In this paper, we aim to investigate the exponential stability of general hybrid stochastic functional differential systems with delayed impulses. By using the average impulsive interval and the Lyapunov function method, we derive some sufficient conditions for exponential stability, which are less conservative than those existing results based on the supremum or infimum of impulsive interval and more convenient to be applied than those Razumikhin‐type conditions in the literature. Meanwhile, we show that unstable hybrid stochastic delay differential systems, both linear and nonlinear, can be stabilized by suitably impulsive sequence. Finally, two examples are discussed to illustrate the effectiveness and advantages of the obtained results. Copyright © 2017 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.