Windows – Does Windows 10 sleep mode also hibernate system

hibernatepower-managementsleepwindowswindows 10

I was always using Sleep mode and I thought that if I turn off electricity while PC is sleeping, it will just «hard» shutdown without saving any data / open apps, etc.
Today I accidentally turned off electricity for my PC (when it was sleeping), I was quite surprised when I turned it on and after boot I saw all these open apps, just like it was sleeping all the time without power interruption.

So does Windows 10 use a combination of hibernation and sleep instead of «just sleep»?

I'm pretty sure that in previous versions of Windows hibernation and sleep were two different things, now it seems that Windows saves state on disk everytime in case of losing power source and just still keeps it in RAM to instantly turn on.

Best Answer

So does Windows 10 use a combination of hibernation and sleep instead of «just sleep»?

Yes, that is exactly what Windows is using in your case. It is a mode called Hybrid Sleep. While it is still possible to setup Windows to go into a strictly sleep or a strictly hibernation mode, by default Windows 10 sleep mode is set as Hybrid Sleep on desktop computers if supported by the system. (The command powercfg /a gives you a list of actually supported power states regarding your system.)

From thewindowsclub.com article Difference Between Sleep, Hybrid Sleep, Hibernation in Windows 10/8/7

Hybrid sleep is designed primarily for desktop computers. Hybrid sleep is a combination of sleep and hibernate; it puts any open documents and programs in memory and on your hard disk and then puts your computer into a low-power state so that you can quickly resume your work. That way, if a power failure occurs, Windows can restore your work from your hard disk. When hybrid sleep is turned on, putting your computer into sleep automatically puts your computer into hybrid sleep.

Hybrid sleep is typically turned on by default on desktop computers and off by default on laptops. You will be able to see the settings under Power Options > Advanced settings.

Related Question