How To Enable Or Disable Hibernate In Windows

If you’re traveling or are going to be away from your PC for quite sometime, hibernating it is the best option. Although there are shut down options, it’s not as reliable as hibernation.

Hibernating your PC takes care of your computer’s battery life and your work progress as well. So, let’s learn how it is different from other functions and how to enable it on various devices?

What is Hibernating a PC?

In hibernation mode, the system shuts down completely but stores all the unsaved work as a hibernator file (hiberfil.sys) in the hard drive. This provides the users with two benefits. In the case of laptops, the device does not use any battery power in the hibernated mode. Additionally, you can resume your work as you left it without loss in any files or data.

Hibernate vs Sleep

The main difference between hibernation and sleep mode is the amount of battery power your device uses and the amount of time it takes to resume your work on the device. In the Sleep mode, as your files are saved in the RAM, you can access them instantly while opening the device.

In Hibernation mode, it will take some time (a few seconds to a minute) to resume your work as it requires the system to access the hibernator file from the hard drive. In the Sleep mode, as the RAM is still running, the device still uses a battery. As such, over a long period, the battery can get drained. In the Hibernation mode, the device uses no battery.

How to Enable Hibernate in Windows?

If you want to enable Hibernate mode, please follow the steps below according to your device. Please follow the detailed steps written in the comprehensive guide below.

For Windows:

There are two approaches to enable Hibernate in Windows; using the command line and using the GUI approach.

Using Command Line

To enable hibernate mode in Windows with a command prompt, please follow the steps below. This works in all versions of Windows

Click on the search button.
Type “cmd”.
Right click on the option and select Run as administrator.
On the command box, type in: powercfg.exe /hibernate on.
Press enter.

This is the longer version but will ensure that Hibernate mode is enabled on your device.

Using GUI Approach

If the command line seems a little daunting task for you, there’s also a GUI approach to enable hibernation. The process varies a little according to versions of windows.

Window 11:

To enable Hibernate in Windows 11, please follow the steps below:

Click on the search button.
Type Control Panel and press enter.
Click on Power Options.
On the left-hand menu, click “Choose what the power button do.”
Beside the blue and yellow shield icon, select Change settings that are currently unavailable.
The shutdown settings will appear.
Check Hibernate option, which will enable Hibernate option.
Click on Save Changes.

Once you have enabled the Hibernate mode, it will appear as an option when you select the power button.

Windows 10:

To enable Hibernate mode in Windows 10, please follow the steps below:

Click on the Windows logo.
Go to Settings > System > Power & Sleep.
Select Additional power settings.
Click “Choose what the power button do.”
Beside the blue and yellow shield icon, select Change settings that are currently unavailable.
Under Shutdown settings, check on the Hibernate option to enable Hibernate mode.
Click on Save changes.

Once you have enabled the Hibernate mode, it will appear as an option when you select the power button.

Windows 7:

To enable Hibernate in Windows 7, please follow the steps below:

Click on the Windows logo.
Go to System and Security.
Click on Power Options.
On the left-hand menu, select Change when the computer sleeps.
Go to Change advanced power settings.
Scroll down to Sleep and press the addition button to the expand options under it.
Under Allow hybrid sleep, select the settings to Off.
Click on OK.

Once you have enabled the Hibernate mode, it will appear as an option when you select the Shutdown option.

How to Enable Hibernate on Mac:

In Mac, specific Hibernate options like in Windows are not available. Instead, Mac has a Standby feature that does the same task as the Hibernate mode.

By default, your MacBook will go into Standby after a certain period of inactivity, based on your battery level. You can check the default settings and change it according to your preference.

To check your default settings, please follow the steps below:

Go to the search button located on the top right corner
Type Terminal and Click on it
Type in “pmset -g | grep standby” in the terminal box

The information regarding Stand by settings should appear like this:

In the image above, you can see three options:

Standbydelayhigh which denotes the number of seconds, after the sleep mode, in which the device will go into standby mode in high battery. In this case, it is 24 hours.
Standbydelaylow, which denotes the number of seconds after which the device will go into standby mode in low battery. In this case, it is 3 hours.
Highstandbythreshold denotes the level of battery after which the computer decides whether it is on high battery or low battery.

If you want to make changes to these settings. Please open the terminal box with the steps above, copy the command below and add the timing of your choice. You don’t have to copy the explanations within the bracket.

sudo pmset -a standbydelaylow 1800 (this denotes the computer will go into standby after 30 minutes of sleeping if the battery is less than 60 percent)
sudo pmset -a highstandbythreshold 60 (this denotes the computer will consider above 60% battery as high battery and below 60% as low battery)
sudo pmset -a standbydelayhigh 3600 (this denotes the computer will go into standby after one hour of sleeping if the battery is more than 60 percent)

Please note that your MacBook will not go on Standby mode if it is connected to power or other external devices.

How to Disable Hibernate in Windows?

Here’s how you can disable hibernation on Windows and Mac:

For Windows

To disable hibernate in Windows, please follow the steps below:

Click on the search button.
Type “cmd.”
Right click on the option and select Run as administrator.
On the command box, type in: powercfg.exe /hibernate off .
Press Enter.

If you prefer the GUI method, you can refer to the aforementioned solutions and uncheck the “Hibernate” option to disable hibernation.

How to Disable Hibernate on Mac?

Your Mac will only go into standby mode after a certain period of being in sleep mode. You can ensure your Mac does not go into Standby by not allowing it to Sleep. In order to do this, you can follow the steps below:

Click on the Apple logo.
Select System Preferences.
Click on Energy Saver, which has a bulb icon.
Under the Battery tab, you can select your preferred time to “Turn off your display after” to Never.
Under Power Adapter, you can check “prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off“.

Frequently Asked Questions:

Is It Safe to Completely Cut From My Pc While It Is Hibernating?

Yes, it is safe to completely cut the power supply from the PC while it’s hibernating. This is because, in the Hibernate mode, the PC is already turned off after saving the files in the hibernator file (hiberfil.sys). Your PC will be exactly the same as you left off even if the power supply is cut.

I Only Hibernate My System and Don’t Shutdown. Will the Performance Be Affected?

If you have a lot of files, processes, applications, software running on your device, it will inevitably slow down your computer and impact performance. Shutting your device not only shuts all this but also clears the memory in your device’s RAM. This allows for faster performance when you restart your device. Thus, it is best to shut down your computer once in a while to allow for this process.