- If your laptop goes into sleep mode while playing games, there’s probably a problem with your battery or CPU.
- Your laptop’s CPU can get too hot while gaming, forcing it to shut down.
- You should also make sure that your laptop does not go into sleep mode automatically after a certain amount of time.
When you close the lid of your laptop or leave it alone long enough, it usually goes into “sleep” mode. You can’t use the computer in sleep mode, but it does save power.
Your laptop should never go into hibernation while you’re using it, especially when you’re playing a game. But if so, there are usually a few likely reasons why – although not all of them are easy to fix.
Here are six common reasons why your laptop goes into sleep mode unexpectedly and how to fix them.
Your power management is not set up correctly
Windows gives you many ways to adjust how much power your laptop uses and how long it takes for the screen to turn off. Both factors can be the reason your laptop stays in sleep mode.
On Windows 10
First, right-click on the battery icon in the lower right corner of your screen, then select Power management. This will open the menu that allows you to choose your laptop’s current power plan. The exact plans your laptop offers will depend on the make and model you’re using.
If you’re going to play games, make sure you’re using the most powerful power plan. This consumes more battery power, but allows your system to run more efficiently.
But whichever plan you choose, go ahead and click the Change subscription settings option next to it. In the menu that opens, you can change how long it takes your laptop to go to sleep.
Change the time limits so that your computer does not go to sleep.
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Normally, these time limits shouldn’t be an issue when gaming – again, your computer should never go to sleep while you’re using it – but just to be safe, it’s a good idea to make the time limits longer.
Then go back to the Power Options menu and click Choose what the power buttons do in the top left corner. This allows you to choose exactly what happens if you ever press your laptop’s power button, the sleep button (if any), and when you close the lid. Make sure none of them are set to sleep.
You should also click on the option at the top that says: Change settings that are currently unavailableand then uncheck the box Sleep mode choice. This prevents your laptop from going into hibernation.
Disable the “Hibernate” option.
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If you want to go right furtheryou can completely disable system-level hibernation by opening the Command Prompt app and “powercfg.exe /sleep off.”
On Windows 11
Windows 11 has fewer power options than Windows 10, but it still has some settings to adjust.
First, right click on the battery icon in the lower right corner of your screen and select Power and Sleep Settings.
In the menu that opens, use the drop-down menu next to Power mode:and choose the Best performance choice. This ensures that your computer works as well as possible.
Then click on the Screen and Sleep choice. Change the time limits so your laptop doesn’t fall asleep too early.
Your laptop’s battery is too worn out
Whether your laptop costs $100 or $1000, no laptop battery lasts forever. As time goes by, your battery gradually loses its ability to hold a charge. As a result, charging takes longer and the laptop dies faster.
In fact, if it gets too worn out, your battery can reach a point where it drains faster than it can charge, especially if you’re running programs that put a lot of strain on the system, such as most modern video games. So even if your laptop is plugged in, it will eventually reach a critical battery level and go into sleep mode.
There are not many ways to fix this other than replacing the battery altogether. And depending on what kind of laptop you have, that might not even be an option; not all laptops offer replaceable parts. Please contact your laptop manufacturer for full details.
It’s not a long-term solution, and it comes with some risks, but you can get a little more life out of your battery by disabling the critical battery thresholds.
Normally, your laptop will go into sleep mode before the battery is completely drained so that you don’t lose any data. Disabling these thresholds removes that safety, so the computer stays on until it’s completely drained. This will give you a little more playing time, but you run the risk of losing unsaved progress when your computer is turned off.
To do this, search your PC for: Edit power plan. In the menu that opens, click Change advanced power settings.
In the Advanced settings menu, fold the . from Battery option at the very bottom, then fold the . from Critical battery level choice. Set both percentages on 0%.
If you set the percentages to zero, your computer will continue to run until the battery runs out.
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Your CPU is getting too hot
This is one of the most likely culprits, especially if your laptop is older or if the fans are stunted.
When you play video games on your laptop, the CPU (and GPU) starts to heat up. This is why your computer has internal fans: to push the hot air out and keep the internal components cool.
But laptop fans are not very powerful and it is easy to block the vents. This means that while gaming, your laptop’s CPU gets hotter than a normal PC’s.
And if your CPU gets too hot, it will force your computer to go into sleep mode to protect itself from harm.
The only way to stop this – other than playing games that don’t consume as many resources – is to keep your computer as cool as possible.
While playing, hold your laptop high with the bottom exposed. This is where most of the vents are, and they need open space to work. Consider buying a laptop stand without a bottom or with additional fans.
If possible, occasionally take the time to open the bottom half of your laptop and remove any dust or debris inside. These make the internal components hotter and can clog the fans and vents. You may need to take the laptop to a repair shop for this.
That same repair shop can also replace your CPU’s thermal paste, the thick gel that helps your CPU disperse heat. It usually dries up after a few years, making it easier for the CPU to reach dangerous temperatures.
And even if your CPU’s temperature isn’t the issue, it’s always worth installing a program that can measure your computer’s heat.
Your drivers are not working properly
Many of your computer’s most important processes are controlled by drivers. These are pieces of software that tell certain programs or hardware components how to work.
Like all software, drivers need updates from time to time. If your drivers go without updates for too long — or if some get updates and others stay out of date — you’re likely to run into problems. And one of these problems could be that your laptop unexpectedly hibernates while you are trying to game.
If Hibernation only activates while playing games, that’s a sign that your display drivers – the drivers that control your graphics card – are having problems.
Different drivers update in different ways, but you can manage most of them through your PC’s Device Manager. If your PC has an NVIDIA graphics card, you may also need a separate app.
Keep your drivers up to date for best performance.
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If all else fails, reinstalling Windows is an easy — but usually not quick — way to clear corrupted data.
The game you are playing has a malfunction
This isn’t very likely, but there’s a chance the game you’re trying to play is so glitched that it’s messing with your computer’s power settings. This can sometimes happen after you install buggy mods, or mods that conflict with each other.
Does random sleep only activate when playing a specific game? If so, that game is probably the culprit. Try changing the settings somehow to avoid hibernation crashing, or uninstall the game and walk away.
maybe you have a virus
If we had written this article 15 years ago, this would be one of the most likely scenarios. Nowadays, with built-in antivirus software that is better than ever before, it is much rarer.
But computer viruses are still a threat and can still wreak havoc on your system. When it spreads, it is not difficult for a virus to randomly force your computer into sleep mode.
Every PC comes with Microsoft Defender pre-installed. Make sure it is enabled and that you run virus scans regularly. Despite being free, Defender is one of the best antivirus programs out there, so it should be able to catch and remove any virus hiding in your system.
If you think you have a virus, run a scan.
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