To turn off Fast Startup in Windows 11, you need to change a setting in Power Options (and optionally via a command if it’s greyed out).

How to Turn Off Fast Startup in Windows 11

Quick Scoop

Fast Startup makes shutdown behave more like hibernate, which can cause issues with dual‑boot setups, external drives, or drivers. Turning it off is safe; it just means your PC may take a little longer to boot, but it tends to be more consistent and less buggy.

Method 1: Using Control Panel (Most Common)

  1. Open Control Panel
    • Press Win + R , type control, and press Enter.
 * Or search for **Control Panel** from the Start menu.
  1. Go to Hardware and Sound → Power Options.
  1. Click Choose what the power buttons do in the left sidebar.
  1. At the top, click Change settings that are currently unavailable so you can edit shutdown options (you might get an admin prompt).
  1. Under Shutdown settings , find Turn on fast startup (recommended) and uncheck it.
  1. Click Save changes.

From now on, full shutdowns will be “true” shutdowns instead of hybrid ones.

Method 2: If the Option Is Greyed Out (Use Command)

If the checkbox is greyed out or missing, it’s usually tied to hibernation being enabled. Fast Startup relies on the hibernation file hiberfil.sys.

  1. Open Command Prompt as Administrator
    • Press Start , type cmd, right‑click Command Prompt , and select Run as administrator.
  1. Turn off hibernation (which also disables Fast Startup):
    • Type:
      powercfg -h off
      and press Enter.

This removes the hibernation file and disables both Hibernate and Fast Startup.

Note: If you later want Hibernate back, you can re‑enable it with
powercfg -h on, then the Fast Startup checkbox will return in Power Options.

Method 3: Check Status with PowerShell (Optional)

If you’re curious whether Fast Startup is currently on:

  1. Open Windows Terminal or PowerShell as Administrator.
  1. Run:
    (Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Power").HiberbootEnabled
  • 1 → Fast Startup enabled.
  • 0 → Fast Startup disabled.

Why People Turn It Off (Forum Flavor)

On tech forums and Reddit, a lot of power users recommend disabling Fast Startup because:

  • It can cause driver issues or weird hardware behavior after “shutdown”.
  • It may break or complicate dual‑boot setups with Linux or other OSes.
  • Some users report more stable sleep/hibernate behavior with it off.

Others leave it on if they only use Windows and like slightly faster cold boots, but many still consider it “unnecessary and creates more problems than it solves.”

Mini HTML Table: Quick Reference

Here’s a small HTML table you can reuse:

html

<table>
  <tr>
    <th>Method</th>
    <th>Steps</th>
    <th>Effect</th>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Control Panel</td>
    <td>Control Panel → Hardware and Sound → Power Options → Choose what the power buttons do → Change settings that are currently unavailable → Uncheck "Turn on fast startup" → Save changes.</td>
    <td>Disables Fast Startup only.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>Command Prompt</td>
    <td>Run Command Prompt as admin → <code>powercfg -h off</code>.</td>
    <td>Disables Hibernate and Fast Startup, removes hiberfil.sys.</td>
  </tr>
  <tr>
    <td>PowerShell Check</td>
    <td>Run PowerShell as admin → <code>(Get-ItemProperty "HKLM:\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Session Manager\Power").HiberbootEnabled</code>.</td>
    <td>Shows if Fast Startup is enabled (1) or disabled (0).</td>
  </tr>
</table>

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Learn how to turn off Fast Startup in Windows 11 using Control Panel, Command Prompt, and PowerShell, plus why forums and power users often recommend disabling it for stability.

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