Why Doesn't My Laptop Sleep When I Close The Lid?

One common reason your laptop ignores lid-close sleep is a power setting or external gear keeping it awake—tweak those and sleep comes back fast.

Why It Happens: The Main Culprits

Lid-closed sleep sounds simple. In reality, several small things can keep a notebook awake. Here’s a quick map of what usually goes wrong.

Table: Common Causes, Symptoms, And Where To Check

Cause	Symptom	Where To Check
Power plan set to “Do nothing” on lid close	Lid closes, fans keep spinning, display off but system stays on	Windows: Control Panel > Power Options > “Choose what closing the lid does” \| macOS: Battery settings \| Linux: desktop power settings
Wake timers or scheduled tasks	Device wakes right after sleeping or refuses to enter sleep	Windows advanced power settings “Allow wake timers” \| Task Scheduler
External monitor + clamshell mode rules	Closes lid yet keeps running to drive the external screen	macOS closed-display mode; Windows set to “Do nothing” when plugged in
USB devices that can wake the machine	Mouse bump, dongle, or receiver wakes the system instantly	Device properties set to “Allow this device to wake”
Network wake features	Laptop wakes for network access or updates	Windows “Wake on LAN” or “Network connectivity during sleep”; macOS “Wake for network access”
Apps holding the system awake	Media players, meetings, VMs, or downloads block sleep	Windows “powercfg /requests”; macOS “pmset -g assertions”
Outdated drivers or firmware	Sleep is flaky, screen returns black, or fans spike	Update chipset/graphics/BIOS-UEFI
Sensor or lid-switch quirks	Sleep triggers only sometimes, or never	Hardware service menu, vendor diagnostics

Laptop Not Sleeping When Lid Is Closed? Fixes That Work

Work through these items from quick checks to deeper tweaks. You’ll pin down the blocker fast.

Quick Checks First

Unplug non-essential USB gear and try again.
Disconnect the external display and test with the lid.
Save work and reboot once—fresh sessions clear stuck blockers.
Update Windows/macOS/Linux and graphics drivers.

Then test lid sleep again, twice.

Windows: Set Lid Behavior And Remove Sleep Blockers

Set What Closing The Lid Does

Open Control Panel > Hardware and Sound > Power Options > “Choose what closing the lid does”. Set “When I close the lid” to Sleep for both On battery and Plugged in, then Save changes. (Official steps from Microsoft’s “Shut down, sleep, or hibernate your PC”.)
Stop Apps And Tasks From Keeping It Awake
- Press Win+X, choose Windows Terminal (Admin), then run: powercfg /requests. If you see a process listed, close it or quit the app.
- Check scheduled tasks: in Task Scheduler, look for jobs set to “Wake the computer to run this task”. Disable or reschedule as needed.
- In Advanced power settings (Power Options > Change plan settings > Change advanced power settings), expand Sleep and set “Allow wake timers” to “Disable” or “Important wake timers only”. Reboot once more, then test.
Tame Devices That Wake The System
- In Device Manager, open your mouse, keyboard, network adapter, and any dongles. On the Power Management tab, uncheck “Allow this device to wake the computer” for anything that shouldn’t wake it.
- For Ethernet, you can also turn off Wake on Magic Packet if you don’t need it.
External Displays And Docks

If you want the laptop to sleep when you close the lid while docked, make sure the lid action isn’t set to “Do nothing”. If you intend to run with the lid closed and an external monitor active, set Plugged in > “Do nothing” and keep the machine on AC power to avoid battery drain.
Still Flaky? Try Hibernate For Lid-Close On Battery

Hibernate saves your session to disk and uses no power. In “Choose what closing the lid does”, pick Hibernate for On battery. Keep Sleep for Plugged in so desk use stays instant-on.

Windows tip: if Sleep is missing from menus, enable hibernation with powercfg /hibernate on, reopen the Control Panel page, and check again. If your laptop shipped with a vendor power app, align its lid and sleep settings with the Windows choices so they don’t fight each other.

macOS: Why Closing The Lid Doesn’t Always Sleep

Mac notebooks follow clear rules:

With no external display attached, closing the lid sleeps the Mac.
With a power adapter, an external display, and an external keyboard/mouse, your Mac stays awake in closed-display (clamshell) mode so the desk setup keeps running.

