Shutting down your computer instead of keeping it running 24/7 can help save you on energy costs but also means you have to start from scratch every time you reboot. If you want to get the benefits of letting your computer rest without having to close all applications and lose current work hibernating instead of shutting down may be the solution.

Hibernating saves open programs in memory before shutting down the computer. These programs are reloaded from memory when the computer is turned on later so it works like it was never shut down.