How to disable Windows 10 fast startup (and why you'd want to)

How to disable Windows 10 fast startup (and why you might want to)

Fast startup is a feature showtime implemented in Windows 8 and carried over to Windows 10 that provides a faster kicking time when starting up your PC. It's a handy characteristic and one that nigh people utilise without fifty-fifty knowing, but in that location are others who disable it immediately when they go their hands on a new PC.

Let's take a look at exactly how fast startup works, why you might want to enable or disable it, and how to exercise so.

What is fast startup?

Windows PCs typically operate in a number of Advanced Configuration and Ability Interface (ACPI) power states. An S0 power state, for example, is when your PC is running and ready to respond to your input. There are a number of sleep states, including S1, S2, and S3, and there'south as well a hybrid sleep country where hibernation is used in tandem with a sleep state.

Hibernation is considered an S4 ability land. While hibernating, your PC volition seem like it's completely off, but there will be a saved hibernation file ready to be used to boot back to where you were during your last user session. Some power is usually still routed to peripherals so that you tin, say, tap your keyboard and accept the PC boot.

An S5 power state (soft off) is when your PC is close down and rebooted completely. There'due south no hibernation file and no saved user session. There is also a G3 power country, which is when your PC consumes absolutely no power and is completely turned off.

With fast startup enabled, choosing to shut down your PC might look like you lot're completely shutting things down, simply in reality, your PC is inbound a mix between a shutdown and hibernation. A hibernation file is indeed used, although it is smaller than usual. Why? Yous're logged off before the file is created, meaning your session is non recorded. The speed heave comes from the Windows kernel being saved on your hard drive and loaded when booting.

Is your PC truly shutting down?

While fast startup is a pretty harmless tool that tin can deliver a considerable startup speed boost, especially to PCs using difficult-disk drives (HDD), some people prefer to have their PC truly shut down when they click the "Shut down" button on their PC.

In a post on the PC Master Race subreddit, a user pointed out that fast startup was re-enabled in a Windows 10 update post-obit the release of the Fall Creators Update. Following the April 2022 Windows 10 update, Fast Startup was again re-enabled on my own PC, and it seems to have kicked in again following the May 2022 Update.

If you're among the group of people who disable fast startup on their Windows x PC, y'all might desire to recheck the settings to run into if it'due south yet off.

Why disable fast startup?

Leaving fast startup enabled shouldn't harm anything on your PC — information technology's a feature built into Windows — but there are a few reasons why y'all might want to nevertheless disable it.

Ane of the major reasons is if you lot're using Wake-on-LAN, which volition probable have problems when your PC is close downwardly with fast startup enabled. Others would like to save the hard drive space that is usually taken up with the hibernation file, and Linux users will likely come across complications with dual kicking and virtualization. Furthermore, some users have fifty-fifty reported that power buttons on their keyboard will non work and fans in their PCs will go on spinning. These bug are past no ways across the board, but they tin can bear witness to be frustrating. Finally, Windows 10 updates might non install properly if you lot accept fast startup enabled.

Left: after shutting down with fast startup enabled. Right: after shutting down with fast startup disabled.

Your reason for disabling fast startup might just accept to practice with wanting to see your PC truly shut down when you lot choose to shut down, specially when working with a speedy solid-state bulldoze (SSD), or to have the processor (CPU) uptime reset afterwards booting.

How to enable and disable fast startup on Windows x

If y'all'd similar to see how your PC performs without fast startup enabled, you can disable it in just a few steps:

Right-click the Start button.
Click Search.
Type Control Console and hit Enter on your keyboard.
Click Ability Options.
Click Choose what the power buttons do.
Click Change settings that are currently unavailable.
Click Turn on fast startup (recommended) so that the checkmark disappears.
Click Salvage changes.

If y'all desire to re-enable fast startup at whatever bespeak, simply repeat the steps so a checkmark appears next to Turn on fast startup.

More Windows 10 resources

For more than helpful articles, coverage, and answers to mutual questions about Windows 10, visit the following resources:

Windows x on Windows Central – All yous need to know
Windows 10 help, tips, and tricks
Windows 10 forums on Windows Central

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