Older versions of Windows PCs came with four different options from the Power menu: “Sleep,” “Hibernate,” “Restart” and “Turn off.” You would put the computer in Sleep mode when you intended to come back to the computer in a short while, and Hibernate mode when you planned on being away for a more extensive period.
Thanks to modern-day technology, Hibernate mode isn’t needed as much because when you turn off your computer with fast startup mode turned on, the PC isn’t turning off completely anyway; it’s in more of a “hibernated” state, like the old Hibernate mode.
Warning: It’s possible that you have some data loss if you disable hibernation on your computer. This can happen when power loss occurs during the time the hybrid sleep setting is turned on. Read more: How to disable and re-enable hibernation on a computer that is running Windows
The following tutorial demonstrates how to enable and disable Hibernate when you’re using a version of the Windows 10 operating system.
An example of the Hibernate after settings available from the Power Options dialog:
Method One: How to Enable/Disable Hibernate in Elevated Command Prompt
Here is how you can enable or disable Hibernate mode from the elevated version of the Command Prompt in Windows 10:
1. Open the elevated Command Prompt window.
2. To Enable Hibernate
a. Type the following command into the elevated command line and then press the Enter key on your keyboard to execute it:
powercfg -h on
b. You can now skip to turning on Hibernate if you want to see the mode turned on.
You can close the Command Prompt window.
3. To Disable Hibernate
a. Type the following command into the elevated command line and then press the Enter key on your keyboard to execute it:
powercfg -h off
b. Open the advanced power options and check that the Critical battery action and Low battery action settings under the Battery heading are not set to Hibernate.
You can then close the Power Options and Command Prompt window.
Method Two: Enable or Disable Hibernate in Registry Editor
Here is how you can enable and disable the Hibernate mode from the Registry Editor in Windows 10:
1. Open the Run dialog by pressing the Windows logo key + R on your keyboard, and then type Regedit and click on the OK button.
2. If prompted by User Account Control, click on the Yes button.
3. Using the registry keys in Registry Editor’s left pane, navigate through to the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power
4. With Power selected, double-click on the HibernateEnabled DWORD in the right side pane to edit it. (click to enlarge screenshot below)
5. To Enable Hibernate
a. Type 1 in the Value data field, and then click on the OK button to save the changes and close the DWORD window.
6. To Disable Hibernate
a. Type 0 into the Value data field, and then click on the OK button to save the changes and close the DWORD window.
b. Open the advanced power options and check that the Critical battery action and Low battery action settings under the Battery heading are not set to Hibernate.
7. Close the Registry Editor and restart the computer for the changes to take effect.
How to Turn On/Off Hibernate in Advanced Power Options
Here is how you can turn on and off (as a pose to enable and disable) Hibernate mode from the advanced power options menu in Windows 10:
Once you’ve enabled Hibernate, you still need to turn it on if you want to use it. You may also want to turn it off but keep it enabled so you can continue turning it on or off when you desire. Here is how you can turn on and off the Hibernate mode in the advanced power options menu.
Note: This option turns Hibernate on or off from the power plan that you’re using. It will not enable or disable Hibernate.
1. To Turn On Hibernate
a. Enable Hibernate mode using one of the methods above and then skip to the next step.
b. Open the advanced power plan settings for the power plan that you’re currently using by opening Settings and then clicking on System > Power & Sleep > Additional power settings > Change plan settings (next to the plan you’re using) and then clicking on Change advanced power settings.
c. Expand Sleep and then expand Hibernate after, and then click the arrows up or down to the number of minutes that you desire.
d. Click on the OK button at the bottom of the Power Options dialog to save the changes.
2. To Turn Off Hibernate
Note: If you have disabled hibernation from Method One or method two above, then you won’t be able to turn off Hibernate because the mode won’t be available.
a. Open the advanced power plan settings for the power plan that you’re currently using by opening Settings and then clicking on System > Power & Sleep > Additional power settings > Change plan settings (next to the plan you’re using) and then clicking on Change advanced power settings.
b. Expand Sleep and then expand Hibernate after, and then click the arrows down to 0 minutes so that the new settings is on Never.
c. Click on the OK button at the bottom of the Power Options dialog to save the changes.
You can now close the Control Panel window and continue using your computer if you like.
That’s all.