Easily Put a Windows 11 PC to Sleep

 

Use the Start Menu

One of the easiest ways to put your PC to sleep is by using the Start menu. First, click the Start button in your taskbar. When the Start menu opens, click the power icon in the lower-right corner. In the small menu that pops up, choose “Sleep.” Your PC will go to sleep immediately.

Use a Dedicated Sleep Key or Button

Benj Edwards

Many Windows 11 PCs and tablets include a dedicated sleep button or a key on the keyboard that can initiate sleep mode. To use it, look for a button or key with a sleep-related icon, such as a crescent moon logo, the world “sleep,” or several small “Z” letters. Press it, and your PC will go to sleep.

Use the Power User Menu

You can also use the power user menu in Windows 11 to put your computer to sleep. Right-click the Start button, and in the menu that appears, select “Shut Down or Sign Out,” then “Sleep.” Sleep will come instantly to your tired PC.

You can also press Windows+X to open the menu rather than right-clicking the Start button.

Use the Command Prompt

Like many tasks, you can also initiate sleep from the command line in Windows 11. To do so, first open the Start menu and type “command.” Right-click the Command Prompt icon and select “Run as Administrator.”

When the Command Prompt opens, you’ll need to run a command to disable hibernation mode (the first time you attempt to sleep from the Command Prompt) for the sleep command to work.

powercfg -h off

If you don’t run the powercfg -h off command, the following command will put your PC into hibernate mode instead of sleep mode. But if you do run it—and you only need to run it once—any time you want to sleep from the command line, type this and hit enter:

rundll32.exe powrprof.dll, SetSuspendState Sleep

As soon as you hit Enter, your PC will fall asleep. Pretty cool!

Use the Sign-in or Ctrl+Alt+Delete Screen

As with shut down and restart tasks, you can also initiate sleep mode from the sign-in screen or the Ctrl+Alt+Delete screen in Windows 11. To do so, click the power icon in the lower right corner of the screen and select “Sleep” the menu that appears. Your PC will fall asleep instantly.

Use a Timer in Settings

You can also make your Windows 11 PC automatically fall asleep after a certain period of time. To do so press Windows+i to open the Settings app, then select System > Power & Battery. In the “Screen and Sleep” section, click the drop-down menu beside “On battery power, put my device to sleep after” or “When plugged in, put my device to sleep after” and select a time period, such as “15 minutes.” If your PC stays idle for the time period you set, it will enter sleep mode. Pleasant dreams!