How to Enable or Disable Hibernate in Windows from an Elevated Command Prompt

Windows hibernation is controlled with the powercfg command. Turning it off frees the disk space used by hiberfil.sys; turning it on restores hibernate and hybrid sleep. Both commands need an elevated (Run as administrator) Command Prompt.

Enable Hibernate

This restores the hiberfil.sys file and brings back the “Allow hybrid sleep” and “Hibernate after” settings under Sleep in Power Options.

1. Open an elevated Command Prompt.
2. Type the command below and press Enter.
3. Close the Command Prompt.

powercfg -h on

Disable Hibernate

This turns off hibernation, deletes hiberfil.sys, and removes the “Allow hybrid sleep” and “Hibernate after” settings. On Windows 8 and later it also disables Fast Startup.

1. Open an elevated Command Prompt.
2. Type the command below and press Enter.
3. Close the Command Prompt.

powercfg -h off