General Hibernate Computer in Windows 11


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This tutorial will show you different ways on how to hibernate your Windows 11 computer.

Hibernate was designed for laptops and might not be available for all PCs. (For example, PCs with Modern Standby may not have the hibernate option.) Hibernate uses less power than sleep and when you start up the PC again, you’re back to where you left off (though not as fast as sleep).

While sleep puts your work and settings in memory and draws a small amount of power, hibernate puts your open documents and programs on your hard disk to the hiberfile (C:\hiberfil.sys), and then turns off your computer.

You can use hibernation when you know that you won't use your laptop or tablet for an extended period and won't have an opportunity to charge the battery during that time.


It is required to enable hibernate to be able to hibernate the computer.

If devices connected to your PC (like monitors, printers, or scanners) aren't working properly after waking up from sleep or hibernate, you might need to disconnect and reconnect your device or restart the computer. You should also make sure that you have the most current drivers for all of your devices.



Contents





Option One

Hibernate Computer by Closing Lid


This option is only available for laptops with a lid to close.

This option requires you to set the default lid close action to Hibernate.


1 Close the laptop lid to perform the default lid close action.




Option Two

Hibernate Computer by Pressing Power Button


This requires you to set the default power button action to Hibernate.


1 Press the Power button on your device. (see screenshots below)

power-button-laptop.jpg
power-button-case.jpg





Option Three

Hibernate Computer from Start menu


1 Open the Start menu :win:. (see screenshot below)

2 Click/tap on the Power button.

3 Click/tap on Hibernate in the Power menu.

hibernate_Start_menu.jpg





Option Four

Hibernate Computer from Win+X Quick Link Menu


1 Perform one of the following actions: (see screenshot below)
  • Press the Win + X keys, press the U key, and press the H key.
  • Open the Win+X Quick Link menu, click/tap on Shut down or sign out, and click/tap on Hibernate.
hibernate_Win+X.jpg





Option Five

Hibernate Computer from Alt+F4 Shut Down Windows Dialog


1 Click/tap on the desktop (Win+D) to make it the current focused (active) window.

2 Press the Alt + F4 keys.

This will only work if you did step 1. Otherwise, it will close the current active window instead of the desktop.


3 Select Hibernate in the drop menu, and click/tap on OK or press Enter. (see screenshot below)

hibernate_Alt+F4.png





Option Six

Hibernate Computer from Ctrl+Alt+Del Screen


1 Press the Ctrl + Alt + Del keys.

2 Click/tap on the Power button.

3 Click/tap on Hibernate in the Power menu.

hibernate_Ctrl+Alt+Del.jpg





Option Seven

Hibernate Computer from Sign-in Screen


1 While on the Sign-in screen: (see screenshot below)

2 Click/tap on the Power button.

3 Click/tap on Hibernate in the Power menu.

hibernate_sign-in.jpg





Option Eight

Hibernate Computer using command


To see more shutdown command usage details, see: shutdown | Microsoft Docs.


1 Open Windows Terminal, and select either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.

2 Copy and paste the command below you want to use into Windows Terminal, and press Enter.

shutdown /h

Puts the local computer into hibernation, if hibernate is enabled.


OR​

shutdown /h /f

Forces running applications to close without warning users, then puts the local computer into hibernation, if hibernate is enabled.



That's it,
Shawn Brink


 
Last edited:
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