While your Windows laptop manifestly works great while on the go, you tin can make it into a proper workstation at abode besides. By connecting an external keyboard, mouse, and monitor, a laptop can function as a desktop. But at that place's one problem with this: how practise y'all keep the laptop awake when it'due south closed?

By default, Windows puts your laptop to sleep when y'all close the chapeau. This means that even if you lot don't want to use your laptop screen every bit a secondary monitor, you all the same have to go out your laptop open up to go on your reckoner awake.

Or exercise you? Thankfully, you can keep your monitor on when your laptop is closed. Here'south how.

How to Keep the Screen on When Your Laptop Lid Is Closed

Windows provides a uncomplicated toggle to let you proceed your laptop screen on, even when information technology's closed. Find it through the following steps:

  1. In the System Tray (at the lesser-correct corner of the screen), find the Bombardment icon. You may have to click the modest pointer to bear witness all icons. Right-click Bombardment and choose Ability Options.
    1. Alternatively, to open this carte on Windows 10, you tin head to Settings > System > Power & slumber and select Boosted power settings from the right menu. Drag the Settings window to make it wider if you don't see this link.
  2. On the left of the resulting Ability Options Control Panel entry, select Choose what closing the lid does.
  3. You lot'll come across options for the ability and sleep buttons. Under When I shut the lid, change the dropdown box for Plugged in to Do zero.
    1. If you lot like, you can too change the same setting for On battery. Yet, this can cause some issues, as nosotros'll explain below.
  4. Click Save Changes and you're good to go.
enable disable fast startup control panel

Now when you close your laptop screen, your machine will continue to run every bit normal. This means that you can control it with external devices while the laptop itself is neatly tucked away.

However, think that when you want to put your laptop to slumber or shut information technology downwardly, y'all'll need to utilise the commands on the Start Menu (or try shortcuts for sleeping and shutdown) once you've made this change. Some other option is using the concrete power button on your estimator to turn information technology off; you tin can change the behavior for this on the same page mentioned above.

Beware of Heat When Closing a Laptop Without Sleeping

That's all you lot have to do in order to close your laptop without information technology sleeping. All the same, irresolute this selection has a effect that yous should know nigh.

The default shortcut for endmost the lid to put your PC to slumber is convenient when you put your laptop in a purse. Merely if you forget about that after irresolute this option, you could accidentally put your laptop in an enclosed space while it's still turned on.

In addition to wasting battery power, this will generate a lot of heat and can destroy your laptop over time. Thus, you should consider merely changing the lid setting for when your laptop is Plugged in, and always plugging in your laptop when you use it at your desk.

That fashion, you won't forget and put a running laptop in an enclosed infinite without thinking. This is a good combination of convenience and prophylactic.

Easily Continue Your Laptop Awake When It's Closed

As we've seen, it'south easy to alter how your laptop behaves when the screen is closed. Keeping it awake, even with the lid close, allows you to take advantage of your estimator's power even if you aren't using its congenital-in display.

If you ofttimes utilize your laptop in this manner, nosotros recommend getting a laptop dock for more functionality.