How to sleep your Windows 10 or 11 PC?. If your computer continues waking up from sleep mode, alter certain settings.
Like dissatisfied toddlers, my two computers won’t sleep. I hit Sleep, wait for the fans to quiet, and am roused at 2 a.m. by my motherboard’s bright lights. Here are some techniques to diagnose the problem and shut down your computer for the night.
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What woke your PC?
When Windows starts up unexpectedly, enter the Start menu, search “cmd,” then right-click Command Prompt and choose Run As Administrator. Enter this command:
lastwake.powercfg
You might get a clear answer. My workstation woke up because my cloud backup programme ran its evening backup. Then you can adjust the program’s settings or uninstall it to fix the issue.
In other circumstances, it may specify a specific hardware device; you can go to the relevant section in this guide or search online for device settings. If that command didn’t work, try this:
waketimers.powercfg
Windows’ Event Viewer has also been helpful. Launch “Event Viewer,” from Start. Click Filter Current Log on the right side of Windows Logs > System. Create Custom View in Windows 11
Choose Power-Troubleshooter from Event Sources and click OK to see when your machine woke up and why. Filtering by Kernel-Power may help, but it rarely includes important data.
Using this information, try the below techniques to stop your computer from randomly waking up From Sleep Mode.
Windows Update/Maintenance
Windows Update is a fickle beast; it’s woken me up before. This problem has several solutions. First, schedule updates and reboots using Windows Update’s built-in capabilities.
Set your Active Hours and defer updates until you have time to apply them. To halt or adjust Windows 10 updates, go to Settings > Update & Security > Windows Update. Settings > Windows Update can pause Windows 11 updates. Advanced settings > Active hours changes active hours.
If your computer is at work, you may not have these alternatives.
Local Group Policy Editor
To access the Group Policy Editor, you’ll need Windows 10 or 11 Pro or Enterprise. If you have a version other than Home, search Start for “Group Policy.”
In Local Group Policy Editor, open Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Windows Components > Windows Update, then disable Windows Update Power Management.
Misbehaving USB device
Windows may say a USB device wakes your computer, but you must find it. It’s probably your mouse or keyboard—maybe your cat thinks it’s a toy while you’re not looking—but it could be anything.
Remove any USB devices before putting your computer to sleep to check whether it wakes up on its own. If not, leave one gadget plugged in when you sleep. Continue until you find the culprit.
Open the Start menu and search for “Device Manager.” after you discover the issue hardware. Right-click your keyboard in the resulting list. Uncheck Allow This Device to Wake the Computer, then click OK.
If your machine still won’t sleep, try deactivating USB waking in the BIOS. (Enter BIOS setup by pressing a key when your computer boots, usually Delete or F2.)
Network adapter restrictions
My sleeping computer woke up thanks to an Intel(R) I211 Gigabit Network Connection. That’s my computer’s Ethernet port, thus network activity is waking it up. Device Manager fixes this.
Open the Start menu, search for “Device Manager,” and find Network Adapters. Right-click and select Properties, then Power Management. Uncheck Allow This Device to Wake the Computer, and you’re set. As mentioned, the BIOS may also have network wakeup settings.
Keep that box ticked and select Only Allow Magic Packet to Wake Computer. This is useful for remote Wake-On-LAN access. It ensures Wake-On-LAN operates without letting any network traffic wake your machine. Checking this box, which isn’t checked by default, solved my problem.
Other Wake Timers
If none of the above work, you may need to check your computer’s wake timers, or programmed events that can wake your computer. Open Start, type “Edit Power Plan,” and click Change Advanced Settings.
Change Battery and Plugged In under Sleep > Allow Wake Timers. Repeat for all your power plans in the top drop-down menu, not just the one you’re using.
This setting affects all wake timings, which may be too aggressive for you (if you have certain wake timers you want turned on). It’s also curiously ineffectual, so even if you want to disable all wake times, modify it anyhow.
So, open PowerShell. Select Windows PowerShell (Windows 10) or Windows Terminal from the Start menu (Windows 11). Then type:
Where $_.settings.waketorun
This could assist you find PC-waking chores. Open the Start menu and search for “Task Scheduler,” then double-click the task to change it. Uncheck Wake Computer to Run This Task under Conditions.
Random wakeups can be difficult to diagnose; you may need to dig deeper. Hope the above options helped.
New programmes, hardware, and Windows upgrades can cause the problem to return in a few months. You can now control this curse.
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