diff --git a/examples/sha256sum_with_io_cp.v b/examples/sha256sum_with_io_cp.v
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..62e3d85814
--- /dev/null
+++ b/examples/sha256sum_with_io_cp.v
@@ -0,0 +1,28 @@
+// This example shows how to use io.cp, in combination with os.open and crypto.sha256,
+// to read and hash files chunk by chunk, without loading them completely in memory (which may
+// require too much RAM with big files).
+//
+// Usage: examples/sha256sum_with_io_cp [FILE]...
+//
+// Note: to compile the program, use:
+// `v -prod -cflags "-march=native -mtune=native" examples/sha256sum_with_io_cp.v`
+// After that, to compare it with say `sha256sum`, you can run:
+// `v repeat -R 5 "sha256sum v" "examples/sha256sum_with_io_cp v`
+import os
+import io
+import crypto.sha256
+
+fn hash_file(path string) !string {
+	mut file := os.open(path)!
+	mut digest := sha256.new()
+	io.cp(mut file, mut digest, buffer_size: 256 * 1024)!
+	file.close()
+	return digest.sum([]).hex()
+}
+
+fn main() {
+	for fpath in os.args#[1..] {
+		h := hash_file(fpath)!
+		println('${h}  ${fpath}')
+	}
+}
diff --git a/vlib/io/io.v b/vlib/io/io.v
index 8982b03867..46b13cffdd 100644
--- a/vlib/io/io.v
+++ b/vlib/io/io.v
@@ -1,18 +1,26 @@
 module io
 
-const buf_max_len = 1024
+// CopySettings provides additional options to io.cp
+@[params]
+pub struct CopySettings {
+pub mut:
+	buffer_size int = 64 * 1024 // The buffer size used during the copying. A larger buffer is more performant, but uses more RAM.
+}
 
 // cp copies from `src` to `dst` by allocating
 // a maximum of 1024 bytes buffer for reading
 // until either EOF is reached on `src` or an error occurs.
 // An error is returned if an error is encountered during write.
-pub fn cp(mut src Reader, mut dst Writer) ! {
-	mut buf := []u8{len: buf_max_len}
-	for {
-		len := src.read(mut buf) or { break }
-		dst.write(buf[..len]) or { return err }
+@[manualfree]
+pub fn cp(mut src Reader, mut dst Writer, params CopySettings) ! {
+	mut buf := []u8{len: params.buffer_size}
+	defer {
+		unsafe {
+			buf.free()
+		}
 	}
-	unsafe {
-		buf.free()
+	for {
+		bytes := src.read(mut buf) or { break }
+		dst.write(buf[..bytes]) or { return err }
 	}
 }