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how to turn off fast startup

To turn off Fast Startup in Windows, you need to change a setting in Power Options that controls how your PC shuts down and boots.

How to Turn Off Fast Startup (Windows 10 & 11)

Quick Scoop

Fast Startup is a Windows feature that makes boots faster by combining a shutdown with a kind of partial hibernation. It can cause issues with dual- boot systems, external devices, network drives, and sometimes even make restarts or shutdowns behave oddly.

Turn Off Fast Startup on Windows 10

Use this method if you’re on Windows 10 and want the classic full shutdown behavior.

Step-by-step

  1. Right-click the Start button and click Power Options.
  1. On the right (or top-right), click Additional power settings under “Related settings”.
  1. In the Power Options window, click Choose what the power buttons do on the left.
  1. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable so you can edit shutdown options.
  1. Under Shutdown settings , uncheck the box Turn on fast startup (recommended).
  1. Click Save changes.

That’s it—next time you shut down, Windows will perform a full shutdown instead of the hybrid Fast Startup mode.

Turn Off Fast Startup on Windows 11

The path is slightly different in Windows 11, but the setting is the same.

Step-by-step

  1. Click Start and open All apps.
  1. Open Windows Tools , then Control Panel.
  1. In Control Panel, set View by to Large icons or Small icons and click Power Options.
  1. Click Choose what the power buttons do on the left.
  1. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable.
  1. Under Shutdown settings , uncheck Turn on fast startup (recommended).
  1. Click Save changes.

You’ve now disabled Fast Startup in Windows 11 as well.

Why People Are Turning It Off (Forum/“Trending” Angle)

On tech forums and Reddit, many users say disabling Fast Startup actually improved boot times or at least fixed weird bugs, especially on newer builds like Windows 11 24H2. Common reasons people turn it off include:

  • Dual-boot issues (Linux/Windows not seeing disks correctly).
  • USB/audio/network devices not initializing properly after shutdown.
  • Wanting a true “fresh” boot every time instead of a cached state.

“Disabling fast start-up in the control panel literally improved boot times and fixed other issues.” – user post about Windows 11 24H2.

Quick HTML Table: Key Steps

Below is an HTML table summarizing the core steps for both systems.

html

<table>
  <thead>
    <tr>
      <th>System</th>
      <th>How to open setting</th>
      <th>Key action</th>
      <th>Final step</th>
    </tr>
  </thead>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <td>Windows 10</td>
      <td>Right-click Start → Power Options → Additional power settings</td>
      <td>Choose what the power buttons do → Change settings that are currently unavailable</td>
      <td>Uncheck “Turn on fast startup (recommended)” → Save changes</td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>Windows 11</td>
      <td>Start → All apps → Windows Tools → Control Panel → Power Options</td>
      <td>Choose what the power buttons do → Change settings that are currently unavailable</td>
      <td>Uncheck “Turn on fast startup (recommended)” → Save changes</td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

Mini FAQ / Extra Notes

  • Do I need to restart after turning it off?
    Not usually; the setting applies to future shutdowns automatically.
  • Will my PC boot slower?
    It may boot a bit slower in some cases, but many users report minimal change—or even improvements when Fast Startup was causing conflicts.
  • Is this the same as “Hibernate”?
    No. Fast Startup uses hibernation tech under the hood, but only for the system session, not your apps and windows.

TL;DR: Go to Power Options → “Choose what the power buttons do” → “Change settings that are currently unavailable” → uncheck “Turn on fast startup (recommended)” → Save.

Information gathered from public forums or data available on the internet and portrayed here.