How to use hibernation to extend battery life in Windows 10

In Windows 10, hibernation is a power-saving feature that saves the memory contents to the hard drive (inside the hidden system file “Hiberfil.sys”), allowing you to completely power off your device to prolong the duration of battery without losing your current job. The next time you resume, the previous session will be loaded into memory, allowing you to pick up where you left off.

Although hibernation does not resume as fast as sleep in Windows 10, the feature will be useful when you do not use the device for a long period when it runs out of battery, the laptop has a battery drain problem, or when you have to change the battery (if you still have one of those devices).

This guide will walk you through the steps to enable and configure hibernation to extend battery life on your laptop or shut it down completely, retaining your current session when you resume.

How to enable hibernation in Windows 10

To enable hibernation using the command prompt, follow these steps:

1. Open start .
2. Find Command Prompt right-click on the top result and select the Run as administrator option.
3. Type the following command to confirm if hibernation is already enabled on your device and press Enter : powercfg /available sleep states

• Quick note: If Hibernate appears in the “The following sleep states are available on this system” section, then the feature is enabled and you don’t need to proceed to step 4 .

1.  Type the following command to enable the feature on your computer and press Enter : powercfg /hibernate on

 Once you complete the steps, Windows 10 will enable hibernation on your computer. However, it is not a feature available in all system configurations. If you can’t use hibernation in Windows 10, it could be for one of these reasons:

• The graphics card driver does not support this power state. Updating to the latest version of the video driver may fix this problem.
• Hibernation may be supported, but it is not enabled within the Unified Extensible Firmware Interface (UEFI) or the legacy Basic Input/Output System (BIOS). Accessing the motherboard firmware and adjusting the settings via your device manufacturer’s support website may resolve the issue.
• The hybrid sleep feature is enabled. In some cases, you may need to disable this feature before hibernation is available.
• The hardware does not support hibernation. For example, devices with InstantGo do not have the option to hibernate.

How to add the hibernate option to the power menu in Windows 10

To add the hibernation option to the power menu on Start, follow these steps:

1. Open Control Panel .
2. Click on Hardware and Sound .
3.  Click on Power Options .
4. Click on the “Choose what makes the lid close” option from the left panel.

• Quick tip: If you’re using a desktop computer, you can select the “Choose what the power buttons do” option to get to settings.

1.  Click on the “Change settings that are currently unavailable” option to modify the shutdown settings.
2. Check the Hibernate option.
3. Click the Save Changes button.

After completing the steps, the “Hibernate” option will be available in the power menu on the start menu, lock screen, and power user menu ( Windows Key + X keyboard shortcut).

Customize power button to hibernate

To put your device to hibernation by pressing one of the power buttons or by closing the lid, follow these steps:

1. Open Control Panel .
2. Click on Hardware and Sound .
3.  Click on Power Options .
4.  Click on the “Choose what makes the lid close” option from the left panel.
5.  In the “Power and sleep buttons and lid settings” section, use the dropdown menu to allow your device to hibernate when you press the power or sleep button, or when you close the laptop lid.

 Once you complete the steps, your computer will go into hibernation depending on your settings.

How to configure hibernation settings in Windows 10

If you want to extend your battery as much as possible, you can adjust your power settings to allow your computer to automatically hibernate.

To change the hibernation timers on your computer, follow these steps:

1. Open Control Panel .
2. Click on Hardware and Sound .
3. Click on Power Options .
4. Click on the “Change plan settings” option under the current power plan in use.
5. Click on the “Change advanced power settings” option.
6. I extend to Dormir the frame.
7. Expand the Hibernate After branch.
8. Use the On battery option to set the number of minutes before putting the device into a hibernation state when the laptop is running on battery.
9. Use the Plugged in option to set the number of minutes before putting the device into a hibernation state when the laptop is connected to a power source.
10. Click the Apply button.
11. Click on the OK button.

After completing the steps, your device should automatically go into hibernation after the specified time you set.

As in previous versions, hibernation offers a reliable method of saving battery life while preserving your session. However, it is the option that takes the longest to process a shutdown and resume because it requires writing the contents to memory to the hard drive for hibernation and writing the information back to memory on resume.

If you want to save battery life with the fastest resume time, then perhaps the sleep option is the recommended method. However, you may lose your unsaved work if your device loses power during sleep mode.