How to Turn Hibernate On or Off in Windows 10

This article covers how to enable and disable hibernation, an alternative low-power mode to sleep in Windows 10, and why you might want to.

How to Turn Hibernation On or Off in Windows 10

You access hibernation options through Windows 10's power & sleep settings. Here's where to find them.

1. Open the Start menu, either by clicking its icon on the desktop or pressing Start on your keyboard.

2. Click Settings.

3. Select System.

4. Click Power & Sleep in the left pane.

5. Choose Additional Power Settings on the right side of the screen.

6. Click either Choose what the power button does or Choose what closing the lid does.

   Both options go to the same screen.

7. The next window contains four items you can adjust: Along with setting the prompt (pressing the power button or closing your laptop's lid), you can choose different options based on whether your computer is running on battery or plugged in.

8. To turn on hibernate, select it from one of the four menus.

9. Click Save Changes at the bottom of the screen. Now, you can put your computer into hibernation by performing the action you chose.

How to Add Hibernate to the Power Menu

A third way to turn on hibernation mode (along with using the power button or closing the lid on your laptop) is to add it to the Power menu along with options like Shut Down and Restart. Here's how.

1. In the Start menu, select Settings.

2. Click System.

3. Select Power & Sleep.

4. Go to Additional Power Settings.

5. Select Choose what the power button does or Choose what closing the lid does. They both open the same window.

6. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable.

7. Additional choices under Shutdown settings will become available. Click the box next to Hibernate.

8. Click Save Changes.

9. Now, when you open the Start menu and click the Power button, you'll see an additional Hibernate option along with the others.

What's the Difference Between Hibernate and Sleep?

Hibernate and sleep are lower-power modes that save your laptop's battery when you're not using it. However, Hibernate turns off even more of a computer's functions to preserve as much energy as possible.

Both modes deactivate the monitor, spin down the hard drive, and return you to where you left off when you wake the computer back up. But it would be best if you didn't use hibernation as often as sleep for a few reasons; the main one is that it takes a computer way longer to come back from this state.

You should only hibernate if you want to save battery while keeping your computer active (instead of shutting it down) and know you'll be away from a wall outlet or charging cable for a while.