How to Turn On or Turn Off Fast Startup in Windows 11

Fast Startup reduces overall boot time in Windows 11 but can cause problems. Here is how to turn on or turn off fast startup in Windows 11.

For a long time now, Fast Startup has been one of the best features introduced by Microsoft. It has been part of the operating system ever since Windows 8, and it is enabled by default. As the name implies, Fast Startup improves the overall boot time with clever tricks.

If you are wondering, Fast Startup is different from your regular shutdown and restart process. With fast startup, Windows logs off the user and writes the remaining data to the disk, like hibernating the system and then shutting down the system. That is one of the reasons why Fast Startup requires the Hibernate feature to be turned on. Windows will restore the data and proceed with the user login process when you turn on the system again.

As good as the Fast Startup feature is, it can sometimes cause problems with installed applications and drivers. For example, some applications and drivers might require a total system shutdown and restart to install or work properly. However, the fast startup will not shut down the system completely, in a sense. In addition to that, fast startup is also known to interfere with encrypted disk images, lock the hard disk on shutdown, etc.

In that case, you have to turn off Fast Startup in Windows 11. Once done, the system will shut down normally.

Whether you want to use Fast Startup or not, it is pretty easy to turn on and turn off the feature.

So, without further ado, let me show you how to turn off fast startup in Windows 11 and turn on fast startup in Windows 11.

Table of contents:

• Turn off fast startup in Windows 11
• Turn on fast startup in Windows 11

Turn off fast startup in Windows 11

There are two easy ways to turn off fast startup in Windows 11. First from the Power Options page and second using a simple PowerShell command. Follow the one you like.

Via Power Options:

You can turn off fast startup from the Power Options page in the Control Panel or with a PowerShell command. All you have to do is de-select an option, and you are good to go. Here is how to do it in simple steps.

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Search and open the Control Panel.
3. Set “View by” to “Large Icons.”
4. Click on “Power Options.”
5. Click on “Choose what the power buttons do” on the sidebar.
6. Press the “Change settings that are currently unavailable” link.
7. Uncheck the “Turn on fast startup” option.
8. Click the “Save changes” button.
9. Close the Control Panel window.
10. With that, the Fast Startup feature is turned off.

Same steps with screenshots and a bit more detail:

The power options are available in the Control Panel. So, we need to open it. To do that, open the Control Panel by searching for it in the Start menu. After that, set the “View by” to “Large icons.” That way, all the options will be visible in a nice grid.

Here, click on “Power Options.” You can get to this same page using the “powercfg.cpl” run command.

On the Power Options page, click on the “Choose what the power buttons do” link. You will see it on the sidebar.

The fast startup feature is considered an advanced feature. As such, you need admin privileges to change its state. So, click on the “Change settings that are currently unavailable” link at the top to continue.

Now, uncheck the “Turn on fast startup” checkbox. Click the “Save changes” button to apply the setting.

That is it. Close the Control Panel window. With that, you have successfully turned off the fast startup feature in Windows 11.

PowerShell command to turn off fast startup:

You can execute a single-line PowerShell command to turn off fast startup in Windows 11. Here is how.

1. Right-click on the Start menu.
2. Select the “Windows Terminal (Admin)” option.
3. In the PowerShell tab, execute the below command.
4. The response should be “0.”
5. Close the PowerShell window.
6. With that, the fast startup is turned off in Windows 11.

Turn on fast startup in Windows 11

To turn on fast startup in Windows 11, you have to select the fast startup option in the Power Options page or execute a PowerShell command. Here is how to do it.

Via Power Options:

1. Open the Start menu.
2. Search and open the Control Panel.
3. Set “View by” to “Large Icons.”
4. Click on “Power Options.”
5. Click on “Choose what the power buttons do” on the sidebar.
6. Press the “Change settings that are currently unavailable” link.
7. Uncheck the “Turn on fast startup” option.
8. Click the “Save changes” button.
9. Close the Control Panel window.
10. With that, the Fast Startup feature is turned off.

PowerShell command:

1. Right-click on the Start menu.
2. Select the “Windows Terminal (Admin)” option.
3. In the PowerShell tab, execute the below command.
4. The response should be “0.”
5. Close the PowerShell window.
6. With that, the fast startup is turned off in Windows 11.

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That is all; it is that simple to turn on or turn off fast startup in Windows 11.

I hope this simple Windows 11 how-to guide helped you.

If you are stuck or need some help, comment below, and I will try to help as much as possible.