Enable Hibernate in Windows 11: Add It to the Power Menu

If you want to enable hibernate in Windows 11, the setting is still there, it is just hidden. Out of the box, the Start menu’s power button on many PCs offers only Sleep, Shut down and Restart. Hibernate saves everything you have open to the drive and then switches the PC off, so you can leave a laptop in a bag for days and pick up exactly where you left off, without the battery draining the way it can in sleep.

This guide shows how to add Hibernate to the power menu, how to switch hibernation on when the option is missing, and how to decide between hibernate, sleep and a full shutdown. The steps are the same on Windows 11 Home and Pro.

Hibernate, sleep and shut down compared

	Sleep	Hibernate	Shut down
Open apps and files	Kept in memory	Saved to disk	Closed
Power use while off	Small, ongoing	Less than sleep	None
Resume speed	Fastest	Slower than sleep	Full start
Best for	Short breaks	Long breaks without a charger	Updates, troubleshooting

Microsoft’s own advice is to use sleep for short periods and hibernate when you will not use a laptop for an extended time and will not be able to charge it. A restart or shutdown is still the right choice after installing updates or drivers, and when you are troubleshooting, because hibernate keeps the current Windows session running.

Add Hibernate to the Start power menu

1. Select Search on the taskbar, type control panel and open it.
2. Select System and Security.
3. Under Power Options, select Choose what the power buttons do.
4. Select Change settings that are currently unavailable. You need administrator rights for this.
5. Under Shutdown settings, tick Hibernate.
6. Select Save changes.

Hibernate now appears in Start > Power and in the Win+X menu under Shut down or sign out. On the same page you can also make the power button or the laptop lid trigger hibernate instead of sleep, using the drop-down lists at the top. For the other power options in Settings, see our Windows 11 power settings overview.

If Hibernate is not listed: turn it on with powercfg

When the Hibernate checkbox is missing from Shutdown settings, hibernation has usually been switched off for the whole system. Microsoft documents the command to turn it back on:

1. Right-click Start and select Terminal (Admin). Approve the User Account Control prompt.
2. Type powercfg /hibernate on and press Enter. There is no confirmation message if it works.
3. Go back to Choose what the power buttons do and tick Hibernate as described above.

To switch hibernation off again, run powercfg /hibernate off. Microsoft warns that turning hibernation off also disables hybrid sleep, so a power cut during sleep can then lose unsaved work on desktops that rely on hybrid sleep.

Check whether your PC supports hibernate

Some PCs cannot hibernate at all. Microsoft notes the option was designed for laptops and might not be available on every PC, and that PCs with InstantGo (now called Modern Standby) do not show it. To see exactly what your hardware allows, run this in a terminal:

powercfg /availablesleepstates

The output lists the sleep states that are available, such as Standby (S0 Low Power Idle) or Standby (S3) and Hibernate, and, under a separate heading, the ones that are not, often with a reason such as a firmware or hypervisor limitation. If Hibernate is listed as not supported by the firmware, there is no safe Windows setting that adds it; check the PC maker’s support page for a firmware (BIOS/UEFI) update instead. The same command is useful when diagnosing sleep problems on laptops that lose charge in a bag; our Windows 11 battery drain guide covers that side.

What hiberfil.sys is and how much space it takes

Hibernation needs a hidden file called hiberfil.sys in the root of the Windows drive (normally C:). Microsoft says its size is roughly equal to the amount of RAM installed, and that Windows cannot hibernate without it. On a PC with a small SSD, that can be a noticeable chunk of space.

• Do not delete hiberfil.sys by hand. If you never use hibernate, run powercfg /hibernate off and Windows removes the file itself.
• Powercfg also supports a reduced hiberfile type, which Microsoft says only supports hiberboot (the fast startup feature) and not full hibernation. If you want to hibernate, leave the file type at its default.

For other ways to free space, see Windows 11 storage settings.

Hibernate on a schedule

Windows can also hibernate automatically after a period of sleep, which protects a sleeping laptop from a flat battery. Open Control Panel > Power Options > Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings, expand Sleep > Hibernate after, and set times for On battery and Plugged in. Not every PC shows this entry, particularly laptops that use Modern Standby; if it is missing, use hibernate manually before long breaks.

Troubleshooting hibernate

• The PC wakes up straight away. Hibernate is a full power-off, so unexpected wake-ups are rare, but they happen with sleep. Run powercfg /lastwake to see what woke the PC last time.
• Devices do not work after resuming. Microsoft suggests unplugging and reconnecting them or restarting the PC, and making sure drivers are up to date.
• Battery still drops a lot overnight. That points to sleep rather than hibernate. Use hibernate or the automatic Hibernate after timer, and see Windows 11 Energy Saver for settings that reduce drain while the PC is in use.
• Resume takes a long time or fails. Run System File Checker and check for firmware and chipset driver updates from the PC maker.

Fast startup also uses the hibernation file; our guide to turn off fast startup in Windows 11 explains when that is worth doing.