How to Hibernate Windows 10 (Turn Hibernate On or Off)

To hibernate Windows 10, first add Hibernate to the power menu. Open Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > Choose what the power buttons do. Select Change settings that are currently unavailable, check Hibernate, and select Save changes. Then select Start > Power > Hibernate.

If Hibernate isn’t listed, turn hibernation on first with powercfg /hibernate on in an admin Command Prompt.

Applies to: Windows 10. You need an administrator account. Checked against Microsoft Learn on September 25, 2026.

What hibernate does

Hibernate saves everything you have open to the drive and turns the PC off. When you turn it on again, you’re back where you left off. It uses no power, so it’s good for laptops you won’t use for a while.

• Sleep: keeps your work in memory and uses a little power. It wakes faster.
• Hibernate: saves your work to the drive and uses no power.
• Shut down: closes everything.

Add Hibernate to the power menu

1. Press Windows + R, type powercfg.cpl, and press Enter.
2. Select Choose what the power buttons do on the left.
3. Select Change settings that are currently unavailable.
4. Under Shutdown settings, check Hibernate, then select Save changes.

Hibernate now shows in Start > Power and when you press Alt + F4 on the desktop.

Turn hibernation on or off

1. Select Start, type cmd, right-click Command Prompt, and select Run as administrator.
2. To turn it on, type powercfg /hibernate on and press Enter.
3. To turn it off, type powercfg /hibernate off and press Enter.

Turning it off also removes Hibernate from the power menu and turns off Fast startup.

Make the power button or lid hibernate

In Choose what the power buttons do, set When I press the power button or When I close the lid to Hibernate, then select Save changes.

Free up space by removing hiberfil.sys

Windows keeps a hidden file, hiberfil.sys, on drive C. It can take several gigabytes, depending on how much RAM you have. Running powercfg /hibernate off deletes it. Don’t delete it by hand.

If Hibernate is missing

• Not in Shutdown settings: run powercfg /hibernate on first, then check again.
• Still missing: run powercfg /a. It lists which sleep states your PC supports and why hibernate isn’t available.
• The PC wakes up by itself: a device or scheduled task may be waking it. Check Device Manager for devices allowed to wake the PC.
• Hibernation is on but Hibernate still won’t show: the hibernation file may be set to the reduced type, which only supports fast startup. Run powercfg /h /type full in an admin Command Prompt.
• To see what woke the PC, run powercfg /lastwake. Run powercfg /devicequery wake_armed to list every device that’s allowed to wake it.
• The screen stays black when you resume: update the graphics and chipset drivers, and check for a BIOS or UEFI update from your PC maker.

Frequently asked questions

Is it bad to hibernate every day?

No. It writes to the drive each time, but modern SSDs handle this easily.

Does hibernate save battery?

Yes. It uses no battery, unlike sleep.

Why can’t I hibernate on a work PC?

Your organization may turn it off with a policy.

What’s the difference between hibernate and fast startup?

Hibernate saves everything you have open, including apps and documents. Fast startup only saves the core of Windows when you shut down, so you start with a fresh desktop but it boots faster. Both use the same hiberfil.sys file.

How long does it take to hibernate and resume?

Usually less than a minute on a PC with an SSD. It’s slower than waking from sleep, because Windows has to save and reload everything from the drive, but faster than a full restart and reopening your apps.

To stop your PC from sleeping at all, see how to turn off sleep mode in Windows 10.

If Sleep is missing from the power menu, see how to add the Sleep option in Windows 10.

For more power options, see how to change power settings in Windows 10. Microsoft’s guide is How to disable and re-enable hibernation. More help is on our Windows Help & Guides page.

To make your laptop hibernate when you close the lid, see how to change what happens when you close your laptop lid in Windows 11.