To disable hibernation on Windows 10 or 11, the fastest method is to open an elevated Command Prompt and run powercfg /hibernate off. This one command disables hibernation and deletes the hiberfil.sys file, reclaiming roughly 75% of your RAM’s worth of disk space. If you prefer a registry-only approach, you can set HibernateEnabledDefault to 0 under HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power instead.
Applies to: Windows 10 (22H2) and Windows 11 (23H2, 24H2, 25H2) | Last updated: May 27, 2026
Key Takeaways
- The fastest way to disable hibernation is
powercfg /hibernate offin an elevated Command Prompt — it disables hibernation and removeshiberfil.sysimmediately. - The
hiberfil.sysfile reserves roughly 75% of your total RAM — on a 16 GB system that’s about 12 GB of disk space reclaimed, which matters especially on smaller SSDs. - The registry method sets
HibernateEnabledDefaultto0underHKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power— use this if you need a Group Policy-style approach or want to automate via scripts. - Both methods work on Windows 10 and Windows 11 — the paths and commands are identical on both versions.
- Re-enabling hibernation is just as easy: run
powercfg /hibernate onor set the registry value back to1.
Quick Steps
- Right-click the Start button and select Terminal (Admin) or Command Prompt (Admin)
- Run
powercfg /hibernate offand press Enter - Hibernation is now disabled and
hiberfil.sysis removed — no restart required - For the registry method: open Registry Editor, navigate to
HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power, and setHibernateEnabledDefaultto0
In This Guide
There are two ways to disable hibernation on Windows 10 and 11:
- Method 1: powercfg /hibernate off — The canonical one-command method. Fastest, removes hiberfil.sys immediately. (Recommended)
- Method 2: Registry Editor — Manual DWORD edits for those who prefer a registry-based approach or need to script it.
Why Disable Hibernation?
Hibernation saves your entire RAM contents to disk and fully shuts down the PC, so when you power back on, Windows restores your session from where you left off. It’s useful in theory — but for a lot of users, particularly desktop PC owners, it’s mostly wasting disk space.
Windows creates a file called hiberfil.sys to store that hibernation data, and it’s sized at roughly 75% of your total RAM. On a 16 GB system, that’s about 12 GB gone. On a 32 GB system, closer to 24 GB. If you’re running a smaller SSD — say 256 GB or 512 GB — that’s a meaningful chunk of storage for a feature you probably never use. I always recommend disabling it on the shop machines I built; sleep mode handles short breaks just fine without the overhead.
Back in the repair shop, I also saw hibernation cause occasional session-restore failures — Windows coming out of hibernate in a weird state, apps not responding correctly, or the system hanging on resume. Disabling it and sticking with sleep or clean shutdowns solved those problems every time. If you’re running an SSD and want to check its health while you’re at it, I have a guide on checking SSD health on Windows.
Method 1: Disable Hibernation with powercfg (Recommended)
This is the cleanest and fastest way to disable hibernation on Windows 10 and 11. The powercfg command is built into Windows and handles everything — it disables the feature, removes hiberfil.sys, and updates the power settings in one step.
Step 1: Open an Elevated Command Prompt or Terminal
Right-click the Start button and select Terminal (Admin) on Windows 11, or Command Prompt (Admin) on Windows 10. Click Yes if User Account Control prompts for permission.
Step 2: Run the powercfg Command
Type or paste the following command and press Enter:
powercfg /hibernate offThe command runs silently with no output on success. Hibernation is now disabled and hiberfil.sys is deleted from your system drive. You do not need to restart your PC — the change takes effect immediately. You can verify by checking whether the Hibernate option has disappeared from the Start menu power options.
To re-enable hibernation: Run
powercfg /hibernate onin the same elevated terminal. Windows will re-enable the feature and recreatehiberfil.sys.
Method 2: Disable Hibernation via Registry Editor
If you prefer managing Windows settings through the registry — or need to include this in a deployment script — you can disable hibernation by setting a DWORD value under the Power key. This method works on both Windows 10 and Windows 11.
Step 1: Open Registry Editor
Press Windows key + R, type regedit, and press Enter. Click Yes if User Account Control prompts for permission.
