How to Disable Windows File Compression

This tutorial shows you how to disable the File Compression feature in Microsoft Windows.

Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista Command

1. Open a CMD prompt or hold down the “Windows Key” , then press “R” to bring up the Run dialog box.
2. Type the following then press “Enter“.
   • fsutil behavior set disablecompression 1

File compression is disabled. If you wish to enable it again, you can use the command fsutil behavior set disablecompression 0

Windows 2000 and XP NTFS Volumes

1. Hold down the “Windows key” , then press “R“.
2. Type “regedit” and select “OK“.
3. Navigate to the following:
   • HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE
   • SYSTEM
   • CurrentControlSet
   • Control
   • FileSystem.
4. Look for an entry on the right side for “NtfsDisableCompression“. If it doesn’t exist, you will need to create it. To do so, right-click on “FileSystem“, then select “New” > “DWORD Value“. Give the value a name of “NtfsDisableCompression“. Press the “Enter” key when you are done.
5. Right-click the “NtfsDisableCompression” entry and click “Modify“.
6. To disable compression set the “Value data” to “1“. (To enable compression again, set the Value data to 0 or delete NftsDisableCompression)
7. Restart the computer to apply changes.

Now when trying to compress a folder, the following error will be produced:

An error occurred applying attributes to the file:
{file path and filename}
Access is denied.