The Hibernate feature allows the Windows operating system to save and write the running state to a hard disk, before powering off the computer. Of all the power-saving states in Windows, hibernation is the most economical, as it uses the least amount of power. This feature uses the Hiberfil.sys file. The Hiberfil.sys hidden system file is located in the root folder of the drive where the operating system is installed. The Windows Kernel Power Manager reserves this file when you install Windows. The size of this file is approximately equal to how much random access memory (RAM) is installed on the computer. The computer uses the Hiberfil.sys file to store a copy of the system memory on the hard disk when the hybrid sleep setting is turned on. If this file is not present, the computer cannot hibernate. By default, users do not see the “Hibernate” option in the Power Options in Start Menu. In other words, you may not see this option if you click the power icon in your Start Menu in Windows 11/10. That is because users need to turn it on from the Control Panel’s System Settings window. Let’s assume that you need to show Hibernate in Power Button options and that’s why you tried to enable Hibernate from Control Panel. However, if the Control Panel does not display this Hibernate option when you click the Choose what the power buttons do – and only Sleep and Lock options are visible instead of all the four options, you need to follow the suggestions laid down in this post.
Hibernate option is missing in Control Panel
If Control Panel > System Settings does not show the Hibernate option, then use these two CMD commands to fix this Hibernate option missing issue in Windows 11/10: Let’s check out all these steps in detail.
You need to open an elevated Command Prompt window. For that, search for cmd in the Start Menu and select the Run as administrator option. After that, type this following command and hit the Enter button- It will turn on the Hibernate option. However, you must set the Hiberfile type as full. For your information, you can set as reduced as well, and you should read more about preferred Hiberfile type in Windows 10 before opting for one.
After that, type this command- and hit the Enter button to set it as Full. Now, you should restart your computer and open the System Settings window in Control Panel. Hopefully, you can find the Hibernate option there now.
