Lid close, power button and sleep button each have a separate action for AC and battery. Set them with powercfg value indexes and read the active scheme back before you trust it.
Read the current values with **powercfg /query SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_BUTTONS**, set them with **/setacvalueindex** and **/setdcvalueindex**, then activate the scheme with **/setactive** — without that last call nothing changes.
**SUB_BUTTONS** holds the lid, power and sleep button settings, and the GUID under each name is what the value commands need. LIDACTION 0 is do nothing, 1 is sleep, 2 is hibernate, 3 is shut down.
powercfg /getactivescheme
powercfg /query SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_BUTTONS
powercfg /query SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_BUTTONS LIDACTION**/setdcvalueindex** is the battery side, **/setacvalueindex** the plugged-in side. Setting only the AC value is the classic mistake that leaves a laptop sleeping on battery.
powercfg /setdcvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_BUTTONS LIDACTION 2
powercfg /setacvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_BUTTONS LIDACTION 1
powercfg /setactive SCHEME_CURRENT
powercfg /query SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_BUTTONS LIDACTION**PBUTTONACTION** follows the same index rules as the lid. A short press that shuts down cleanly is safer than the default sleep on a laptop used as a desktop.
powercfg /setacvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_BUTTONS PBUTTONACTION 3
powercfg /setdcvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_BUTTONS PBUTTONACTION 2
powercfg /setactive SCHEME_CURRENT
powercfg /query SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_BUTTONS PBUTTONACTION**Lid open action** and the modern standby switch in the firmware can ignore the Windows value. **powercfg /a** shows which sleep states the platform actually supports.
powercfg /a
Get-CimInstance -ClassName Win32_ComputerSystem | Select-Object Manufacturer,Model,PCSystemType
powercfg /devicequery lidclose_actionClose the lid on battery, then on AC. **powercfg /lastwake** and the system event log confirm whether the machine slept, hibernated or stayed awake.
powercfg /lastwake
Get-WinEvent -LogName System -MaxEvents 100 | Where-Object { $_.Id -in 42,107,1 } | Select-Object TimeCreated,Id,ProviderName | Format-Table -AutoSize**powercfg /restoredefaultschemes** resets every scheme, which is too broad for one setting. Restoring the two index values you changed is the surgical option.
powercfg /setacvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_BUTTONS LIDACTION 1
powercfg /setdcvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_BUTTONS LIDACTION 1
powercfg /setactive SCHEME_CURRENT
powercfg /query SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_BUTTONS LIDACTIONThe DC value was never set, or a vendor utility reapplied it. Query SUB_BUTTONS and check which of the two current values is 1.
The hibernation file is disabled. Run powercfg /hibernate on and check powercfg /a again.
One entry is the AC value and one is the battery value. Read the Current AC Power Setting Index and Current DC Power Setting Index lines.
That is the display timeout, not the lid action. Set SUB_VIDEO VIDEOIDLE as well, or use do nothing for the lid and let the screen timeout handle it.
Yes. powercfg writes to the active scheme, which is machine-wide, so every account on the laptop gets the same lid behaviour.
Windows 11 hides it for some modern standby devices and for accounts managed by policy. The command line still shows and sets the value.
Set LIDACTION to 0 on both AC and DC. Watch the temperature; a closed lid blocks most of the airflow on thin laptops.
Set LIDACTION and PBUTTONACTION back to 1 on both AC and DC with the same powercfg commands and run powercfg /setactive SCHEME_CURRENT. That restores sleep on lid close and on the power button.
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