The influence of ion energy on the hydrogen incorporation has been investigated for alumina thin films, deposited by reactive magnetron sputtering in an Ar/O2/H2O environment. Ar+ with an average kinetic energy of ~5 eV was determined to be the dominating species in the plasma. The films were analyzed with x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and elastic recoil detection analysis, demonstrating evidence for amorphous films with stoichiometric O/Al ratio. As the substrate bias potential was increased from –15 V (floating potential) to –100 V, the hydrogen content decreased by ~70%, from 9.1 to 2.8 at. %. Based on ab initio calculations, these results may be understood by thermodynamic principles, where a supply of energy enables surface diffusion, H2 formation, and desorption [Rosén et al., J. Phys.: Condens. Matter 17, L137 (2005)]. These findings are of importance for the understanding of the correlation between ion energy and film composition and also show a pathway to reduce impurity incorporation during film growth in a high vacuum ambient.