Last Updated on September 2, 2024 by Mathew Diekhake

Sleep mode has been enhanced in Windows 10. Now there isn’t any reason to turn off your computer every time you spend an extended period away from the screen.

Putting your computer in Sleep mode puts the computer’s state in memory, and other parts are turned off as if the computer had been shut down. There may be times when you can hear your computer’s fans click in when your computer is in Sleep mode, but that’s likely because there are tasks running on the background related to Windows 10 that are getting done. When those tasks complete, the computer will be quiet again.

Sleep is beneficial to use over the Shutdown state sometimes because you can start using your computer quicker when you wake it up. That remains true to this day even though computers boot much quicker in Windows 10 with fast startup mode being enabled.

The following tutorial demonstrates all the different ways you can put your computer to sleep when you’re using a version of the Windows 10 operating system.

Method One: How to Sleep Computer from Start Menu

Here is how you can put the computer to sleep from the Power menu:

1. Click on the Start button, click on Power and then click on Sleep from the Power menu.

2. Click on the Start button and then click on the Start hamburger icon at the top of the Start menu and then click on Power and then Sleep from the Power menu.

Method Two: How to Sleep Computer from Power User Menu

Here is how you can put the computer to sleep from the Power User menu:

1. Open the Power User menu.

2. Hover the cursor on the Shut down or sign out link and then click on Sleep.

Method Three: How to Sleep Computer from Alt+F4 Shut Down Windows Dialog

Here is how you can put the computer to sleep from the Alt+F4 shut down Windows screen:

1. Click on the desktop so it is the active window and then press the Alt+F4 keys on your keyboard.

If you don’t make the desktop the active window, the keys you press can make changes to the app or browser window that you have open instead.

Method Four: How to Sleep Computer from Ctrl+Alt+Del Screen

Here is how you can put the computer to sleep from the Ctrl+Alt+Del screen:

1. Press the Ctrl+Alt+Del keys on your keyboard to bring up the Ctrl+Alt+Del screen, and then click on the Power icon in the bottom right corner of the window.

2. From the Power menu, click on the Sleep button.

Method Five: How to Sleep Computer from Sign-in Screen

Here is how you can put the computer to sleep from the sign-in screen:

1. When you have the sign-in screen on the computer, click on the Power icon in the bottom right corner of the screen.

2. From the Power menu, click on the Sleep button.

Method Six: How to Change PC Sleep After in Power Options

Here is how you can put the computer to sleep from the Power Options dialog:

Note: You use this option to change how long the computer waist before it goes to sleep once there has been no user activity.

1. Open the Power Options dialog.

2. From the list of settings, expand Sleep and Sleep after.

3. Use the arrows to choose how long in minutes you want the computer to wait before it goes to sleep. You can also specify zero minutes if you don’t want it to go to sleep at all.

You can now close the Power Options dialog and continue using your computer if you like.

Method Seven: How to Sleep Computer using Power Buttons and Lid

Here is how you can put the computer to sleep with the Power buttons and the laptop’s lid:

1. Open the Power Options dialog.

2. From the list of settings, expand Power buttons and lid.

3. Use the drop-down menu to choose when you want to happen when you close the lid or for the Power and Sleep actions.

You can now close the Power Options dialog and continue using your computer if you like.

Method Eight: How to Change PC Sleep After in Settings

Here is how you can choose how long you want the computer to wait before it puts itself to sleep after you have walked away from the screen:

Note: You use this option to change how long the computer waist before it goes to sleep once there has been no user activity.

1. Open the Settings app.

2. Click on the System icon from the main Windows Settings menu.

3. From System’s left menu, click on Power & Sleep and then in the right side of the same window, choose what you would like to the computer to do when on power and on battery under the Sleep heading.

You can now close the Settings app and continue using your computer if you like.

That’s all.