How do I prevent Windows 11 from waking up my laptop screen intermittently?

Joshua 41 Reputation points
2026-08-25T22:15:55.4233333+00:00

Hello, I recently noticed that my Windows 11 laptop was waking up intermittently at night. It also is doing the same thing when not in use during the daytime. I am uncertain if there are background processes causing this behavior. I had read that it could be related to updates, but it is not only occurring during scheduled update times. Feedback would be appreciated.

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Settings
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  1. Paulo GM 71,075 Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-08-25T23:11:38.86+00:00

    Hi,

    It could be a connected device or a scheduled task that's causing the issue. Have you tried disconnecting your peripherals to see if the problem still occurs? If that doesn't help, you can use the following commands to identify what might be waking your laptop.

    • Open Start, type CMD, then right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
    • Run this command to check which devices are currently allowed to wake your laptop: powercfg /devicequery wake_armed
    • Run this command to see what device or process last woke your laptop: powercfg /lastwake
    • Finally, run this command to check for scheduled tasks or events that are configured to wake your laptop: powercfg /waketimers

    These commands should help you figure out what's causing your laptop to wake up unexpectedly.

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  2. AI answer

    2026-08-25T22:16:26.0433333+00:00

    Try these Windows 11 checks to reduce unexpected screen wakes:

    1. Check whether Presence Sensing is waking the screen
      • Go to Start > Settings > System > Power & battery > Screen and sleep.
      • If available on the device, turn off Automatically wake up my device when I approach.
      • Select More options next to that setting and review related options such as waking while an external display is connected or while Battery Saver is on.
      • If the PC does not show Presence Sensing settings, the device likely does not have that feature exposed.
    2. Adjust normal screen and sleep timers
      • Go to Start > Settings > System > Power & battery > Screen, sleep, & hibernate timeouts.
      • Review Turn my screen off after and Make my device sleep after.
      • Set shorter idle timeouts if the goal is to reduce power use when the laptop is unattended.
    3. Use power-saving settings that reduce background activity
      • In Settings > System > Power & battery, set Power Mode to Best Power Efficiency.
      • Turn on Energy saver and enable Lower screen brightness when using energy saver.
      • These settings help reduce background activity and power consumption.
    4. If the device is on Windows 11 24H2, note a wake-source limitation
      • On some systems, Windows 11 version 24H2 can disable most wake sources if excessive battery drain is detected.
      • In that state, the device wakes from Modern Standby only by pressing the power button or opening the lid.
      • If intermittent wakes are tied to presence sensing, that feature will not function in this restricted mode.
    5. If Presence Sensing is enabled on supported hardware, review hardware-specific conditions
      • On Windows 11 22H2 with the May 2023 update and later, wake on approach can work on systems that support S3 sleep.
      • For USB-connected presence sensors on those systems, USB Wake Support or a similarly named BIOS option must be enabled for proper operation.
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