How to enable hibernation in Windows 11

Windows 11 has changed a lot in terms of overall design and user experience. However, many settings and features hidden behind the Control Panel still work the same way. For example, Hibernate still works the same way as it did in Windows 10. It's a power-saving feature similar to Sleep, but it further extends battery life by saving your system state to a file on your hard drive or SSD.

It's a bit slower than sleep mode because it saves the system state to your system drive rather than RAM, but it's still a great way to save battery life on Windows 11 – especially on laptops. Unfortunately, it's not enabled by default on most Windows 11 systems.

Hibernate vs. Sleep Mode in Windows 11

Which energy saving feature is better?

There are many laptops these days that have excellent battery life, but if you spend a lot of time on your laptop and the charger isn't nearby, battery life is still a common problem. The power management features in Windows 11 can help a little, but you need to be familiar with how they work to use them effectively.

Putting your laptop or desktop PC into sleep mode saves the current system state, which includes open documents and any running apps. The system state is saved in RAM and your computer goes into a power-saving mode. This is great for short breaks because you can quickly pick up where you left off. However, keep in mind that sleep mode still uses a bit of battery life. If your battery completely drains in this mode, you may lose your unsaved work.

Hibernation, on the other hand, saves your current system state to a hard drive or SSD and shuts down your system. The only difference between a normal shutdown and hibernation is that a normal shutdown does not save the state of your system. Unlike hibernation, your system does not use any power when in hibernation. The next time you turn on your PC, you will see your apps and open documents just as you left them.

The downside, however, is that waking from hibernation takes longer than from sleep. This is because the system has to reload the saved state from a slower hard drive or SSD instead of the faster RAM.

How to enable hibernation in Windows 11 via Control Panel

The quickest way to enable hibernation in Windows 11 is through the Power Options menu in Control Panel.

1. Start the start Menu and search for Control panel.
2. From the Control panel on Hardware and sound.
3. Under Energy optionson Changing the function of the power buttons.
4. You will see Overwintering option below, but it is probably grayed out. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable to interact with the grayed out settings.
5. Check the box next to Overwintering and click on save Changes. That's all there is to say about it. The next time you click the power menu in Windows 11, you will see the Overwintering Option directly above the Switch off option. To disable hibernation, follow the same steps as above and simply uncheck the hibernation setting when you get to the Power Options menu.

How to enable hibernation in Windows 11 using Command Prompt

If you can't see the Hibernate option in the Power Options menu, the hibernation file is probably missing in Windows 11. There are several reasons for this: Windows might delete the file when it's running low on disk space, and certain system cleanup tools might accidentally remove it. System errors or file corruption can also cause the hibernation file to disappear.

Anyway, you can quickly recreate the hibernation file in Windows 11 using the Command Prompt. To do so, follow these steps:

1. In the Start menu, search for the Command Prompt app and click Run as administrator.

   

2. Enter this command in the terminal and Input on your keyboard to activate sleep mode:

   powercfg /hibernate on

3. After entering the above command, you also need to set the type of hibernation. We want to create a default hibernation file, so enter this command in the terminal and press Input on your keyboard:

   powercfg /h /type full

The first command is used to enable hibernation and create the hibernation file, while the second configures the type and size. Now just click on the power menu icon in the start menu and you will find the Overwintering Option directly above the Switch off Option.

If you want to disable hibernation, you can delete the hibernation file by typing this command in the command prompt terminal:

powercfg-h off

How to enable hibernation in Windows 11 using Registry Editor

Another way to enable hibernation is to adjust the registry settings. This can be a bit complicated if you are not familiar with the Registry Editor, but as long as you follow the steps correctly, you will be fine.

1. In the Windows 11 Start menu, type Regedit in the search bar and select the Run as administrator.

   

2. When the Registry Editor starts, you will see an address bar at the top with the text computer. Copy this path and paste it into the address bar:

   Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power

3. In the right pane, look for the HibernateEableDefault option in the list of settings.
4. Double-click the HibernateEableDefault Option to open an editing window.
5. Under the Value data Field, Type 1 and click on OK.

This simple registry change will enable the Hibernation feature on your Windows 11 system. If you ever want to disable Hibernation or undo this change, follow the steps above again and reset the Value data To 0.

Make the most of the power options in Windows 11

After you put your PC to sleep, your screen will turn off and any open programs or apps will be suspended. Like sleep mode, you can pick up where you left off once you turn your PC back on. Although sleep mode is inherently much slower than hibernate mode, it's a helpful setting to have on hand for longer periods of inactivity. At least it's a feature that somehow works better than the surprisingly poor Modern Standby feature.