Windows 10 has a fast startup feature that, while convenient when booting a PC, might be getting in the way of some other features. Here's what you need to know and ultimately how to disable it.

On Windows 10, you can enable fast startup to reduce boot time and make the desktop load more quickly compared to the traditional startup process. This feature isn't new.

On some Windows 11 computers, the option to disable the Fast Startup feature is unavailable, but we can fix that using the command prompt.

Shave seconds off Windows 10 startup times with this one simple setting.

Fast startup is sort of like shutdown light -- when fast startup is enabled, Windows will save some of your computer's system files to a hibernation file upon shutdown (or rather, "shutdown").

How do applications and antivirus and all the other junk people have on their systems affect fast startup? In many cases it isn't Windows that slows down boot times, but all the other junk installed.

Fast startup is a handy feature that is usually enabled by default on Windows 10 and 11, but if you aren't sure, here's how to turn it on and off.

If you notice boot problems, fast startup may be the feature to blame — here are the steps to disable (or enable) it on Windows 11.

Learn how to enable or disable Fast Startup using Control Panel, GPEDIT, REGEDIT or CMD in Windows 11/10 and read about this feature here.