Step 2: Navigate to the Power Key
Click in the address bar at the top of Registry Editor and paste the following path, then press Enter:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\PowerStep 3: Set HibernateEnabledDefault to 0
In the right panel, look for a DWORD value called HibernateEnabledDefault. If it exists, double-click it and set the value data to 0. If it doesn’t exist, right-click the empty right panel, select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value, name it HibernateEnabledDefault, and set its value to 0.
Note: Some older guides refer to a value called
HibernateEnabledat this same path.HibernateEnabledDefaultis the current correct value name on modern Windows 10/11 builds. Use that one.
One-Liner Alternative
You can apply the registry change from an elevated Command Prompt without opening Registry Editor at all:
reg add "HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power" /v HibernateEnabledDefault /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /fAfter setting the registry value, close Registry Editor and restart your PC. The hiberfil.sys file should be removed after the restart. If it’s still present, run powercfg /hibernate off from an elevated Command Prompt to force its deletion.
Step 4: Remove Hibernate from the Power Menu (Optional)
Disabling hibernation via the registry doesn’t always remove the Hibernate option from the Start menu’s power options. To hide it, navigate to:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FlyoutMenuSettingsIf the FlyoutMenuSettings key doesn’t exist, right-click the Explorer folder, select New > Key, and name it FlyoutMenuSettings. Then create a DWORD value called ShowHibernateOption and set it to 0. Or use the one-liner:
reg add "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\FlyoutMenuSettings" /v ShowHibernateOption /t REG_DWORD /d 0 /fOther Power Settings Worth Knowing
If you’re optimizing power-related settings, a few other guides might be useful. If you leave your PC running for downloads or use it as a light home server and don’t want the monitors switching off automatically, check out the guide on preventing monitors from turning off in Windows 11. And if you ever need your PC to shut down on a schedule after finishing a task, there’s a guide on scheduling a shutdown in Windows 10 and 11.
If you want a single tool that manages hibernation, sleep settings, power plans, and dozens of other Windows tweaks without manual registry work, Winhance covers all of it through a clean interface. And if you’re building or reinstalling Windows from scratch and want power settings pre-configured from day one, UnattendedWinstall lets you bake these into your Windows answer file.
Common Issues & Solutions
hiberfil.sys is still on the drive after restarting. The file should be removed automatically after disabling hibernation and restarting. If it’s still there, open Command Prompt as Administrator and run powercfg /hibernate off — this forces the file to be cleaned up regardless of which method you used.
Hibernate still shows in the Start menu power options. Double-check that the ShowHibernateOption DWORD in FlyoutMenuSettings is set to 0 and that you did a full restart. If you used powercfg /hibernate off, the option should disappear automatically without needing the registry edit.
Registry Editor says “Access is denied.” Close Registry Editor, search for regedit in the Start menu, right-click it, and select Run as administrator. You need elevated privileges to modify keys under HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is it safe to disable hibernation on Windows 10 and 11?
Yes, completely safe. Hibernation is an optional power feature and disabling it has no negative impact on your system. You still have sleep mode available for short breaks, and a clean shutdown for longer periods. You can re-enable hibernation at any time by running powercfg /hibernate on in an elevated Command Prompt.
How much disk space will I get back?
The hiberfil.sys file is sized at roughly 75% of your total RAM. On a 16 GB system, that’s approximately 12 GB reclaimed. On a 32 GB system, around 24 GB. This is particularly worthwhile if you’re running a smaller SSD — say 256 GB or 512 GB — where every gigabyte counts.
What’s the difference between sleep and hibernation?
Sleep keeps your session in RAM while using a small amount of power, so your PC wakes up in seconds. Hibernation writes everything to disk and fully powers off — no power use at all, but it takes longer to resume since it’s reading from storage instead of RAM. For most desktop PC users who are on AC power, sleep is the better choice: it’s faster, more convenient, and avoids the disk overhead of hibernation.
Can I re-enable hibernation after turning it off?
Yes. Run powercfg /hibernate on in an elevated Command Prompt, or set HibernateEnabledDefault back to 1 in the registry. Windows will re-enable hibernation and recreate the hiberfil.sys file automatically.
Does disabling hibernation affect the Fast Startup feature?
Yes — Fast Startup relies on hibernation to save a partial system state to disk at shutdown, which speeds up the next boot. Disabling hibernation also disables Fast Startup. For most users on modern SSDs, cold boot times are fast enough that this difference is barely noticeable. If Fast Startup is important to you, keep hibernation enabled or disable only the hibernate power option from the power menu instead.
