Troubleshooting Computer Sleep Mode: Unwanted Wake-Ups

when i click computer on sleep it wakes up

If your computer keeps waking up from sleep mode, there are several troubleshooting steps you can take to fix the problem. This issue could be caused by various factors, such as system settings, hardware configurations, or background processes. To resolve this, you can try adjusting power settings, checking for pending updates, disabling wake timers, or identifying and managing the device causing the wake-up. Let's explore each of these options in more detail to prevent your computer from unexpectedly waking up.

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Troubleshooting a computer that wakes up from sleep mode

If your computer keeps waking up from sleep mode, there are several troubleshooting steps you can take to fix the problem. Here are some methods to try:

Identify the Culprit Device

First, you need to identify which device is causing your computer to wake up. Start by removing all USB devices and putting your computer to sleep to see if it wakes up on its own. If it doesn't, start plugging in one device at a time, and putting the computer to sleep after each device is connected, until you find the offending device.

Disable the Device's Ability to Wake the Computer

Once you've identified the problematic device, open the Start menu, search for "Device Manager," and locate the device in the list. Right-click on it, select "Properties," then open the "Power Management" tab. Here, you'll want to uncheck the "Allow this device to wake the computer" option and click "OK."

Check BIOS Settings

If disabling the individual device doesn't work, you can try entering the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System) and disabling USB waking from there. To enter the BIOS, press a specific key (often Delete or F2) when your computer first boots up. Check the boot screen to see which key you need to press. Once in the BIOS, look for any Wake On... settings and ensure they are not enabled.

Update BIOS and Drivers

Make sure that your BIOS (UEFI) and drivers are all up to date. Check for any available updates for your BIOS firmware, as well as any driver updates for your computer and GPU.

Check Wake Timers

If none of the above solutions work, you may need to dig into the wake timers set on your computer. Open the Start menu, search for "Edit Power Plan," and click on "Change Advanced Settings" in the Edit Plan Settings window. From here, you can adjust the timing of scheduled events that are allowed to wake your machine.

Run PowerShell Command

If you've identified a specific device or issue causing the wake-up, you can try running a PowerShell command to disable that device's ability to wake the computer. Open PowerShell as an Administrator and enter the following command:

> powershell -command "Start-Process powercfg -ArgumentList '-devicedisablewake', '""""' -Verb RunAs"

Replace "" with the name of the device or issue causing the wake-up, such as "PCI Express Root Port."

By following these steps, you should be able to troubleshoot and resolve the issue of your computer waking up from sleep mode.

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Adjusting power settings

If your Windows PC wakes up randomly from sleep mode, there are several power settings you can adjust to fix the problem.

First, you can try to identify which device is causing the issue. To do this, remove all USB devices and put your computer to sleep. If it doesn't wake up, leave one device plugged in and put it to sleep again. Keep doing this until you find the device that's causing the problem. Once you've identified the device, open the Start menu, search for "Device Manager," right-click on the device, select "Properties," then open the "Power Management" tab and uncheck the "Allow this device to wake the computer" option.

You can also adjust your power and sleep settings to select how long you want your device to wait before turning the screen off or going to sleep when you're not using it. To do this, go to Start > Settings > System > Power & Battery > Screen, Sleep, & Hibernate Timeouts. Here, you can adjust the settings for both when your device is plugged in and when it's on battery power.

If your computer still doesn't stay asleep, you can try entering the BIOS and disabling USB waking. To enter the BIOS setup, press a key (usually Delete or F2) when your computer first boots up. You can also dig into the wake timers set on your computer by opening the Start menu, searching for "Edit Power Plan," clicking on "Change Advanced Settings," heading to "Sleep," and changing "Allow Wake Timers" to "Disabled" for both Battery and Plugged In settings.

Additionally, you can prevent scheduled maintenance tasks from waking up your computer by opening the Start menu, searching for "Automatic maintenance," clicking on "Change Automatic Maintenance settings," and unchecking the "Allow scheduled maintenance to wake up my computer" box.

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Disabling wake timers

If your Windows PC keeps waking up from sleep mode, there are a few settings you can tweak to fix the problem. Firstly, you can try disabling the 'Allow schedule maintenance to wake up my computer' option. To do this, open the Start menu, search for "Automatic maintenance", and click on "Change Automatic Maintenance settings". This will open the Control Panel, where you can uncheck the box that allows scheduled maintenance to wake up your computer.

