System Specify Hibernation File Type as Full or Reduced in Windows 11


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hibernate_banner.png

This tutorial will show you how to specify the hibernation file (hiberfile.sys) type to be reduced or full in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Hibernation files are used for hybrid sleep, fast startup, and standard hibernation (described earlier). There are two types, differentiated by size, a full and reduced size hibernation file. Only fast startup can use a reduced hibernation file.

Hibernation file typehiberfil.sys default sizeSupports
Full40% of physical memoryhibernate, hybrid sleep, fast startup
Reduced20% of physical memoryfast startup

Hibernate is a power-saving S4 state designed primarily for laptops, and might not be available for all PCs (PCs with InstantGo don't have the hibernate option). While sleep puts your work and settings in memory and draws a small amount of power, hibernation puts your full current state (ex: open documents and programs) on your hard disk to the hiberfile (C:\hiberfil.sys), and then turns off your computer. 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). 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.

Hybrid sleep is a special state that's a combination of the S1-S3 sleep and S4 hibernation states, it's when a system uses a hibernation file with S1-S3. It's only available on some systems. When enabled, the system writes a hibernation file but enters a higher-powered sleep state. If power is lost while the system is sleeping, the system wakes from hibernation, which takes longer but restores the user's system state.

Fast startup (aka: hiberboot, hybrid boot, or hybrid shutdown) is turned on by default in Windows and is a setting that helps your PC start up faster after shutdown. Even faster than hibernate. Windows does this by saving an image of the Windows kernel and loaded drivers to the hiberfile (C:\hiberfil.sys) upon shutdown so when you start your PC again, Windows simply loads the hiberfile (C:\hiberfil.sys) into memory to resume your PC instead of restarting it.

Fast startup requires that hibernate be enabled. If you only want to use fast startup and don't plan on using hibernate, then you can specify the hiberfile type as reduced to significantly reduce the size of the hiberfile (C:\hiberfil.sys) to about half of its full size.

Hiberfile type:

Full
= Supports being able to enable hibernate and turn on fast startup (hiberboot). The hiberfile (C:\hiberfil.sys) will be 40% of physical RAM installed on your computer. Hibernate is available to be added to the power menu.

Reduced = Only supports being able to turn on fast startup (hiberboot) without hibernate. The hiberfile (C:\hiberfil.sys) will be 20% of physical RAM installed on your computer. Removes hibernate from the power menu.


You must be signed in as an administrator to change the hibernation file type to full or reduced.



Contents

  • Option One: See if Hibernation File Type is Currently Full or Reduced
  • Option Two: Specify Hibernation File Type to Full
  • Option Three: Specify Hibernation File Type to Reduced




Option One

See if Hibernation File Type is Currently Full or Reduced


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

2 Copy and paste the powercfg /a command into Windows Terminal, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)

3 When a full hibernation file is used, the results state that hibernation is an available option. When a reduced hibernation file is used, the results will say hibernation is not supported. If the system has no hibernation file at all, the results will say hibernation has not been enabled.

check_hiberfile_full.png

check_hiberfile_reduced.png





Option Two

Specify Hibernation File Type to Full


This is the default setting.


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

2 Copy and paste the powercfg /h /type full command into Windows Terminal, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)

3 You can now close Windows Terminal (Admin) if you like.

hiberfile_full.png





Option Three

Specify Hibernation File Type to Reduced


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

2 Copy and paste the powercfg /h /type reduced command into Windows Terminal, and press Enter. (see screenshots below)

If the hibernation file is set to a custom size greater than 40%, then the command will return a The parameter is incorrect error. You must first set the size of the file to zero with the powercfg /h /size 0 command, then retry changing the hibernation file type to reduced.


3 You can now close Windows Terminal (Admin) if you like.

hiberfile_reduced.png



That's it,
Shawn Brink


 

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My laptop does not seem to support reduced setting - I wonder if its due to drive being an optaine drive?

1634239025312.png



1634239120234.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
My laptop does not seem to support reduced setting - I wonder if its due to drive being an optaine drive?

