How-To

Fixing Windows 7: Enable Hibernate Mode

Updated

If you want to save where you are in Windows, Hibernate allows you to do that and save energy. Here’s how to bring it out of hiding on a desktop PC.

Windows 7 doesn’t have a Hibernate option out of the box, as you might have noticed. However, you can bring it out of hiding and make it an option for you when powering down your PC. It takes a few more steps compared to enabling Hibernate mode in Windows 8, but it can be done. Here’s how.

power-button.png

Editor Note: Since approximately half of the world’s computer users are still running Windows 7 and haven’t have upgraded to Windows 8.1, we’ve decided to start revisiting Windows 7 in this new series of articles on Fixing Windows 7. We’ll be covering some of the biggest Windows 7 annoyances and how to fix them. Also, if we have helpful tips or solutions that we never got around to, we’ll get those up as well. This week is how to uncover the hidden Hibernate option.

Update: If you skipped Windows 8 and upgraded directly to Windows 10, you saved yourself a lot of problems, so good on ya! The same power options exist on it as well. Make sure to check out our article on how to enable Hibernate on Windows 10 and our guide on how to shutdown, restart, hibernate, or sleep Windows 10.

Enable Hibernate in Windows 7

First click Start and Type: power options in the search box and hit Enter. Next in the right-hand pane select Change when the computer sleeps and then click Change advanced power settings.

In the Power Options window, expand Allow hybrid sleep and switch it to Off and click OK.

hybrid.png

Now you’ll have your Hibernate option listed on the power button.

hibernate-on.png

After enabling Hibernate, it will also show up in other locations, for example when you use the keyboard shortcut Alt + F4 to get the Shut Down Windows options.

Alt-f4.png

This adds the Hibernate feature and doesn’t replace anything, so you’ll still have the Restart, Log off, and Sleep options too. If you’re curious about the difference is between Sleep and Hibernate, check out our article: Understanding PCs and Devices: Sleep versus Hibernate.

28 Comments

28 Comments

  1. Ziggy

    June 11, 2014 at 9:24 pm

    Hi Brian. The following link (http://support.microsoft.com/kb/920730) will take you to Microsoft’s Fix it solution for disabling or re-enabling hibernation for Windows 7.

    I disabled hibernation on my laptop to save disk space as I rarely use that feature. Using the Fix it from Microsoft will allow me to easily re-enable hibernation if I should need that feature again in the future.

    • James

      December 28, 2015 at 2:44 pm

      That fixed it! The steps in the article did not account for the fact that my “Hybrid Sleep” option had been removed. Microsoft’s reg-fix worked.

  2. poch

    June 12, 2014 at 9:23 am

    Why does my netbook continue to heat up when it’s on hybernate?

  3. soran

    March 13, 2015 at 3:34 pm

    tnx

  4. amoo

    April 26, 2015 at 5:30 pm

    Thanks!

  5. David

    May 21, 2015 at 5:39 pm

    Thank you very much! Worked!

  6. Omar Ehab

    June 18, 2015 at 4:57 pm

    Thank you alot :) worked for me

  7. Ross Baldwin

    September 10, 2015 at 3:53 am

    These instructions are fine if hibernate is just off by default, but if it’s been disabled, the “Allow hybrid sleep” option may not be available at all. In that case, you need to use a command prompt run as administrator and enter “powercfg.exe /hibernate on”, as in the Microsoft instructions that Ziggy posted a link to. If you’re comfortable using a command prompt, you might find it quicker and easier to use powercfg to enable or disable hibernation, rather than using the power options menu.

    • Shane

      December 19, 2015 at 10:54 am

      Thanks for this!

  8. Gaurav

    September 13, 2015 at 9:14 am

    Thanks a lot for help.. :D

  9. Tanmay ghosh

    October 7, 2015 at 4:01 am

    thanks..

  10. Kamalesh

    November 22, 2015 at 3:06 am

    thank you admin.. great work

  11. Dev

    December 2, 2015 at 8:37 pm

    Thanks a lot Brian \m/

  12. DHarshanaN

    December 9, 2015 at 1:43 am

    Great job

  13. fhfjhbbb

    April 9, 2016 at 6:00 am

    worked,thanks.. :)

  14. sarfraz khan

    May 8, 2016 at 12:44 pm

    Thanks man. I was not aware of this. But now I did exactly and got the hibernate option. Thanks!

  15. VerySmartGuy

    July 17, 2016 at 9:59 pm

    “powercfg.exe /hibernate on” in cmd box. (Window Key+R, type “cmd”). Much simpler. Turning off method is obvious.

    • golden ideas

      May 2, 2017 at 11:22 pm

      THANKS!!! Much easier.

  16. J

    August 24, 2016 at 7:57 pm

    Off is already selected for the hybrid sleep option. :(

  17. endomondo

    October 2, 2016 at 5:52 am

    I read or say somewhere that a user needs to type powercfg -h on on the command prompt and then turn off the “Enable hybrid sleep switch”.
    Just saying cause that is what i did to enable Hybernate in Win7.

  18. britt

    January 3, 2017 at 9:49 am

    what do i do when my laptop power options shows sleep and hibernation buttons as faded ie inactive
    and the above solution did not work

  19. Raja Hamid

    February 9, 2017 at 5:54 am

    Thank you very much for sharing. Desperately needed this option.

  20. Haresh Ashar

    February 22, 2017 at 1:03 am

    Thank you “Team – GroovyPost”. You people are doing great social services.
    Thangs again.

  21. MAHESH

    May 23, 2017 at 7:22 am

    THANKS FOR GIVING SIMPLY

  22. p satish

    January 21, 2018 at 3:32 am

    thanks bro its working

  23. p

    March 27, 2018 at 10:37 am

    Simply great.

  24. Akshat

    May 5, 2018 at 12:15 pm

    I always use hibernation for my laptop as it saves me much of time. thanks for this trick.

  25. Mark Arizo Arizo

    January 4, 2019 at 6:27 am

    Thanks! Worked!

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