How to Disable Hibernate on Windows

Despite disabling hibernate mode within the Power & sleep settings of Windows I discovered a hidden hiberfil.sys file which was consuming several gigabytes worth of storage.

In this article I provide a simple Windows command which will really disable hibernate mode and remove the hiberfil.sys file in Windows.

 

Difference between Sleep mode & Hibernate Mode

Sleep mode saves your current work in RAM which requires a small amount of power to maintain. Whilst with hibernate mode your current work is saved to your hard drive which clears the RAM and powers off your computer.

Personally, I have preferred sleep mode over hibernate mode for the speed with which I was able to resume working. If I plan on being away from my computer for more than several hours I take the opportunity to “start fresh” by powering off my computer. Learn how to disable Fast Startup on Windows which will really power off your computer.

Oddly enough, despite disabling hibernate mode within the Power & sleep settings of Windows I discovered a hidden hiberfil.sys file which was consuming several gigabytes worth of storage. I am not sure if this file was a remnant of a long ago hibernation attempt or if Windows was still creating a hibernation file at times. Regardless, I wanted to recover the used up disk space for a feature I currently have no interest in.

 

Disable Hibernate Mode in Windows

To disable hibernate mode in Windows will will need to open a Command Prompt window with Administrative rights. To open a command prompt window, click Start and type “cmd” (there is no input field, just start typing cmd after clicking “Start”). When you see the Command Prompt app, right-click on it and choose “Run as administrator“.

Enter the following command and press Enter:

powercfg -h off

This command immediately disables hibernate mode and removes the hiberfil.sys file.

If you change your mind and would like to enable hibernate mode again, just revisit the Command Prompt (with Administrative rights) and use this command:

powercfg -h on

The hibernate options should once again be available to you from within Windows and the hiberfil.sys file will return.

 

Disable Hibernate Mode with PowerShell

To disable hibernate mode via PowerShell open PowerShell as an administrator by clicking Start and type “powershell” (there is no input field, just start typing powershell after clicking “Start”). When you see the Windows PowerShell app right-click on it and choose “Run as administrator“.

Enter the following command and press Enter:

powercfg /hibernate off

This command immediately disables hibernate mode and removes the hiberfil.sys file.

If you change your mind and would like to enable hibernate mode again, just revisit the Windows PowerShell app (with Administrative rights) and use this command:

powercfg /hibernate on

The hibernate options should once again be available to you from within Windows and the hiberfil.sys file will return.

 

Conclusion

I hope my article on disabling the Command Prompt on Windows has helped you increase your cybersecurity. I welcome your thoughts, questions or suggestions regarding this article.

To further increase your cybersecurity protection, you may want to read my other article on how to disable PowerShell on Windows.

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Let me know if you found any errors within my article or if I may further assist you by answering any additional questions you may have.