How to Stop Your Computer from Sleeping in Windows 11

Select Start > Settings > System > Power & battery. Expand Screen, sleep, & hibernate timeouts and set Make my device sleep after to Never. On a laptop, set it for both Plugged in and On battery.

Applies to: Windows 11.

Turn off sleep in Settings

1. Select Start > Settings > System > Power & battery. On a desktop PC, it’s called Power.
2. Expand Screen, sleep, & hibernate timeouts. On older versions of Windows 11, it’s called Screen and sleep.
3. Under Make my device sleep after, choose Never, or pick a longer time.

The change saves right away. Your screen can still turn off to save power. To keep it on too, change the screen timeout in Windows 11.

Keep a laptop awake with the lid closed

By default, closing a laptop’s lid puts it to sleep. To change that:

1. Select Start, type control panel, and open Control Panel.
2. Select Hardware and Sound > Power Options.
3. On the left, select Choose what closing the lid does.
4. Next to When I close the lid, choose Do nothing for Plugged in, and for On battery if you want.
5. Select Save changes.

Don’t put a laptop in a bag while it’s awake with the lid closed. It can get hot and drain the battery.

Turn off sleep with a command

Open Terminal and run these to stop sleep when plugged in and on battery. The 0 means never:

powercfg /change standby-timeout-ac 0
powercfg /change standby-timeout-dc 0

Use a number of minutes instead of 0 to set a time, such as 60 for an hour.

Keep the PC awake just for now

If you only need the PC awake for a long download or presentation, Microsoft’s free PowerToys app includes Awake. Once it’s on, select its coffee-cup icon by the clock and choose to keep the PC awake indefinitely or for a set time. Your normal sleep settings come back when you turn it off.

Why does my PC still go to sleep?

• Check both times. Laptops have separate sleep times for On battery and Plugged in.
• Check the lid. Closing the lid can still put it to sleep, even with sleep set to Never.
• Low battery. When the battery is almost empty, Windows can still sleep or shut down to protect your work. A PC that powers off instead of sleeping may need you to turn off auto shutdown in Windows 11.

More reasons sleep settings don’t stick

• The screen turns off but the PC is awake. That’s the separate screen timeout, under Turn my screen off after on the same page.
• Your laptop maker’s app overrides Windows. Apps such as Lenovo Vantage or Dell Power Manager have their own power settings. Check them too.
• A work or school PC changes them back. Your organization may set power settings. Ask IT.
• Hibernate kicks in later. Some PCs hibernate after a few hours of sleep. Check Hibernate after in Control Panel’s advanced power settings.

Frequently asked questions

Is it bad to never let my PC sleep?

It uses more power. On a laptop, it drains the battery faster. A long sleep time, such as an hour, is often enough. It’s worth knowing how your battery is holding up, so check battery health in Windows 11 now and then.

Do downloads keep going while the PC sleeps?

No. Sleep pauses downloads and most apps. Set sleep to Never until a big download finishes.

What’s the difference between sleep and hibernate?

Sleep keeps your work in memory and wakes in seconds. Hibernate saves it to the drive and turns the PC off, which uses less power but takes longer to start. If Hibernate isn’t in your Power menu, here’s how to turn on Hibernate in Windows 11.

When you’d rather turn the PC off completely, fully shut down your PC in Windows 11. More on the lid setting is in changing what happens when you close your laptop lid.

Every power option is explained in Power settings in Windows 11.