{"id":45,"date":"2005-02-03T15:37:28","date_gmt":"2005-02-03T10:07:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/03\/speed-up-windows-xp\/"},"modified":"2026-10-13T14:59:46","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T09:29:46","slug":"speed-up-windows-xp","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/","title":{"rendered":"Turn Off Indexing and Hibernation in Windows 11: Is It Worth It? (2026)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Back in 2005, the two quickest ways to speed up a Windows XP PC were to <strong>turn off indexing<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-65541\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/turn-off-indexing-hibernation-windows-11.webp\" alt=\"Turn off indexing and hibernation in Windows 11\" width=\"1200\" height=\"630\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/turn-off-indexing-hibernation-windows-11.webp 1200w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/turn-off-indexing-hibernation-windows-11-300x158.webp 300w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/turn-off-indexing-hibernation-windows-11-1024x538.webp 1024w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/turn-off-indexing-hibernation-windows-11-150x79.webp 150w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/turn-off-indexing-hibernation-windows-11-768x403.webp 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> To turn off hibernation in Windows 11, open Terminal as administrator and run <code>powercfg \/hibernate off<\/code>. 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&#8217;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.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_88 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ace1c8021085\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ace1c8021085\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/#What_has_changed_since_the_Windows_XP_days\" >What has changed since the Windows XP days<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/#How_to_turn_off_hibernation_in_Windows_11\" >How to turn off hibernation in Windows 11<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/#How_to_turn_off_indexing_in_Windows_11\" >How to turn off indexing in Windows 11<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/#1_Index_fewer_folders_recommended\" >1. Index fewer folders (recommended)<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/#2_Turn_off_content_indexing_on_one_drive\" >2. Turn off content indexing on one drive<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/#3_Disable_the_Windows_Search_service\" >3. Disable the Windows Search service<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/#Will_these_tweaks_actually_make_Windows_faster\" >Will these tweaks actually make Windows faster?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/#Is_it_safe_to_delete_hiberfilsys\" >Is it safe to delete hiberfil.sys?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/#Does_turning_off_indexing_speed_up_Windows_11\" >Does turning off indexing speed up Windows 11?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-11\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/#Does_turning_off_hibernation_disable_sleep\" >Does turning off hibernation disable sleep?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-12\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2005\/02\/speed-up-windows-xp\/#How_do_I_turn_indexing_back_on\" >How do I turn indexing back on?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"What_has_changed_since_the_Windows_XP_days\"><\/span>What has changed since the Windows XP days<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>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:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Indexing<\/strong> 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.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Hibernation<\/strong> 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.<\/li>\n<li>Windows 11 also uses the hibernation file for <strong>Fast Startup<\/strong>, so switching hibernation off makes cold boots a little slower.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_turn_off_hibernation_in_Windows_11\"><\/span>How to turn off hibernation in Windows 11<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Right-click the Start button and choose <strong>Terminal (Admin)<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Type <code>powercfg \/hibernate off<\/code> and press Enter.<\/li>\n<li>Windows deletes hiberfil.sys straight away. Check C: in File Explorer to see the space you got back.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>To turn it back on, run <code>powercfg \/hibernate on<\/code>. If you only want to shrink the file but keep Fast Startup, run <code>powercfg \/hibernate \/type reduced<\/code> instead. All the switches are listed in Microsoft&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/learn.microsoft.com\/en-us\/windows-hardware\/design\/device-experiences\/powercfg-command-line-options\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">powercfg command-line options<\/a> page.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Who should do it:<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_turn_off_indexing_in_Windows_11\"><\/span>How to turn off indexing in Windows 11<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You have three options, from gentle to drastic.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"1_Index_fewer_folders_recommended\"><\/span>1. Index fewer folders (recommended)<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Search for <strong>Indexing Options<\/strong> in the Start menu and open it.<\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Modify<\/strong> and untick drives or folders you never search, such as a big games or video drive.<\/li>\n<li>Click OK. Windows stops indexing those locations.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>In Settings &gt; Privacy &amp; security &gt; Searching Windows, choose <strong>Classic<\/strong> rather than Enhanced so that only your libraries and desktop are indexed.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"2_Turn_off_content_indexing_on_one_drive\"><\/span>2. Turn off content indexing on one drive<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Open File Explorer, right-click the drive, choose Properties and untick <strong>Allow files on this drive to have contents indexed in addition to file properties<\/strong>. This is the modern version of the old XP checkbox. It can take a while to apply on a large drive.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"3_Disable_the_Windows_Search_service\"><\/span>3. Disable the Windows Search service<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<ol>\n<li>Press Win + R, type <code>services.msc<\/code> and press Enter.<\/li>\n<li>Double-click <strong>Windows Search<\/strong>, click <strong>Stop<\/strong> and set Startup type to <strong>Disabled<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>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%.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Will_these_tweaks_actually_make_Windows_faster\"><\/span>Will these tweaks actually make Windows faster?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>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 <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2006\/02\/speed-up-windows-make-it-faster\/\">how to speed up Windows 11<\/a> and our list of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2008\/11\/run-computer-faster\/\">ways to make your computer run faster<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Is_it_safe_to_delete_hiberfilsys\"><\/span>Is it safe to delete hiberfil.sys?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes, but don&#8217;t delete it by hand. Run <code>powercfg \/hibernate off<\/code> and Windows removes it for you.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_turning_off_indexing_speed_up_Windows_11\"><\/span>Does turning off indexing speed up Windows 11?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Usually not on an SSD. It can reduce disk activity on an old hard drive, but Windows search becomes much slower.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Does_turning_off_hibernation_disable_sleep\"><\/span>Does turning off hibernation disable sleep?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>No. Sleep still works. Only hibernate and Fast Startup are turned off.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_do_I_turn_indexing_back_on\"><\/span>How do I turn indexing back on?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Set the Windows Search service back to Automatic (Delayed Start) and start it, then add your folders again in Indexing Options.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Back in 2005, the two quickest ways to speed up a Windows XP PC were to turn off indexing and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":65541,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-45","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computers","tag-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=45"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65542,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45\/revisions\/65542"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/65541"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}