Enable or disable Windows 11 hibernation

Hibernation in Windows 11 is a process that allows you to save energy by putting your PC to sleep. When you enable hibernation, your computer shuts down and any open files are saved to your hard drive. When you wake up Windows 11 again, you can continue working from where you left off.
In this article, we'll examine how Windows 11 enables hibernation in three different ways: by automatically activating it when the computer shuts down, by editing the registry, or by entering the command prompt.

Table of contents Hide

1 Why enable hibernation?

2 Enable Windows 11 hibernation (Control Panel)

3 Disable hibernation via the registry

4 What if my computer won't start after I put it to sleep?

5 Conclusion

Why enable hibernation?

Hibernation is a power-saving state designed primarily for laptops to conserve battery power. When you enable hibernation, your computer saves its current state—open files and programs, unsaved work—to disk, and then turns itself off completely.

This differs from hibernation, which uses less power but does not turn off completely. When you turn your laptop back on, it returns to the state it was in when you put it to sleep. So you can pick up right where you left off.

Windows 11 enable hibernation (Control Panel)

Hibernation is a process that helps PCs conserve energy and power. When a PC goes to sleep, it saves all data from memory to the hard drive . This data is then stored in a file called hiberfil.sys . When the PC is restored, the data in hiberfil.sys is used to return the PC to its previous state. However, if the PC stays inactive for a period of time, the hard drive will consume too much power and the data in hiberfil.sys will be lost.

Windows 11 hibernation or standby mode is a good way to conserve energy and power when you're not using your computer.

1. To put Windows 11 to sleep, go to the Start menu and search for “ Control Panel ”.
2. If you are in the Control Panel, go to "Power Options".
3. Click on "Choose what happens when you press the power button".
4. Then click some " Settings are currently unavailable".
5. Select the Hibernate check box.
6. This will enable hibernation when you shut down your computer.

When you're ready to turn off your computer, just click the Hibernate option on the Start menu. This will save any open documents and programs before you shut down the so that when you start it again you can pick up exactly where you left off.

How to enable hibernation via command prompt (CMD)

You can use the command prompt (CMD) to put the PC to sleep or activate or deactivate it.

1. Type cmd in the search bar at the bottom left and click " Run as Administrator" on the result
2. Type powercfg.exe /hibernate on  and press Enter.

Tip: You can disable hibernation in the command prompt by typing " powercfg.exe /hibernate off"  .

Disable hibernation through the registry

To disable hibernation, you can use the registry editor.

Before proceeding here, you should make a  backup of the registry  .

1. Open Registry Editor by searching for it in Windows 11's search bar.
2. Locate the HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power key  .
3. Find the key named " HibernateEnabled ". Double click on it and change the value from  1  to  0 .
    

   

4. Close the registry editor and restart your computer for the changes to take effect.

What if my computer won't start after I put it to sleep?

If your computer does not start after you put it to sleep, there may be a problem with the hardware or the software used to manage startup.

The best way to find out is to try waking up your Windows 11 and see how it responds.

If everything is working correctly but your computer still won't boot, there may be a problem with drivers or firmware (or with Windows itself).

Conclusion

Hibernation in Windows 11 is an important feature that helps save energy. It's also a good way to hibernate your computer for long periods of time when it's not in use.