Hello mate, :-)

If the hibernation file is set to a custom size greater than 40%, then the command will return a The parameter is incorrect error. You must first set the size of the file to zero with the powercfg /h /size 0 command, then retry changing the hibernation file type to reduced.
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    Windows 11 Pro for Workstations
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Custom self build
    CPU
    Intel i7-8700K 5 GHz
    Motherboard
    ASUS ROG Maximus XI Formula Z390
    Memory
    64 GB (4x16GB) G.SKILL TridentZ RGB DDR4 3600 MHz (F4-3600C18D-32GTZR)
    Graphics Card(s)
    ASUS ROG-STRIX-GTX1080TI-O11G-GAMING (11GB GDDR5X)
    Sound Card
    Integrated Digital Audio (S/PDIF)
    Monitor(s) Displays
    2 x Samsung Odyssey G75 27"
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    1TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    4TB Samsung 990 PRO M.2,
    8TB WD MyCloudEX2Ultra NAS
    PSU
    Seasonic Prime Titanium 850W
    Case
    Thermaltake Core P3 wall mounted
    Cooling
    Corsair Hydro H115i
    Keyboard
    Logitech wireless K800
    Mouse
    Logitech MX Master 3
    Internet Speed
    1 Gbps Download and 35 Mbps Upload
    Browser
    Google Chrome
    Antivirus
    Microsoft Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
    Other Info
    Logitech Z625 speaker system,
    Logitech BRIO 4K Pro webcam,
    HP Color LaserJet Pro MFP M477fdn,
    APC SMART-UPS RT 1000 XL - SURT1000XLI,
    Galaxy S23 Plus phone
  • Operating System
    Windows 11 Pro
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    HP Spectre x360 2in1 14-eu0098nr (2024)
    CPU
    Intel Core Ultra 7 155H 4.8 GHz
    Memory
    16 GB LPDDR5x-7467 MHz
    Graphics card(s)
    Integrated Intel Arc
    Sound Card
    Poly Studio
    Monitor(s) Displays
    14" 2.8K OLED multitouch
    Screen Resolution
    2880 x 1800
    Hard Drives
    2 TB PCIe NVMe M.2 SSD
    Internet Speed
    Intel Wi-Fi 7 BE200 (2x2) and Bluetooth 5.4
    Browser
    Chrome and Edge
    Antivirus
    Windows Defender and Malwarebytes Premium
Hello mate, :)

If the hibernation file is set to a custom size greater than 40%, then the command will return a The parameter is incorrect error. You must first set the size of the file to zero with the powercfg /h /size 0 command, then retry changing the hibernation file type to reduced.
Tried that - my laptop only seems to have two setting

hibernation, full on

or

hibernation off

It is that S0 state - probably because CPU is a lower power derivative.

1634240241984.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0
Hello All,

Can it be that S0 needs a Hiberfile when the 5% limit of batterie capacity in Standby is consumed.
It will then go from Standby to Hibernate.

Ciao, Han
 

My Computers

System One System Two

  • OS
    WIN 11
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Thinpad X1 Yoga 3gen
    CPU
    i7-8550U
    Memory
    16 GB lpddr3
    Screen Resolution
    2560x1440
    Hard Drives
    NVME SSD 2TB Samsung PM981
    Mouse
    Logitech M590
    Internet Speed
    350 Mbps down and up from 500 advertised
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Security, Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    Acronis TrueImage 2019
  • Operating System
    Win 11
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    Manufacturer/Model
    Lenovo Tiny M920x
    CPU
    i7-8700T
    Memory
    32 GB DDR4
    Sound Card
    MOTU M4
    Monitor(s) Displays
    DELL P2418D
    Screen Resolution
    2560 x 1440
    Hard Drives
    NVME SSD 2TB Samsung PM981a
    NVME SSD 1TB Samsung PM981a
    SSD Sandisk 1T Sata
    Mouse
    Logitech M590
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Windows Security, Malwarebytes
    Other Info
    Acronis TrueImage 2019
Hello All,

Can it be that S0 needs a Hiberfile when the 5% limit of batterie capacity in Standby is consumed.
It will then go from Standby to Hibernate.

Ciao, Han
I have found what S0 is - it is "Modern Standby".

It is really weird - if you are playing music, and put pc in sleep mode, the music will still keep playing. Just tested it with some youtube music.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Introduction of Modern Standby

Some Windows 10 units (like U3100 series, TP461 series) can still run programs in Standby mode (S0 low power idle). At this time, the device is still connected to the Internet, but almost all programs are paused (except for the music player, reminders and notifications and other important programs). You just need to press any key and the device can login and come back to work status.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 10 Pro + others in VHDs
    Computer type
    Laptop
    Manufacturer/Model
    ASUS Vivobook 14
    CPU
    I7
    Motherboard
    Yep, Laptop has one.
    Memory
    16 GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    Integrated Intel Iris XE
    Sound Card
    Realtek built in
    Monitor(s) Displays
    N/A
    Screen Resolution
    1920x1080
    Hard Drives
    1 TB Optane NVME SSD, 1 TB NVME SSD
    PSU
    Yep, got one
    Case
    Yep, got one
    Cooling
    Stella Artois
    Keyboard
    Built in
    Mouse
    Bluetooth , wired
    Internet Speed
    72 Mb/s :-(
    Browser
    Edge mostly
    Antivirus
    Defender
    Other Info
    TPM 2.0

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