Windows treats your desktop like a laptop by default, and it's been putting your USB devices to sleep

Windows has many built-in features to manage every component without bothering you. But some features can end up troubling you instead of offering a smooth-sailing experience. If you use a Windows PC as I do, you might have noticed something weird with USB devices. The OS might instinctively put them in low-power mode, without informing you, to conserve power.

That's great for a laptop with limited battery life that needs to micromanage everything to save power. But a desktop is very different from a laptop, even with the same OS. I have had serious trouble with a Windows feature that forces the USB devices to sleep. It was quite frustrating, and I fixed it with a few tweaks after clearly examining how it works.

Windows USB selective suspend is the culprit

Managing USB devices' power state

Laptops have degrading battery life that worsens with each charge-and-discharge cycle. So, Windows devs came up with a genius idea: applying sleep mode to all connected USB devices. The core idea is to put idle USB devices into sleep mode, like the ones you aren't using. Each device connected to the laptop draws a tiny amount of power, and multiple devices can shorten the battery life. But if the OS puts them to sleep, you can wake them up when needed.

But why would you need it on a desktop? A laptop is built for portability, while a desktop stays plugged in. It doesn't share the limited battery life weakness of a laptop and can keep all the USB devices powered up. But Windows doesn't turn off the USB selective suspend feature on desktops, even if they don't need it. The consequence is a USB device entering sleep mode that should ideally be awake all the time.

For example, an SSD or HDD connected by a USB enclosure might not be accessed every few minutes. But whenever I want to navigate to it using File Explorer, the USB drive should show up. I don't want to remove and reconnect the cable every time I use it just because its power management or a driver glitched. Doing so damages the USB port way earlier than it should.

Similarly, a USB hub that's been put to sleep impacts not one but multiple devices. I have a keyboard, mouse, and gamepad connected to a USB hub. If Windows puts them to sleep, I lose control over the entire PC. In some cases, I might have to restart the system using the power button because peripherals are still stuck in sleep state.

Disabling USB selective suspend

Taking control

On a desktop, it makes sense to turn off the feature and avoid all the unnecessary commotion altogether. Windows keeps this feature hidden inside the Control Panel’s Power Options page. Here’s how to deactivate it:

1. On the Power Options page, find the current plan and click Change plan settings.
2. Select the Change advanced power settings option.
3. Expand the USB settings section in the new window.
4. Click the USB selective suspend setting option.
5. Select the Disabled option from the list.
6. Click Apply and then OK to save the changes.

After that, Windows won’t force the USB suspend rules, making your USB device available all the time. Changing this one setting can fix problems with USB devices that do not return to normal after the feature puts them in a sleep state. However, this is just one setting that you can rule out if you are experiencing unresponsive USB devices. Windows uses a lot of other power management techniques that can cause a USB device to act finicky.

Device Manager is your next stop

Fast Startup can be a culprit

Even if you disable USB selective suspend, your problems may persist. The OS can implement power-management options for certain USB devices via the Device Manager. You might have already visited and changed an option that prevents your Wi-Fi dongle or a similar network device from entering a low-power state. Similarly, some USB storage devices, keyboards, and mice have a power management feature that can cause problems.

If you open Device Manager and right-click on a Generic USB Hub, a HID Keyboard device, or a few other entries, you’ll notice a pattern. All of them have an “Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power” setting active. This setting can still put your devices to sleep. So you can turn it off for devices that still don’t seem to work properly even after disabling USB selective suspend.

Lastly, I want you to pay attention to Fast Startup, which is a feature I recommend disabling on modern Windows PCs. Fast Startup hibernates the kernel session and drivers, which makes the computer boot faster. It makes sense on a system with a slow hard drive that takes a couple of minutes to boot. But for any PC that uses an SSD, this setting becomes irrelevant. Along with that, it can introduce driver loading issues and glitches.

I detest the feature because it's enabled by default, like the other two settings I mentioned above. Fast Startup uses Hibernation to work, but you don’t need to disable Hibernation along with it. Simply disable Fast Startup via Control Panel or PowerShell, and you’ve now unchecked one more bothersome feature in the OS.

Windows can be overprotective

Some Windows features start out with good intentions, but USB selective suspend doesn’t sit well with most users. It puts the USB devices to sleep, and if they don’t wake up normally, you start fuming. I prefer to keep it disabled, and if the device still misbehaves, check the power management settings in Device Manager. Fast Startup isn’t a major culprit, but saving kernel-mode drivers can impact a USB device. Since Windows enables these settings by default, you must turn them off on a desktop.