To disable or enable hibernation mode in Windows, select your version of Windows below and follow the steps.

Windows 8, 10, and 11 users

  • Open the Control Panel.

  • Click or double-click the Power Options icon.

  • In the Power Options window, click the Change plan settings link for the power option currently selected.

  • In the Edit Plan Settings window, click the Change advanced power settings link.

  • In the Power Options window, expand the Sleep section, then the Allow hybrid sleep option, and change the Setting to Off.

  • Windows 8, 10, and 11 users

  • Windows Vista and Windows 7 users

  • Windows XP users

On laptops, instead of a Settings option, you may see two options named On battery and Plugged in. Change both options to Off to disable hibernation mode.

  • Click OK to save the setting change.

Windows Vista and Windows 7 users

  • Open the Control Panel.
  • Double-click the Power Options icon.
  • In the Power Options window, click the Change plan settings link for the power option currently selected.
  • In the Edit Plan Settings window, click the Change advanced power settings link.
  • In the Power Options window, expand the Sleep section, then the Allow hybrid sleep option and change the Setting to Off.
  • Click OK to save the setting change.

To check if hibernate mode was turned off successfully, open the C: drive on the computer and seeing if the hiberfil.sys file is in the root (c:\hiberfil.sys). If you see that file, hibernate mode is not fully turned off. Follow the steps below to fully turn off hibernate mode.

Turn hibernation mode back on by changing the Setting in step 5 to On.

  • Open a Windows command line.
  • Type the following at the command prompt and press Enter: powercfg.exe -h off
  • Verify hibernate mode is now fully turned off by checking for the hiberfil.sys file on the C: drive.

Windows XP users

  • Open the Control Panel.
  • Double-click the Power Options icon.
  • In the Power Options Properties window, click the Hibernate tab.
  • Uncheck the Enable hibernation check box to disable the feature, or check the box to enable it. This window also displays the total space required for hibernation.

You can turn hibernate mode back on by following the steps above, but instead, type powercfg.exe -h on at the command prompt and change the Allow hybrid sleep setting to On.

You can turn hibernation mode back on by checking the Enable hibernation check box.

  • See the hibernate definition for further information and related links.
  • Microsoft Windows help and support.