If the Windows fast startup is causing unexpected problems, follow these steps to quickly turn off fast startup in Windows 10.
Starting from Windows 8, Microsoft introduced a new feature called Fast Startup. As you can tell from the name itself, when the fast startup feature is enabled, Windows will start faster. In fact, the fast startup feature is enabled by default and that is the reason why your Windows machine starts as fast as it does. When you couple the fast startup feature with a good SSD, Windows startup will be really fast. For example, my laptop’s startup time is less than ten seconds.
The fast startup feature works perfectly fine for a vast majority of users. However, sometimes it can go haywire and cause unnecessary problems. For example, when the fast startup feature is enabled, the Wake-on-LAN feature doesn’t work as it should. Add to that, some hardware devices might glitch out from time to time and stop working until you restart the system.
The good thing is, if the fast startup feature is causing problems, you can easily disable it from the Control Panel’s Power Options tool. In this quick and simple guide, let me show you the steps to turn off fast startup in Windows 10.
Turn off fast startup in Windows
You can turn off the fast startup feature from the Power Options tool in the Control Panel. Follow the below steps to do so.
- Open the Control Panel.
- Click on “Power Options.”
- Click on the “Choose what the power buttons do” link.
- Press the “Change settings that are currently unavailable” link.
- Uncheck the “Turn on fast startup” checkbox.
- Click the “Save changes” button.
- Close the control panel window.
The first thing we need to do is open the Control Panel. To do that, open the Start menu, search for “Control Panel” and click on the result. You can also type “control panel” in the Run dialog box to open it.
After opening the control panel, click on the “Power Options” option. If you don’t see it right away, make sure the “View by” is set to “Small icons” or “Big icons”.
In the Power Options window, click on the “Choose what power buttons do” link on the sidebar. This is where you will find the options related to the power keys and option related to the fast startup.
Next, click on the “Change settings that are currently unavailable” link. Since the fast startup option requires admin privilege, you need to click on this link.
Now, uncheck the “Turn on fast startup” checkbox and click on the “Save changes” button.
Close the control panel window.
That is it. With that, you have disabled the fast startup feature in Windows. From now on, when you shut down the system, it will be a true shutdown and avoids fast startup when you turn on the system. Keep in mind that disabling fast startup will slightly increase the overall Windows startup time. Of course, you can optimize it by delaying startup programs in the task manager.
