Disable or Enable Hibernation on Windows

My main machine is a MacBook Air, but sometimes I need to run Windows-only apps for my work. So, I have a Windows 11 Virtual Machine installed on my Mac using Parallels Desktop.

The thing is, my MacBook Air storage is only 256GB. The Windows 11 VM eats up some of this limited storage.

So, I tried to find a way to reduce the VM disk size. One thing I found was the Hibernation file. It occupies roughly 1GB, but in my experience, it can grow bigger depending on your allocated RAM.

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The thing is, you don’t really need the Windows hibernation feature if you’re using Windows as a Virtual Machine. You see, Parallels Desktop already has its own mechanism to suspend the virtual machine, which is similar to hibernate.

So, why not just disable hibernate? I don’t really need it.

Disable Hibernate on Windows 11

To disable hibernate on Windows 11 and free up some storage space, just follow these steps:

• Open the Terminal app (Run as administrator)
• Type the following command:

powercfg.exe /hibernate off

• Restart your PC
• Open Settings > Storage > System & Reserved

• You’ll see that the Hibernation file is gone.

Enable Hibernate on Windows 11

If you change your mind, you can re-enable hibernation.

• Open the Terminal app (Run as administrator)
• Enter the following command:

powercfg.exe /hibernate on

• Restart your PC
• Open Settings > Storage > System & Reserved

• You’ll see that the Hibernation file is back again.

Video

Conclusion

If you’re using Windows as a Virtual Machine, you can save a few GBs of storage by disabling the Hibernate feature. It’s not as useful in a Virtual Machine, and disabling it is better for your Host OS storage.

As usual, if you have any questions or a better method, leave a comment below. Thanks for reading, and see you next time!

References

• How to disable and re-enable hibernation - Windows Client | Microsoft Learn