Not Enough Disk Space Error in Hyper-V: 4 Ways to Fix It

Do not hesitate to end all virtual machines not actively in use

4 min. read

Updated onOctober 4, 2023

updated onOctober 4, 2023

Share this article

Improve this guide

Read our disclosure page to find out how can you help Windows Report sustain the editorial teamRead more

Key notes

Hyper-V not having enough disk space is an error most users complain about frequently, so you’re not alone. This issue prevents users from running multiple virtual machines and results in manyHypervisor errors on Windows 11.

How much disk space does Hyper-V need to run multiple VMs?

Memory is one of the essential components of the Hypervisor. You need to allocate memory to virtual machines for them to be able to run.

A standard Hyper-V host requires about 4 GB of memory space to run Hyper-V and the management operating system.

However, running multiple virtual machines calls for more memory usage. So, users should assign bigger memory space.

Nevertheless, running into this error on Hyper-V can occur due to many factors. The major ones are:

Many other factors can cause a shortage in memory space in Hyper-V. You can read aboutfixing Hyper-V that ran out of memoryerrors to understand the problem better.

What can I do if there’s not enough disk space in Hyper-V?

Before anything else, consider doing these preliminary checks:

If after these, the error persists, proceed to the advanced fixes below.

1. Expand Hyper-V disk size via Hyper-V Manager

Restart your PC and check if the memory issue persists. If you encounterHyper-V error when applying hard drive changes, take a look at this guide.

2. Perform a disk cleanup

We recommend you readhow to free up Disk spaceon Windows 11 for further information on this.

3. Initiate Compact Virtual Hard Disks

By initiating a compact disk, more spaces will be available from the shrunk VM memory.

4. Clear deleted VM files

Deleting the VM files of deleted virtual machines will free up disk space. However, we advise that you useHyper-V backup softwareto back up your VMs to be able to access them after being deleted.

Alternatively, you can checkhow to run disk cleanup on Windows 11. Also, you can read our article onhow to fix Hypervisor not runningon Windows 11.

If you have questions or suggestions, you can leave them in the comments section. We’d like to hear from you.

Not Enough Disk Space Error in Hyper-V: 4 Ways to Fix It#

How much disk space does Hyper-V need to run multiple VMs?#

What can I do if there’s not enough disk space in Hyper-V?#

1. Expand Hyper-V disk size via Hyper-V Manager#

2. Perform a disk cleanup#

3. Initiate Compact Virtual Hard Disks#

4. Clear deleted VM files#