My Docking Station/Adapter Works Well With My Windows Laptop, but When I Close the Lid the Displays and Laptop Turn Off or Sleep. How Do I Fix This?

Last Update: March 17th, 2023
Article ID: 720178

Most Windows notebook computers power management settings will default to putting the computer to sleep with the lid closed, regardless of any external displays, keyboard, or mouse connected to the computer. If this is happening but you would prefer the system to remain active with the lid closed utilizing the external display or displays, these settings can be changed by performing the following:

For Windows 10:

  1. Start by right-clicking on the Start button and select Power Options from the menu.
  2. From the right side of the Power Options settings page, select the blue link for Additional power settings

    Windows 10 Power Options

  3. From the choices present on the left-hand side of the Power Options window, please click on Choose what closing the lid does
  4. Make sure the setting for When I close the lid under the Plugged In column is set to Do Nothing

    Windows choose what closing the laptop lid does

  5. Click the Save Changes button and restart the system (making sure that the laptop’s power adapter is also connected) and test the behavior again.

For Windows 11:

  1. Start by right-clicking on the Start button and select Power Options from the menu.

    Windows 11 Start Button Context Menu

  2. In the upper left corner of the settings window, in the search box, type "lid" then select Change what closing the lid does from the search results

    Windows 11 Power Options Search For Lid

  3. Make sure the setting for When I close the lid under the Plugged In column is set to Do Nothing

    Windows 11 Power Options System Settings

  4. Click the Save Changes button to apply the new settings.

Closing the lid should no longer put the computer into sleep mode when an external display and power source is connected, instead one of the external displays should now become the Primary display with the desktop icons instead of the laptop's built-in display.

The lid may still need to be opened to perform the following tasks:

  • To power on the computer from a fully powered off state
  • To log into the computer if logged out or if the computer is restarted with the lid closed
  • To wake the computer from a deep sleep state ( hibernation, or Windows hybrid sleep states )