Are you unable to make your Windows 11 PC sleep or does your PC wake up unexpectedly? Fret not! This is an age-old issue that has troubled Windows for years and continues to haunt it. However, there are some viable tips and tricks to fix the Windows 11 sleep mode not working issue. And that’s precisely what this guide is going to walk you through. Keep reading to…
Best Tips to Fix Windows 11 Sleep Mode Not Working
So, what has broken the sleep mode on your PC? There are many reasons why this issue crops up including –
- Misconfigured settings
- Driver conflicts
- Wake timers
- Fast startup
- Peripheral devices
- Background apps
- Hybrid sleep
- Network activity
- Scheduled tasks
- BIOS settings
More often than not, you can resolve the sleep mode issues on your Windows device by taking control of the abovementioned culprits.
1. Check Sleep Settings
Ensure that the sleep mode is not disabled or set incorrectly on your PC.
- To do so, open Settings (Win + I) on your device.
- Now, navigate to System > Power & battery > Screen and sleep.
- After that, make sure to set the correct sleep timers under On battery power, put my device to sleep after, and When plugged in, put my device to sleep after.
2. Restart Your PC
A simple restart is endowed with the incredible ability to flush out the temporary glitches that may be preventing sleep mode from functioning properly.
- Click the Start menu on your PC and head over to Power > Restart.
- Once the PC has restarted, check if sleep mode has started to work.
3. Disable Wake Timers
Bear in mind that the scheduled wake timers have a long history of interfering with the sleep mode. Therefore, try disabling the wake timers on your Windows PC.
- To get going, launch Control Panel (Win + R, type control, and press Enter).
- Navigate to Power Options > Change plan settings (for the active plan).
- After that, you need to choose Change advanced power settings.
- Then, expand Sleep > Allow wake timers and set it to Disabled for both battery and plugged-in mode.
- Then, click Apply and choose OK.
4. Run the Power Troubleshooter
Windows comes with a robust troubleshooter designed to detect and resolve power-related issues. We are going to count on this very built-in troubleshooter to get rid of the problem.
- Open Settings (Win + I) on your computer and head to System > Troubleshoot > Other troubleshooters.
- Find Power and hit the Run button.
- Go through the on-screen instructions to fix the suggested issues.

5. Update Windows
Your outdated system may be plagued by bugs preventing sleep mode from working properly.
- Open Settings (Win + I) > Windows Update and click Check for updates.
- Then, make sure to install any pending updates and restart your PC.

6. Disable Fast Startup
Fast startup could cause conflict, disallowing your PC from entering sleep mode correctly.
- Open Control Panel (Win + R, type control, and press Enter).
- Head into Power Options > Choose what the power buttons do.
- Click Change settings that are currently unavailable and then uncheck Turn on fast startup.
- Be sure to Save changes in the end.
7. Check for Peripheral Devices
External devices such as USB drives, printers, or controllers might come in the way of the sleep mode.
- To get going, unplug all external devices.
- Now, find out if sleep mode works.
- If the issue has been sorted out, reconnect devices one by one to identify the problematic one.
8. Adjust Power Plan Settings
Ill-configured power settings can interfere with sleep mode.
- Open Control Panel > Power Options > Change plan settings next to the active plan.
- Select Change advanced power settings.
- Expand PCI Express > Link State Power Management, and set it to Maximum power savings.
- Select Apply and hit OK.
9. Prevent Devices from Waking the PC
It’s worth pointing out that some devices, like the keyboard or network adapter, can wake your PC unexpectedly.
- Open Device Manager (Win + X > Device Manager) on your Windows 11 device.
- Expand Mice and other pointing devices, Keyboards, and Network adapters.
- Right-click each device > Navigate to Properties > Power Management.
- Uncheck Allow this device to wake the computer and hit OK to confirm the action.

10. Identify What’s Waking Up the PC
Find out which device or process is causing the PC to wake from sleep.
- Fire up, Command Prompt (Admin) (Win + X > Terminal (Admin)).
- Run the command: powercfg /lastwake
- Identify the device or process listed and then turn off wake permissions for that device via Device Manager.
11. Check for Scheduled Tasks
Note that certain scheduled tasks might also be waking up your device.
- Launch the Task Scheduler (Win + R).
- Input the taskschd.msc, and press Enter.
- Navigate to Task Scheduler Library > Microsoft > Windows.
- Look for tasks with Wake the computer to run this task enabled.
- Right-click the task, select Properties, and uncheck Wake the computer to run this task.
- Finally, click OK.
12. Disable Hybrid Sleep
Hybrid sleep has a long history of interfering with the normal sleep mode. Thus, altogether disable it.
- Open Control Panel > Power Options > Change advanced power settings.
- Expand Sleep > Allow hybrid sleep, and set it to Off.
- Click Apply and OK.
13. Update Drivers
Corrupted drivers, especially for the GPU, chipset, or network adapter, might be hurting the functionality of the sleep mode. Thus, updating the outdated drivers will likely troubleshoot the issue.
- Open the Device Manager on your PC (Win + X > Device Manager).
- Expand Display adapters, Network adapters section and choose System devices.
- Right-click each driver and select Update driver.
- Choose Search automatically for drivers and follow the prompts to complete the updating process.
- Once your drivers have been updated, restart the computer.

14. Reset the Power Plan to Default
If the power settings have been misconfigured or corrupted, resetting the power plan to default can work in fixing the issue.
- Open Command Prompt (Admin) (Win + X > Terminal (Admin)).
- Run the command:
- powercfg -restoredefaultschemes
- Restart your PC.
15. Perform a Clean Boot
Should the problem continue, perform a clean boot as a background app or service might be blocking the path of sleep mode. For those unfamiliar, a clean boot starts Windows with indispensable Microsoft services and turns off all third-party apps and startup programs. As a result, it’s able to diagnose and troubleshoot software conflicts that may cause system issues like crashes, slow performance, or sleep mode failures.
- Launch Run (Win + R), type msconfig, and press Enter.
- Navigate to the Services tab, check Hide all Microsoft services, and click Disable all.
- Open Task Manager (Ctrl + Shift + Esc) and go to the Startup tab.
- Disable unnecessary startup programs.
- Restart your PC and check if sleep mode works.

Wrapping up…
There you have it! I hope your PC’s sleep mode has returned to its normal state. Now, make sure to shoot your feedback and the solutions that have brought this essential mode back to life. If there are any other handy tips that work in getting rid of the problem, be sure to share them via the comments section below.