Although Windows 11 has many new features, Microsoft has retained several useful features from its predecessor. Fast startup is one such feature that allows your PC to boot up more quickly once you shut it down completely and restart it again with the power button. While this can save you a lot of time, it can sometimes result in issues with dual-booting operating systems or booting from ISO drives. So, if you want to disable it, here are a few ways to do so on your laptop.
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What is fast startup in Windows 11?
Fast startup strikes the perfect balance between hibernation and shutdown to help your PC start up as soon as you push that power button by not quite shutting down fully. Yes, the computer will physically be off, but fast startup saves the state of your hard drive at the moment of shutdown and brings it back to where you left it the next time you log in. That way, it doesn’t have to restart the services it needs for File Explorer, Taskbar, and other system areas.
You can either tweak Power Options in the Control Panel or use Command Prompt to disable fast startup in Windows 11. Unfortunately, the same option isn’t easily available in the Windows 11 Settings menu.
Disable fast startup using Control Panel
To disable fast startup in Windows 11, you need to visit the classic Control Panel. You should see it available within Control Panel on all versions of Windows 11.
- Open the Start Menu and search for Control Panel.
- Click the top result.
- Switch the Control Panel to the Category view from the top under View by.
- Choose Hardware and Sound.
- Select Power Options.
- Click on Choose what the power buttons do.
- Un-check the box at the bottom for Turn on fast startup (recommended).
If the box is grayed out, you’ll need to click the text at the top that says Change Settings that are currently unavailable. Then, you should be able to adjust the fast startup setting.
Disable fast startup using Command Prompt
If you prefer Command Prompt, you can use it to disable fast startup, too. Follow the steps below.
- Press the Windows key, search for Command Promptand run it as administrator.
- Type the command below and hit enter.
Powercfg -h off
This should turn off hibernate as well as fast startup on your device.
You can disable fast startup in no time
You could also use the Group Policy and Registry editor to disable fast startup. However, either of the above-mentioned tricks should be sufficient for most to get the job done. If you want to learn more about Windows Command Prompt, read our dedicated guide to glance over some of the popular prompts you could try.