It’s a well-known fact that both Windows 8/8.1 and Windows 10 boot significantly faster than earlier versions of Windows, including Windows 7. So, in Windows 10 and 8, you can opt for the shut down option instead of hibernation. That said, in most cases, hibernation is faster than shut down.

What is hibernation in Windows?

If you are new to the hibernation feature, it’s a power-saving state where Windows saves the system state and memory contents to a file on disk (hiberfil.sys), then reads that file back on system resume to restore the contents to memory. Off all the power-saving states in Windows, hibernation uses the least amount of power.

On most Windows 10 and 8 PCs, the hibernation feature is turned on by default but it’s not added to the power menu by default. When installing Windows, if there is sufficient space to create hiberfil.sys file on the drive where you installed Windows operating system, Windows automatically creates hiberfil.sys file but it just doesn’t add the Hibernate option to the power button. This is also because, Fast startup is turned on by default in both Windows 10 and Windows 8, and the feature uses hiberfil.sys file which is created only when the hibernate feature is turned on.

Enable or disable hibernation in Windows 10/8

You can enable the hibernate option in Windows 10 and Windows 8 by following the simple procedure given below:

Step 1: Launch Power Options in Control Panel. To do this, you can follow one of the methods given below:

a. Type Windows + R keys to launch Run dialog box. In the Run dialog, type powercfg.cpl and then Enter key to launch Power Options. This is the simplest method to open Power Options in Windows 8.

b. Type Power Options in Start search and then press Enter key.

OR

b. Right-click on the Start button to open the power user menu, and then click Power Options.

Step 2: In the left pane of the Power Options window, click on Choose what the power buttons do to open System Settings.

Step 3: Under System Settings, click on Change settings that are currently unavailable to see settings to enable Sleep, Hibernate and Lock options. Check the box named Show Hibernate and click Save Changes button.

Open Power Options menu to see the Hibernate option. Good luck!

If Show Hibernate option is not appearing, it’s because the Hibernate feature is not enabled on your PC. Follow the given below directions to turn on the Hibernation feature.

Step 4: Type CMD in Start search to view Command Prompt in search results, right-click on Command Prompt, and then click Run as administrator.

Click Yes button when you see the User Account Control prompt.

Step 5: In the Command Prompt, type the following command and then press Enter key to turn on the feature.

Powercfg /hibernate on

Step 6: Close the Command Prompt and then follow instructions in Step 1, 2 and 3 to add the Hibernate option to the power menu.