This guide will show you how to Change Sleep settings on Windows that automatically puts the device to sleep after a certain amount of time of inactivity. This saves energy and extends the battery life of laptops. The power option has two settings: one to put the device into a low-power state called “sleep,” which shuts down the system but keeps the content running in memory.
Most of the time, the default settings are the best way for most users to save energy, reduce their carbon footprint, and get longer battery life. But if you’d rather keep the device running longer or don’t want it to go into sleep mode, Windows 11 lets you change the times for the screen and sleep.
This guide will show you how to change the sleep timeout so you can decide when your laptop or desktop computer goes to sleep. We’ll also explain how to turn off the feature that makes the device go to sleep automatically.
Why Change Sleep settings on Windows 11/10?
- Power Management: Adjusting sleep settings allows you to manage power consumption effectively. For example, you can set your computer to go into sleep mode after a certain period of inactivity, helping to conserve energy and extend battery life on laptops.
- Convenience: You can customize sleep settings to align with your usage patterns. If you frequently step away from your computer but want it to remain accessible, you can extend the sleep timer or disable sleep mode entirely.
- Security: By modifying sleep settings, you can configure your computer to lock the screen or require a password when it wakes up from sleep. This adds an extra layer of security, especially if you share your computer or use it in public places.
Steps to Change Sleep settings on Windows 11/10
- Click the Start button, then choose Settings.
- Select System on the left panel, then click Power & Battery on the right.
- Under Display and sleep, you’ll see a variety of options, including how long your PC should wait before going to sleep.
- Select your preferred settings from the dropdown menu.
- If you want your PC to never go to sleep, choose “Never” from the dropdown menu.
FAQs
If you are not happy with the default Sleep Mode Time (5 minutes), you can either Disable Sleep Mode on your computer or change the Sleep Mode Time on your computer to a longer duration.
“Sleep” can sometimes go missing in the Control Panel due to graphics drivers. You can try reinstalling, updating, or rolling back to a version it was working with. The message at the top usually indicates you configured a group policy that affected these settings.
Click the Choose what the power buttons do link from the left panel. Click Change settings that are currently unavailable. In the new window, make sure Sleep is checked under the Shutdown settings section. After clicking Save changes, restart your PC to check if the Sleep option appeared in the Power menu.
There is a hidden setting in the Power Options control panel called System unattended sleep timeout . By default it is set to two minutes and is not visible in the control panel. As far as I know, a registry tweak is required to make it visible. Changing the value back to 1 re-hides the power option.