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Microsoft Won't Fix Sleep Mode, Here Is What I Do Instead
My desktop Windows PC is rarely turned off, but when it is, it's hibernating, not sleeping. Similarly, I exclusively use Hibernate, not Sleep mode, on my Windows handhelds. Here's why.
I Find Hibernate Superior to Sleep on Windows
In general, I find Hibernate to be superior to Sleep mode on Windows, both on desktop and portable machines. Not only does Hibernate use less power than Sleep mode, it also works much better on my Windows desktop.
Back in the day, during the Windows XP and Windows 7 eras, Sleep mode was my go-to option. Back then, we all rocked mechanical hard drives, and waking the PC up from Sleep mode was much faster than from hibernation.
Nowadays, however, thanks to SSDs being the de facto boot drive option, most PCs only take a few extra seconds to return to the waking world from hibernation compared to sleep, a difference many people would hardly notice. While I do notice it, I'm okay with my PC taking some extra time to wake up, as I find Sleep mode quite flaky on newer versions of Windows.
In fact, ever since Microsoft introduced the S0 Standby state—also known as Connected Standby or Windows Modern Standby—during the Windows 8 era, Windows users have been reporting a plethora of sleep-related issues.
These issues usually affect Windows laptops, which often end up with their batteries drained after the system wakes up randomly in the dead of the night. But I, too, have encountered a number of issues as a desktop PC user, even though my desktop doesn't even support the infamous S0 Sleep mode.
Despite never having to deal with Windows Modern Standby on my desktop, I did find it powered on in the morning and woke up randomly after being put to sleep. Other sleep-related quirks I’ve experienced include certain programs opened before the PC went to sleep, bugging out or crashing after it woke up, being unable to wake the PC with the keyboard or mouse, severe desktop stuttering after waking, and more.
Disabling background processes that could accidentally wake the PC, disabling the 'Wake Timers' option in the Control Panel, and applying a plethora of other potential remedies didn’t fix the issue. Windows would still decide it was time to wake the PC to install an update and leave it on afterward, even though I’d disabled every option that should have prevented it.
To figure out what was waking my PC, I tried the Command Prompt commands below, but none of them solved the mystery.
powercfg /lastwakepowercfg /requestspowercfg /sleepstudy
After wasting too much time wrestling with Windows Sleep mode, I switched to hibernation and never looked back. While it too entails certain issues (some apps bug out after the PC wakes, no matter whether you put it to sleep or hibernation), I've found hibernation to work much better on my Windows desktop than sleep ever did.
Yes, I have to wait a few extra seconds for the system to power back on, but my PC has never once woken up from hibernation on its own.
I know I could just turn the PC off and be done with it, but I appreciate the fact that the machine wakes up from hibernation faster than it does when cold booted. I also don't have to wait for the startup apps to launch—which takes about a minute or so, even on my fairly beefy desktop with a PCIe 4.0 SSD as the boot drive.
How to Disable the Wake Timers Option in the Control Panel
Before I move on, I'd like to show you how to disable the "Wake Timers" option in the Control Panel, which should prevent Windows from waking your PC. It didn’t work for me, but it might do the trick for you.
What you need to do is open the Control Panel, click the "Hardware and Sound" category, then "Power Options." Next, click the "Change plan settings" menu of your active power plan, and finally click the "Change advanced power settings" option. Once there, locate the "Allow wake timers" toggle (it's in the "Sleep" submenu), expand it, select the "Disable" setting, and click "Apply."
I Use Hibernate on Windows Handhelds After Getting Burned by Windows Modern Standby
I'm not using Sleep mode on my Windows handhelds either. Whereas sleep can be slightly annoying on desktops, putting your portable, battery-powered Windows machine to sleep can make it flat-out unusable.
During the first few months of owning my first Windows handheld, the ASUS ROG Ally, I would put it to sleep because it was the default option, and because ASUS had implemented a few fallback measures that were supposed to prevent Sleep mode from bugging out. They didn't, and I got burned by Windows Modern Standby multiple times.
The first time I found my ROG Ally's battery completely drained was when I wanted to play something on it on a Saturday afternoon. I didn't think this was a huge issue, so I didn't do anything about it. The second incident occurred shortly after. The battery had drained during the day, and I had to connect the Ally to the charger so I could game on it in the evening.
The third time I got burned by Windows Modern Standby, which was the straw that broke the camel's back, happened when I was traveling to my mom's. I was on the bus and wanted to check whether I had downloaded some game to my ROG Ally to play while I was there—pretty sure it was Tunic. I opened the backpack and found the Ally's fans fully ramped up with the device hot as an oven. That did it. I, yet again, switched to Hibernate and never looked back.
I now enable hibernation as soon as I get a new Windows handheld—whether it’s one I’ve purchased or a review sample. I don’t ever want to deal with Windows Modern Standby again, not even during the few weeks I spend testing a device.
It might take my ROG Ally X (I switched my regular ROG Ally to SteamOS in the meantime) a few seconds longer to wake up from hibernation, but its battery doesn't drain, and it won't decide to randomly wake up and turn into an impromptu space heater when in its carrying case.
I also don't have to deal with other sleep-related issues, such as every app I open stuttering after waking the device, the handheld getting stuck on an infinite ASUS ROG boot animation when waking up from sleep, and active apps crashing as soon as I switch to them after waking up the handheld.
Besides, I found that putting Windows handhelds into hibernation with a game paused in the background lets me pick it back up later without issues, with hibernation acting similar to SteamOS Sleep mode. I had tried doing this with Sleep mode, and nine out of ten times the game would simply crash or stutter like crazy after waking up the Ally.
Back in the Windows XP and Windows 7 eras, sleep worked great on Windows. I'd never had issues with sleep back then. However, I wasn't as fortunate on Windows 10 and 11. Somehow, even the regular, old-school S3 sleep doesn't work right on my Windows desktop. Thanks to Windows Modern Standby, I now disable sleep on Windows handhelds too, and I don't plan on changing the habit anytime soon.
It might take longer for my machines to wake up from hibernation, but I'll take hibernation over sleep any day of the week. While it may be slower, hibernation on Windows at least works.