Minidump Files Location Exclusive May 2026

This guide focuses exclusively on where Minidump files are located, how to access them when Windows hides them, and the specific registry keys that dictate their placement.

How to Unhide the Folder (Step-by-Step)

1. Open File Explorer.
2. Click the View tab at the top.
3. Click Options (on the far right) → Change folder and search options.
4. Go to the View tab.
5. Select Show hidden files, folders, and drives.
6. Uncheck Hide protected operating system files (Recommended).
7. Click OK.

Now you should see the C:\Windows\Minidump folder.

Review: Minidump Files — Small Files, Big Debugging Power

Minidump files (.dmp) are compact crash-dump snapshots created when Windows processes or the OS itself fail. They capture enough state to diagnose faults while keeping file size small — typically tens to hundreds of kilobytes — making them ideal for collection, transmission, and postmortem analysis.

3. The "Hidden in Plain Sight" Location: MEMORY.DMP

If your system crashes and you cannot find files in the Minidump folder, check the root of your Windows drive.

• Path: C:\Windows\MEMORY.DMP
• Difference: Unlike the folder above, this is usually a Kernel Memory Dump or a Complete Memory Dump. It is much larger (hundreds of MBs to GBs).
• Behavior: By default, Windows often overwrites this file on every crash. If you have had two crashes, you may have lost the first one unless you renamed this file immediately.

Part 7: How to Change the Exclusive Minidump Location

Perhaps you want to save minidumps to a different drive (e.g., D:\CrashDumps) to avoid filling your SSD. You cannot simply move the folder—Windows will not follow symbolic links for crash dumps easily.

However, there is an exclusive registry hack to change the location:

1. Open regedit.exe as Administrator.
2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\CrashControl
3. Find the value named DumpFile.
4. Change the path from %SystemRoot%\Memory.dmp to your desired path (e.g., D:\Dumps\Memory.dmp).
5. For minidumps, find MinidumpDir and change it to D:\Dumps\Minidump.

Warning: If you change this to a network drive or an external USB drive, Windows will fail to write the dump 100% of the time because the drive is not available during the early boot crash phase. Use only internal, fixed NTFS drives.

Default Location

By default, Windows stores minidump files in a specific directory:

• For Windows XP and earlier: The minidump files are stored in the \Windows\Minidump directory.
• For Windows Vista and later: The default location is still under %SystemRoot%\Minidump, but these files are often managed through the Windows Error Reporting (WER) system, and their storage can be configured through Group Policy or local settings.