You can also try disabling specific devices from waking up your computer. To do this, open the Start menu, search for "Device Manager", and find the device in question in the resulting list. Right-click on the device, select "Properties", and then the "Power Management" tab. Here, you can uncheck the "Allow this device to wake the computer" option. Repeat this process for any other devices you want to disable.

If your computer is still waking up, you may need to dig into the wake timers set on your computer. These are scheduled events that are allowed to wake your machine. To do this, open the Start menu, search for "Edit Power Plan", and click on "Change Advanced Settings" in the Edit Plan Settings window. Head to "Sleep" and then "Allow Wake Timers", and change "Battery" and "Plugged In" to "Disabled". Repeat this process for all your power plans.

Additionally, you can try running a PowerShell command to weed out all tasks that can potentially wake your PC. Open an Administrative PowerShell command prompt by pressing Start, typing 'PowerShell', and then pressing Ctrl+Shift+Enter. Enter the following command:

Get-ScheduledTask | where {$_.Enabled} | foreach { $_.Settings | Add-Member -MemberType NoteProperty -Name "WakeToRun" -Value $false -Force}

This command will go through all the tasks listed and remove their permission to wake your computer.

By following these steps, you should be able to disable wake timers and prevent your computer from randomly waking up from sleep mode.

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Checking for pending updates

If your Windows PC keeps waking up from sleep mode, there are a few things you can do to diagnose and fix the problem. Firstly, it's important to identify what is causing your computer to wake up. To do this, open the Start menu and search for "cmd". Right-click on the Command Prompt entry and choose "Run As Administrator". Type the following command and press Enter. This should give you a clear answer, for example, a backup program running a scheduled backup.

Another common cause is a connected USB device. To identify the offending device, remove all your USB devices the next time your computer is put to sleep and see if it wakes up on its own. If it doesn't, leave one device plugged in and connect a second device the next time. Keep doing this until you find the device that is causing the issue. Once you've identified the problematic hardware, open the Start menu, search for "Device Manager", find the device in the list, right-click on it, and select "Properties". Then, open the Power Management tab and uncheck the "Allow This Device to Wake the Computer" option.

Additionally, you can check and adjust your power settings to prevent your computer from waking up for updates. On Windows 10, go to Settings > Update & Security > Advanced Options, where you can delay or pause "feature" and "quality" updates. You can also disable wake timers so that nothing wakes your PC, including system updates. To do this, open the Control Panel, select "System and Security", click on "Change When the Computer Sleeps", and then "Change Advanced Power Settings". Expand the "Sleep" setting and disable the wake timers.

If you're using a laptop, you can also disable wake timers while running solely on battery power, which will prevent your laptop from waking up for updates.

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Identifying and disconnecting the offending device

If your computer keeps waking up from sleep mode, you can identify the offending device by following these steps:

  • Open the Start menu and search for "cmd".
  • Right-click on the Command Prompt entry and choose "Run As Administrator".
  • Type the following command and press Enter: powercfg /lastwake.
  • If a specific hardware device is listed, skip to the relevant section in the article or perform a web search for what settings to change on that device.

Alternatively, Windows may tell you that a USB device is waking your computer. To identify the specific device, try the following:

  • Remove all USB devices the next time you put your computer to sleep and see if it wakes up on its own.
  • If it doesn't, leave one device plugged in the next time you put it to sleep.
  • Connect a second device the next night.
  • Keep doing this until you find the offending device.

Once you have identified the offending device, you can disconnect it or disable its ability to wake the computer. To do this:

  • Open the Start menu and search for "Device Manager".
  • Find the device in the resulting list and right-click on it.
  • Select "Properties" and then the "Power Management" tab.
  • Uncheck the "Allow this device to wake the computer" option and click "OK".

If your computer still doesn't stay asleep, you can try entering the BIOS and disabling USB waking from there, if that option is available. You can also try adjusting the power plan settings to change the wake timers on your computer.

Frequently asked questions

This could be due to several factors, such as system settings, hardware configurations, or background processes.

You can adjust your power settings, check for any pending updates, or disable wake timers in your power plan settings. Additionally, ensure that no external devices or network activity are causing the wake-up.

Open an admin command prompt and type "powercfg /lastwake". This will give you the name of a device, which you can then locate and disable in the Device Manager.

You can try entering the BIOS and disabling USB waking or disabling network wake-up options. Alternatively, you can adjust your power and sleep settings to select how long the computer waits before going to sleep.

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