The computer wakes up on its own at night
My PC turns itself on after I put it to sleep. How do I stop that?
Written by The CommonFixes team · fact checked by CommonFixes review desk
Last updated
Short answer
A scheduled maintenance task, a network wake packet, or a twitchy mouse sends a wake signal. Windows records exactly which one. The quickest thing to try first: find the culprit — Open Command Prompt and run: powercfg -lastwake. Then run powercfg -devicequery wake_armed to list every device allowed to wake the machine. Most people are done in about 8 minutes.
Full walkthrough below: 4 steps for Windows, rated medium.
Sounds like this
- •Machine is awake in the morning
- •Fans start with the screen off
- •Wakes seconds after sleeping
Why it happens
A scheduled maintenance task, a network wake packet, or a twitchy mouse sends a wake signal. Windows records exactly which one.
Work through these in order
0% done- 1
Find the culprit
Open Command Prompt and run: powercfg -lastwake. Then run powercfg -devicequery wake_armed to list every device allowed to wake the machine.
- 2
Stop the mouse and keyboard waking it
In Device Manager open the listed device, Power Management tab, and untick Allow this device to wake the computer.
- 3
Block scheduled wake timers
Control Panel, Power Options, Change plan settings, Change advanced power settings, Sleep, Allow wake timers, set to Disable.
- 4
Turn off automatic restart for updates
Settings, Windows Update, Advanced options, and switch off Restart this device as soon as possible when an update is ready.
If none of that worked
On a desktop, disable Wake on LAN in the BIOS if the machine is on a busy network. Broadcast traffic from a router can wake it every night.
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Who wrote this and how we checked it
The CommonFixes team
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We are a small group of people who spend our days repairing laptops and desktops for family, friends and small offices. Every guide here starts with a problem someone actually brought to us, and we only write down the steps that put the machine right.
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CommonFixes review desk
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This guide was last updated on 10 August 2026. If a step no longer matches what you see on screen, tell us on the contact page and we will test it again.
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