The system uses multiple power states, including sleep, hibernation, and hybrid. When you use any of these features, even though the computer isn’t functioning, it’s still able to wake up automatically to perform scheduled tasks, and peripherals (such as network card, mouse, keyboard, and others) can also switch the power state to fully functional. If your computer keeps waking up at random times, Windows 10 includes the tools to discover the reason for the problem and disable the wake timers per device, task, or globally. This guide will teach you the steps to keep Windows 10 from waking up automatically.
Determine what’s waking up computer on Windows 10 Disable wake timers on Windows 10
Determine what’s waking up computer on Windows 10
To determine if a device or scheduled task is requesting to wake up the computer, use these steps: Once you complete the steps, you’ll understand what’s waking up your computer at night or when you’re not using it.
Disable wake timers on Windows 10
There are at least two solutions to prevent a device from waking up accidentally. You can disable the device or the scheduled task individually. Or you can disable all wake timers on Windows 10. The steps below will explain the instructions to complete both scenarios.
Stop device from waking up computer
If you have determined a device (network card, keyboard, mouse, etc.) is waking up the computer every night, you can disable the power on feature from Device Manager using these steps: Once you complete the steps, the device will no longer wake the computer in the middle of the night.
If you don’t want any device accidentally waking up the computer, repeat the above steps for every device allowed to start the computer.
Stop scheduled tasks from waking up computer
If the problem is a scheduled task, you’ll need to modify or disable the task to prevent the computer from waking up. To stop a scheduled task from requesting to wake up the computer, use these steps: After you complete the steps, the task will no longer wake up the computer.
Disable system scheduled task
If you’re not able to save the changes of the scheduled task as a result of not having enough permissions, you’ll need to use the Microsoft PsExec tool to disable the task using Command Prompt. Once you complete the steps, Windows 10 should no longer wake up your computer. If you found multiple tasks waking up the computer, you may need to repeat the steps to disable those scheduled tasks.
In the command, change PATH\TO\TASK with the path for the scheduled task you determined earlier using the powercfg /waketimers. This example disables the Windows Update Scheduled Start task:
Stop automatic maintenance from waking up computer
Windows 10 includes a feature to perform automatic maintenance, which can cause the computer to wake up automatically. To prevent automatic maintenance from waking up the device, use these steps: After you complete the steps, the computer will no longer wake up to perform automatic maintenance.
Disable all wake timers on Windows 10
If you want to prevent any scheduled task or device from waking up your computer, you can disable all wake timers globally. To disable wake timers on Windows 10, use these steps: Once you complete the steps, the device nor the scheduled task will no longer be able to run when the computer is asleep or hibernating, preventing the computer from waking up automatically.
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