Virtualization Delete Checkpoints for Hyper-V Virtual Machine in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to delete checkpoints for a Hyper-V virtual machine in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Hyper-V enables running virtualized computer systems on top of a physical host. These virtualized systems can be used and managed just as if they were physical computer systems, however they exist in virtualized and isolated environment. Special software called a hypervisor manages access between the virtual systems and the physical hardware resources. Virtualization enables quick deployment of computer systems, a way to quickly restore systems to a previously known good state, and the ability to migrate systems between physical hosts.

One of the great benefits to virtualization is the ability to easily save the state of a virtual machine. In Hyper-V this is done through the use of virtual machine checkpoints when enabled. You may want to create a virtual machine checkpoint before making software configuration changes, applying a software update, or installing new software. If a system change were to cause an issue, the virtual machine can be reverted to the state at which it was when then checkpoint was taken.

Hyper-V includes two types of checkpoints:

• Standard Checkpoints: takes a snapshot of the virtual machine and virtual machine memory state at the time the checkpoint is initiated. A snapshot is not a full backup and can cause data consistency issues with systems that replicate data between different nodes such as Active Directory. Hyper-V only offered standard checkpoints (formerly called snapshots) prior to Windows 10.
• Production Checkpoints: uses Volume Shadow Copy Service or File System Freeze on a Linux virtual machine to create a data-consistent backup of the virtual machine. No snapshot of the virtual machine memory state is taken.

If you also enable automatic checkpoints for a virtual machine, Hyper-V creates a checkpoint when the VM starts (if no existing checkpoint exists) and deletes it when the VM shuts down cleanly.

When you enable checkpoints for a virtual machine, you can also manually create a checkpoint for the virtual machine on demand as needed.

Deleting checkpoints can help create space on your Hyper-V host.

Behind the scenes, checkpoints are stored as .avhdx files in the same location as the .vhdx files for the virtual machine. When you delete a checkpoint, Hyper-V merges the .avhdx and .vhdx files for you. Once completed, the checkpoint's .avhdx file will be deleted from the file system. You should not delete the .avhdx files directly.

Reference:

You must be signed in as an administrator to delete a checkpoint for a Hyper-V virtual machine.

1 Open Hyper-V Manager (virtmgmt.msc).

2 Select the virtual machine (ex: "Windows 11 Home") in the middle pane you want to delete checkpoint(s) for. (see screenshot below step 4)

3 Select an existing checkpoint in the middle pane you want to delete. (see screenshot below step 4)

4 Perform one of the following actions below to delete the checkpoint(s): (see screenshot below)

• Click/tap on Delete Checkpoint in the right "Actions" pane to only delete that specific checkpoint.
• Click/tap on Delete Checkpoint Subtree in the right "Actions" pane to delete that specific checkpoint and all subsequent checkpoints in its subtree.
• Click/tap on Action on the menu bar, and click/tap on Delete Checkpoint to only delete that specific checkpoint.
• Click/tap on Action on the menu bar, and click/tap on Delete Checkpoint Subtree to delete that specific checkpoint and all subsequent checkpoints in its subtree.
• Right click on the checkpoint in the middle pane, and click/tap on Delete Checkpoint to only delete that specific checkpoint.
• Right click on the checkpoint in the middle pane, and click/tap on Delete Checkpoint Subtree to delete that specific checkpoint and all subsequent checkpoints in its subtree.

5 Click/tap on Delete to confirm. (see screenshots below)


6 You can now close Hyper-V Manager if you like.





1 Open Windows Terminal (Admin), and select Windows PowerShell.

2 Type the command below into Windows Terminal (Admin), and press Enter to see a list of all available checkpoints for a virtual machine. (see screenshot below step 3)

Substitute <VM Name> in the command above with the actual virtual machine name (ex: "Windows 11 Home") you want to apply a checkpoint.

For example: Get-VMCheckpoint -VMName "Windows 11 Home"

3 Make note of the checkpoint name (ex: "Windows 11 Home - (5/31/2024 - 11:07:41 AM)") you want to delete from this virtual machine (ex: "Windows 11 Home"). (see screenshot below)


4 Type the command below you want to use into Windows Terminal (Admin), and press Enter. (see screenshot below)

Substitute <Checkpoint Name> in the command above with the actual checkpoint name (ex: "Windows 11 Home - (5/31/2024 - 11:07:41 AM)") from step 3 you want to delete.

Substitute <VM Name> in the command above with the actual virtual machine name (ex: "Windows 11 Home") you want to delete checkpoint(s) from.

For example: Remove-VMCheckpoint -VMName "Windows 11 Home" -Name "Windows 11 Home - (5/31/2024 - 11:07:41 AM)"

5 You can now close Windows Terminal (Admin) if you like.


That's it,
Shawn Brink