frees | You keep | You lose |
|---|---|---|---|
--hiberfil off | the whole file | Sleep | Hibernate, Fast Startup, hibernate when the battery is critical |
--hiberfil reduced | about half | Fast Startup, Sleep | Hibernate |
--hiberfil keep | nothing | everything | - |
Running speed is unaffected either way; the gain is disk space, which matters most on a nearly full system drive. Reverse it any time with powercfg /hibernate on. Nothing else changes: no power plan, no sleep setting and no BIOS option.
Why some caches are admin-only
C:\Windows\Temp, the Windows Update download cache and the system Error Reporting queues are owned by the
system; the Explorer thumbnail and icon databases are locked by Explorer and are rebuilt cleanly only through
Disk Cleanup; WinSxS may only be touched by DISM. Everything a non-elevated user owns is handled by sections 1-10.
Last Updated: 2026-09-05