We put our PC to sleep when we have to leave it for a while and don’t want to shut it down. Shutting down a PC first requires you to save all your work; also, rebooting the PC and reopening all the programs can be time-consuming and annoying.
When we make our PC Sleep instead of shutting it down, we can pick up from where we left off just with a simple touch to our keyboard or mouse. It preserves our session, and we don’t need to worry about saving our open documents or programs. When we touch our keyboard or mouse, all our documents and programs are in the same place.
The keyboard and mouse on our PC are by default set to wake up the computer from sleep mode but not everyone wants this. Imagine you have left your PC in sleep mode and someone moves the USB mouse or keyboard by mistake or intentionally; the computer will wake up, and they can see and access all your documents. These USB keyboards and mice are also very sensitive, and even a slight vibration can move them and wake your computer.
How to Block or Allow Keyboard or Mouse to wake Computer
You can easily disable any USB device and block it from waking your Windows computer. Let’s see how to Block or Allow Keyboard or Mouse to wake the Windows 11/10 computer. You have three options:
- Via Device Manager
- Via Control Panel
- Via CMD.
1] Block or Allow Mouse to wake Computer via Device Manager
To adjust these settings for your mouse from Device Manager:
- Press Win+X on your keyboard and select Device Manager.
- Now go to Mice and other pointing devices and double click.
- Click on Properties and go to Power Management.
- Uncheck the box saying, Allow this device to wake the computer.
This will disable your USB mouse from waking your PC from sleep. You can change the settings anytime and allow it again if you want.
Block or Allow Keyboard to wake Computer via Device Manager
Again you do this using the Device Manager, Control Panel OR CMD.
- Press Win+X and select Device Manager.
- Go to the Keyboards and double click.
- Select your USB keyboard and right-click.
- Click on Properties and go to the Power Management tab.
- Uncheck the box saying, Allow this device to wake the computer.
Read: How to prevent Computer from waking up from Sleep unexpectedly
2] Block or Allow Mouse to wake Computer via Control Panel
If you want to do it via Control Panel:
- Press Win+R to open the Run dialog box and type Control Panel.
- Click on Mouse and then go to the Hardware tab.
- Select your USB mouse here and click on Properties.
Click on Change Settings and then go to Power Management.
Uncheck the box saying, Allow this device to wake the computer.
Read: Computer automatically waking up from Sleep
3] Block or Allow Keyboard or Mouse to wake Computer via Command Prompt
- On the Start search, type CMD.
- Select Run as administrator.
- Enter the command
powercfg -devicequery wake_armedand press Enter - This shows the list of all devices allowed to wake your PC from sleep.
- Now type
powercfg -devicedisablewake <devicename>and hit Enter. - Make sure you enter the exact device name shown in CMD.
- Restart the PC.
You have to follow the same steps mentioned above for Mouse or Keyboard. Just use the correct device name.
Read: Why did my Windows PC wake up automatically?
Should I wake my computer with a keyboard or mouse Windows 11?
It’s your choice, and it won’t make any difference which device you use to wake your computer. Waking a computer with a keyboard or mouse is quick and easy. You simply need to press any key or move your mouse.
How to wake computer from Sleep with Keyboard Windows 11
On most computers, all you need to do to wake the computer from Sleep is press any key a couple of times, and that’s it. If this does not work, open Device Manager > Keyboard > Properties and make sure Allow this device to wake the computer is checked.
Read: Should you Sleep, Hibernate or Shutdown Windows PC at night?
How do I turn my keyboard on to wake my computer?
Go to the Device Manager and open the Keyboard tab. Select the USB keyboard and right-click. Go to Properties, then the Power Management tab. Check the box saying, Allow this device to wake the computer, and you are done.
