The sleep mode or sleep state is a low-power state available in the Windows operating system, including Windows 10/11. This low-power sleep mode comes in handy, especially for notebook and tablet users, to extend the battery life.
What’s the sleep mode in Windows 10/11?
Unlike Hibernation, when a device is put into sleep mode or state, it will draw a very small amount of power, but you will be able to resume your work very quickly (almost instantly) by pressing any key on the keyboard, moving the mouse/touchpad, or pressing the power button.
Since the sleep state draws a small amount of power on a battery-powered device, if the battery level falls below the critical level, Windows automatically puts the device into hibernation mode (if enabled) to prevent any data loss.
With default settings, your PC might go to sleep mode after 15 (when on battery) or 30 (when plugged in) minutes of inactivity. This also means that, at times, your Windows 10/11 PC might go to sleep mode when a program is running in the background, resulting in loss of data.
For instance, your Windows 10/11 PC might go to sleep mode when a file is being downloaded via a web browser, forcing you to start the download all over again if the server from where you are downloading the file doesn’t offer resume support.
If you find that the sleep mode is not so useful, you can either configure your PC to enter the sleep mode after a long period of user inactivity or make your Windows 10/11 PC never sleep.
Method 1 of 2
Enable or disable sleep mode in Windows 10
For Windows 11 directions, scroll down the page.
Step 1: Open the Settings app. To do so, click on the Settings app icon on the Start menu or simultaneously press Windows and I keys.
Step 2: Click the first option titled System.
Step 3: On the resulting page, click Power & Sleep. Now, under the Sleep section, you will see two options:
# On battery power, PC goes to sleep after
# When plugged in, PC goes to sleep after
For both options, expand the drop-down menu and select Never. That’s it! Your PC will never go to sleep mode again. Here, as you can see in the above picture, you can configure how long should Windows 10 wait before putting the computer to sleep mode.
Note that changes made to the sleep mode will apply to the current power plan only. To make changes to other power plans, switch to the different power plans by right-clicking the battery icon in the system tray, clicking Power Options, and then selecting a power plan from the list.
Once a different power plan is selected, repeat above mentioned steps to configure or disable sleep mode for that plan.
Method 2 of 3
Disable sleep mode in Windows 11
Step 1: Open the Settings app. Go to System > Power & Battery page.
Step 2: Here, in the Power section, click on Screen and sleep to see related settings.
Step 3: To disable the sleep mode, select Never from all four drop-down boxes, as shown in the picture below.
Method 3 of 3
Another way to make your Windows 10/11 PC never sleep
Step 1: Open the Control Panel, change the View by to Small icons, and then click Power Options.
Step 2: On the left pane, click Change when the computer sleeps link to open the Edit plan settings window.
Step 3: Here, in the drop-down menus next to Put the computer to sleep, select Never for On battery and Plugged in. Click the Save changes button. That’s it!
Note that instead of selecting Never, selecting any other number will enable the sleep mode in Windows 10/11.
IMPORTANT: You need to repeat the steps mentioned above for all power plans. That is, if you have disabled sleep mode for the Power Saver plan, you will need to do the same for Balanced and other plans (if you have created one) to avoid Windows 10/11 putting your PC into sleep mode while on these power plans.
MJ says
Nothing works as to turning off sleep mode. Have followed every suggestion.
V says
Disabling on-board graphics sometimes causes thi sproblem in notebooks.
Enabling it brings the Sleep option back immediately.
hopi says
me too on win10 pro 64 bit….
have tried these methods and some others as well
geez Microsoft…. win7 has no problems with sleep and hibernate set to NEVER but Win 10 pro surely does
fix your darn code…
Ray says
Adriaan has the way to make windows 10 stop shutting down after 2 minutes. Got me to the place where I saw, and was able to change the setting to make it quit happening. It works. You’ll see where to make the changes. You can explore all the setting in that box, and change them all. Just follow the path He’s laid out to the letter !!!!
Mircea says
My PC does not shut’s dawn when I press sleep like in windows 7. I want to just stop, and resume power when I press a key.
Martin says
I have tried both options, and none of them have successfully corrected this issue. To be specific, this has not worked on Windows 10 Professional PCs or laptops. The issue is not machine-specific, as I have the same issue with Dells, HPs and Lenovo’s.
Nuno says
@Adriaan is the man!!
Jon Gabelica says
I manage a restaurant server running Win 10. All my sleep settings are set to Off and Never, saved, restarted etc. once the restaurant closes and the end of day runs….the server still sleeps. Problem being I do Menus updates after hours and can’t access the server till some arrives in the morning to wakes it up.
I’m open to any other suggestions for keeping the system awake.
Abram says
This does not work on any PC I own or on any of my friends PC’s. none go to sleep and all wake up when put to sleep.
This is why people stopped getting PC’s and just use google devices.
anali says
very helpful… tnx a lot
Badal says
Thanks
Now I able to do sleep mode in my window 10
Jimvw2 says
I just want to restore the Sleep Option to my Power Button, so that I can force my computer to sleep, not hibernate. Somewhere along the way with all the W10 updates this third power option disappeared from my Power Button.
Deb says
Adrian’s way worked for me. Take your time and follow all the instructions.
William says
I just want to say, “Adriaan’s” way works fine. I tried it with my laptop (Windows 10), and it hasn’t gone to sleep automatically since. My way doesn’t work. I’m William. The comment under the name “William” posted May 29, 2017 at 8:50 pm is mine. Please don’t follow my way.
HC says
does not work on my Win 10 desktop
I would be nice if Microsoft could spare some technical input to solve users problems.
Brian Richards says
Can’t get mine to stop sleeping either.
Adriaan says
1. Click on the windows icon
2. Type regedit
3. Right-click on regedit icon, click Run as administrator
4. Go to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\238C9FA8-0AAD-41ED-83F4-97BE242C8F20\7bc4a2f9-d8fc-4469-b07b-33eb785aaca0
5. Double click on Attributes
6. Enter number 2.
7. Go to Advanced power settings (click on Windows button, write power options, click on Power Options, in the selected plan click on the Change plan settings, click on the Change advanced power settings).
8. Click on the Change settings that are currently unavailable
9. Click Sleep, then System unattended sleep timeout, then change these settings from 2 Minutes to 20 for example.
William says
Hello guys. I had the same issue before. I tried a lot of the ways recommended on the Internet, and it still didn’t work.
Here is what I did to stop it from falling asleep automatically:
1. Go to “Power & Sleep Setting”;
2. Then click “Additional Power Setting”
3. Then go to “Change when to turn off the display” or “Change when the computer sleeps”;
4. Then click “Change advanced power settings”;
5. Then click “Sleep” to open its menu;
6. Then set “Sleep after” to “never”, “Allow hybrid sleep” to “off”, “Hibernate after” to “never”, and “Allow wake timers” to “Disable”.
Done.
Daniel says
NOTHING I have tried has worked. Nothing. Not this fix and not a dozen other fixes that are supposed to fix this problem. I’ve given up. I’m going to Mac. Something I should have done years ago!
Kyle says
Same issue for me. I have these renderings being processed, but when my computer sleeps they pause. They will take hours to complete, but will never be completed if the computer sleeps. These changes did not stop it from sleeping after 5 minutes.
Kimberley says
I’ve tried changing the settings for display and sleep, then shut down and restarted; but it doesn’t work.
Aaron says
My settings are never sleep and never turn off display, and it still sleeps after 5 minutes. If I get up and go to the bathroom, when I come back my laptop is asleep. This started happening right after I upgraded to Windows 10.
Steve says
Still goes to sleep
kurt says
why does my pc shut down in sleep mode