How To Disable Fast Startup in Windows 11/10 and Why You Should Do It

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When Windows 8 was released, everyone was happy and enjoying the fast startup feature which made their PCs boot up in very little time. This feature still comes with Windows 11/10 and works very efficiently and doesn’t disappoint the users. You may be wondering why this post guides on to disable Fast Startup in Windows 11/10. Read further.

What is Fast Startup?

PCs working on the Windows platform operate on Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) power states. When a PC is running and ready to respond to an input, it is an “S Zero” power state. Similarly, there several such sleep states, which include S1, S2, S3, and also a hybrid sleep state.

The hybrid sleep state is known as the Hibernation state or S4 power state. In hibernation, a PC seems like it is entirely turned off. However, the actual state of the OS is saved into a hibernation file. The same file can be used to bring back the files you were using in the last session.

There is another state, the S5 power state, also known as the Soft-Off state. It is that state when a PC is completely off, and boots up from scratch. It means there is no hibernation file and session to continue. The S3 power state is when a PC is completely off and consumes no power.

The fast startup-enabled PCs do not completely shut down when it is set so. Such PCs enter a mixed situation between a shutdown and hibernation. A hibernation file is available but smaller when compared to the traditional one. This file’s creation takes place after you are logged off, and the speed boost comes from the Windows Kernel, which is saved on the HDD and gets loaded when the PC is booted.

Frankly, the fast startup is a tool that considerably boosts the startup speed, especially on PCs with HDDs. Some users out there prefer to disable the fast startup but end up keeping it active. If you are one of them, recheck if it is still active.

Reasons to Disable Fast Startup

While there is no harm if you disable programs from the Startup, before we go ahead and do that, here are our reasons.

  • If you use Wake-on-LAN, then you must disable it because with fast startup enabled, Wake-on-LAN doesn’t work.
  • Linux users face some difficulties while their PCs are on Dual Boot or while working with virtualization.
  • Some users reported the power button present on their keyboard doesn’t work as well as the CPU fans continue to run.

Disable Fast Startup in Windows

How to Disable Fast Startup in Windows 11/10

  1. Press Windows + R keys together. A Run window will appear.
  2. Type control and press Enter.
  3. Click on Power Options > choose what the power buttons do > change settings that are currently unavailable.
  4. Then click to Turn on fast startup (recommended) so that the checkmark disappears.How To Disable Fast Startup in Windows 11/10
  5. Click on Save changes.

You can re-enable it if you want to experience a fast boot again.

We hope the steps were easy to understand and follow to disable fast boot in Windows 11/10

Ashish Mohta
A die-hard fan of Windows, PC Gaming, and Xbox. He is a seasoned content writer with over 15 years of experience in the industry. He is a specialist in writing about Windows, software reviews, troubleshooting Windows, and automation.

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