What To Check

Battery settings: Go to System Settings > Battery > Options. Turn off “Prevent automatic sleeping on power adapter when the display is off” if you want lid-close to sleep on AC as well. Toggle “Wake for network access” to Never if network wake is bringing it back.
External display behavior: When running clamshell, sleep won’t trigger from the lid. To force sleep, disconnect the display or press Control+Power and choose Sleep. To use the Mac closed by design, keep the power adapter and external input devices connected.
Apps that keep the Mac awake: Open Terminal and run: pmset -g assertions. Anything claiming “PreventSystemSleep” is your culprit—quit it or change its settings. Utilities like meeting tools or media apps often set these assertions.

macOS tip: if clamshell stops working after an update, unplug the display, wait a few seconds, reconnect it, then close the lid. Use a powered adapter and keep an external keyboard or mouse attached so wake works reliably.

Linux: Desktop And logind Settings

Most desktops offer a “When the lid is closed” option under Power. Underneath, systemd-logind handles the lid switch per /etc/systemd/logind.conf.

To suspend on lid close, set HandleLidSwitch=suspend.
If your desktop overrides it, set LidSwitchIgnoreInhibited=no so logind wins.

After edits, run sudo systemctl restart systemd-logind (save work first).

Find What’s Waking The Laptop

Windows

See the last wake source: powercfg -lastwake
Show devices that can wake: powercfg -devicequery wake_armed
Audit wake events: Event Viewer > Windows Logs > System, filter for Power-Troubleshooter

macOS

Check recent sleep/wake: pmset -g log | grep -i "sleep\|wake"
See current blockers again: pmset -g assertions

Linux

Review journal entries: journalctl --since "2 hours ago" | grep -i lid

Extra detail for Windows: on low-power standby hardware, run powercfg /sleepstudy from an elevated prompt to generate a battery report. Open the HTML file to spot which drivers or apps kept the system active during recent sessions.

Linux note: many desktops, including GNOME and KDE, offer separate lid rules for battery and AC. Test both profiles in the desktop settings first; only edit logind.conf if the desktop tools can’t achieve the result you want.

Make External Displays Play Nice

Windows: if your external screen stays on with the lid closed, your lid action is set to “Do nothing”. Change it to Sleep. If you want clamshell-style use, keep “Do nothing” for Plugged in and avoid On battery.
macOS: closed-display mode is expected when power, display, and external input are present. If you prefer sleep, unplug the display or disable the setting that prevents automatic sleeping on AC power.

Fix Driver, Firmware, And Dock Issues

Update graphics and chipset drivers from your laptop vendor.
Apply BIOS/UEFI updates that mention sleep, suspend, or lid. Vendors fix lid-sensor bugs and resume glitches in these releases.
If a dock or hub is involved, update its firmware too. Try a direct cable to rule out the dock.

Advanced Windows Tweaks (Use With Care)

Disable Fast Startup (Control Panel > Power Options > “Choose what the power buttons do” > uncheck “Turn on fast startup”). Some systems resume oddly from hybrid shutdown and fight sleep.
Network connectivity during sleep: in Settings > System > Power & battery > set how Windows handles networking in sleep. Turning it off reduces surprise wakes for updates or syncs.

Table: Quick Paths And Commands By Platform

Platform	Path Or Command	What It Does
Windows	Control Panel > Power Options > Choose what closing the lid does	Sets lid close action for battery and AC
Windows	`powercfg /requests` \| `powercfg -lastwake`	Finds blockers and the last wake source
macOS	System Settings > Battery > Options	Toggles “Prevent automatic sleeping…” and “Wake for network access”
macOS	`pmset -g assertions` \| `pmset -g log`	Shows current blockers and recent sleep/wake
Linux	`/etc/systemd/logind.conf` (HandleLidSwitch=…)	Controls lid action; restart logind after editing
Linux	`journalctl --since "2 hours ago" \| grep -i lid`	Lists recent lid events

What About Low-Power Standby Laptops

Some Windows models use low-power standby rather than classic sleep. The lid option still sits in Control Panel, yet networking may keep working in the background. If you see instant wake, disable wake timers and turn off network connectivity during sleep. Check any vendor power tool as it can override Windows.

When To Suspect Hardware

If software changes don’t help, watch for signs like a display that blanks at certain hinge angles, or a backlight flicker as you move the lid. That hints at a Hall sensor or magnet issue. Run your vendor’s diagnostics and schedule repair if the test flags the lid sensor.

Three Sensible Presets

On battery: Lid close → Hibernate for zero drain.
On AC, no monitor: Lid close → Sleep for fast resume.
On AC with a monitor: Lid close → Do nothing by design, and use an external keyboard shortcut to sleep when you finish.

A Short Troubleshooting Flow

Reboot and retest with no USB gear or docks.
Set lid action for both power states.
Kill blockers, disable wake timers, and test.
Turn off device wake for mice, dongles, and NICs.
Try hibernate on battery.
Update BIOS/UEFI and graphics; test the dock.
If nothing changes, run lid-sensor diagnostics.