My computer gets interrupted from sleep and I don't know why

Question

My computer gets interrupted from sleep and I don't know why

Shawn Hellwege 0

I have a windows 11 computer. I have my computer screen to turn off after 5 minutes and sleep after 15 and hibernate after 30. The trouble is it doesn't do any of those things. After 5 minutes the screen will flick off for a second but then come right back on.

I disabled my keyboard and mouse from waking it up and I looked up lastwake and it doesn't look like it's going to sleep at all.

User's image

Here are the devices in my device manager.

User's image

Someone else suggested I had "Dell Display and Peripheral Manager" installed but I do not.

Any idea how to find what is causing this?

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2 answers

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Answer 1

nobuko c 123.5K Independent Advisor

Hello,

When a PC tries to enter sleep but immediately wakes up again, it usually means something is blocking sleep rather than waking it afterward.

Please check the following:

Check if any app or driver is preventing sleep

Open Command Prompt as Administrator and run:

powercfg /requests

If something is blocking sleep, it will appear here.

Check which devices are allowed to wake the PC

Run:

powercfg /devicequery wake_armed

If any devices are listed, open Device Manager → Properties → Power Management, and disable “Allow this device to wake the computer”.

Disable wake timers

Open the Control Panel from the taskbar search box, then follow:

Control Panel → Hardware and Sound → Power Options

→ Change plan settings → Change advanced power settings

→ Sleep → Allow wake timers → Disable

Try a clean boot

How to perform a clean boot in Windows

Some background apps (RGB tools, game launchers, remote access tools, USB devices) can prevent sleep.

Perform a clean boot and check if sleep works.

Shawn Hellwege 0 Reputation points

2026-03-22T02:46:17.2333333+00:00

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond

I ran that command and this is what came back.

Could that Legacy Kernel Caller be an issue?

The powercfg /devicequery wake_armed was the first thing I checked and it had the mouse and keyboard, I disabled both. When I run that command it just says "none".

Allow wake timers was set to Important wake timers only, I changed it to disable and clicked apply.

I'll test those first and then try the clean boot. To confirm, going to services and clicking disable all would just do it for this boot right? Once I restart it that will all go back to normal? I think the answer for me will be in step 4 of that link by disabling startup services. I just wish there was some command that could just tell me which service is interrupting sleep.
nobuko c 123.5K Reputation points Independent Advisor

2026-03-22T16:33:59.65+00:00
Thanks for the screenshot — that helps a lot.

About “Legacy Kernel Caller”:

This entry often appears when Windows cannot identify the exact driver or service that requested a performance boost.

It does not necessarily mean that the kernel itself is the problem, and it is very common to see it when the real cause is a third‑party background service.

The fact that DISPLAY, SYSTEM, EXECUTION, and AWAYMODE are all “None” means no application is directly blocking sleep.

At this point, the most likely cause is a background service briefly waking the system, which is why the screen turns off for a moment and then comes back.

Regarding the clean boot: Clicking “Disable all” in the Services tab is not temporary.

Those services stay disabled until you manually re‑enable them.

The correct clean‑boot method is:

Open msconfig

Go to the Services tab

Check “Hide all Microsoft services”

Click “Disable all”

Restart

This disables only third‑party services, which are the most common cause of sleep interruptions.

Unfortunately, Windows does not have a command that directly tells you “which service interrupted sleep”, so clean boot is the most reliable way to narrow it down.

Please try the clean boot and let us know if the behavior changes.

Answer 2

On Windows 11 this behavior is usually caused either by power settings that never actually let the system enter sleep, or by devices that are not allowed to wake or control the display correctly.

Use these checks and adjustments:

Verify screen/sleep/hibernate timeouts
1. Select Start > Settings > System > Power & battery > Screen, sleep, & hibernate timeouts.
2. Confirm that:
  - Turn my screen off after is set to 5 minutes (on battery and/or plugged in as desired).
  - Make my device sleep after is set to 15 minutes.
  - Hibernate timeout is set to 30 minutes.
3. If these are already correct, temporarily set very short values (e.g., 1 minute for screen, 2 minutes for sleep) to test whether the system ever transitions. If it still only blinks the display and comes back, the system is not entering sleep.
Check which devices are allowed to wake the PC Even if keyboard and mouse are disabled for wake, other devices (USB, Bluetooth, network, etc.) may still be armed for wake and immediately bring the system back. For each input device that might wake the system (keyboards, mice, touchpads, Bluetooth dongles):
1. Open Control Panel > Keyboard.
2. Go to the Hardware tab, select the keyboard device, and click Properties.
3. Click Change settings (requires administrator rights).
4. Open the Power Management tab and clear Allow this device to wake the computer, or at least verify it is configured as intended.
5. Repeat for mouse or other pointing devices.
If the system does not support ACPI properly, these options may not appear and waking may only be possible via the power button.
Consider Modern Standby behavior Many Windows 11 systems use Modern Standby instead of classic S3 sleep. In this mode the PC behaves more like a phone: the SoC stays on in a low‑power state and various devices can wake it.
- Integrated, USB, and Bluetooth keyboards and mice, touchpads, touch screens, and fingerprint readers can all be configured to wake the SoC and may turn the display back on, especially on AC power.
- On some systems, keyboard/mouse wake can be disabled by the platform to save battery, but on others they remain active.
If the device is in Modern Standby, the brief screen blink may be the system attempting to enter a low‑power state and then immediately waking due to one of these wake sources.
Test with lid closed or external display On clamshell devices, Windows 11 can suppress input when the lid is closed. If using an external monitor, test with the internal lid closed and only the external display active to see whether the wake behavior changes. This can help identify if touch or keyboard input from the built‑in hardware is causing the wake.
If wake source is still unclear
- Ensure ACPI support and power features are correctly configured in BIOS/UEFI. Some firmware options can disable or reduce power to ports used for keyboard/mouse, which changes wake behavior.
- If the system cannot resume properly using keyboard/mouse and only the power button works, or if it never stays in sleep, consult the system or motherboard documentation or the manufacturer’s support to confirm supported sleep states and wake sources.

Once the timeouts are confirmed and unnecessary wake permissions are removed from devices, the system should remain in sleep/hibernate instead of immediately turning the display back on.

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My computer gets interrupted from sleep and I don't know why

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