Turn Off Indexing and Hibernation in Windows 11: Is It Worth It? (2026)

Back in 2005, the two quickest ways to speed up a Windows XP PC were to turn off indexing and turn off hibernation. Twenty years later, people still ask whether those two tweaks help on Windows 11. The short version: turning off hibernation can free several gigabytes of disk space, while turning off indexing rarely makes a modern PC faster and makes search much slower. Here is how to do both in Windows 11, and when each one is worth it.

Quick answer: To turn off hibernation in Windows 11, open Terminal as administrator and run powercfg /hibernate off. This deletes the hiberfil.sys file and also turns off Fast Startup. To turn off indexing, open Indexing Options from the Start menu, click Modify and untick the folders or drives you don’t want indexed, or stop the Windows Search service in services.msc. Only turn off indexing on very slow or nearly full hard drives; on an SSD the gain is tiny.

What has changed since the Windows XP days

The original tips were written for PCs with 128 MB or 256 MB of RAM and slow spinning hard drives. Windows 11 PCs usually have 8 to 32 GB of RAM and fast SSDs, so the trade-offs are different:

• Indexing now runs as the Windows Search service. It pauses when you are busy, and on an SSD you will rarely notice it. Turning it off makes Start menu, File Explorer and Outlook search much slower.
• Hibernation still reserves a hidden file called hiberfil.sys on your C: drive. A full hibernation file is about 40% of your RAM, so a 16 GB laptop gives up roughly 6 GB of disk space.
• Windows 11 also uses the hibernation file for Fast Startup, so switching hibernation off makes cold boots a little slower.

How to turn off hibernation in Windows 11

1. Right-click the Start button and choose Terminal (Admin).
2. Type powercfg /hibernate off and press Enter.
3. Windows deletes hiberfil.sys straight away. Check C: in File Explorer to see the space you got back.

To turn it back on, run powercfg /hibernate on. If you only want to shrink the file but keep Fast Startup, run powercfg /hibernate /type reduced instead. All the switches are listed in Microsoft’s powercfg command-line options page.

Who should do it: desktop PCs that are never hibernated, and laptops with a small, nearly full SSD. If you close your laptop lid and expect to pick up where you left off days later, keep hibernation on.

How to turn off indexing in Windows 11

You have three options, from gentle to drastic.

1. Index fewer folders (recommended)

1. Search for Indexing Options in the Start menu and open it.
2. Click Modify and untick drives or folders you never search, such as a big games or video drive.
3. Click OK. Windows stops indexing those locations.

In Settings > Privacy & security > Searching Windows, choose Classic rather than Enhanced so that only your libraries and desktop are indexed.

2. Turn off content indexing on one drive

Open File Explorer, right-click the drive, choose Properties and untick Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties. This is the modern version of the old XP checkbox. It can take a while to apply on a large drive.

3. Disable the Windows Search service

1. Press Win + R, type services.msc and press Enter.
2. Double-click Windows Search, click Stop and set Startup type to Disabled.

Search still works after this, but it scans files live, so results can take many seconds. Only do this on an old PC with a slow hard drive where indexing keeps the disk at 100%.

Will these tweaks actually make Windows faster?

On a modern PC, not by much. Turning off hibernation frees disk space, which helps if your drive is almost full, but it does not make apps open faster. Turning off indexing can calm an old hard drive, but on an SSD it saves almost nothing and costs you fast search. For changes that make a real difference, such as trimming startup apps, removing bloatware and adding RAM or an SSD, see our guide on how to speed up Windows 11 and our list of ways to make your computer run faster.

FAQ

Is it safe to delete hiberfil.sys?

Yes, but don’t delete it by hand. Run powercfg /hibernate off and Windows removes it for you.

Does turning off indexing speed up Windows 11?

Usually not on an SSD. It can reduce disk activity on an old hard drive, but Windows search becomes much slower.

Does turning off hibernation disable sleep?

No. Sleep still works. Only hibernate and Fast Startup are turned off.

How do I turn indexing back on?

Set the Windows Search service back to Automatic (Delayed Start) and start it, then add your folders again in Indexing Options.