- Right-click Start
- Select Device Manager
- Expand the Sound, Video and game controllers option
- Right-click on the graphics/video card
- Click Update driver software
- Restart your computer
3. Check the available sleep states
- Click Start
- Type cmd in the search box
- Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator
- Click Yes to confirm
- At the prompt, type powercfg –a
- Press Enter. The available sleep states available will be displayed.
Most users don’t know what to do when the Windows search box goes missing. You can easily get it back by following this guide.
Having trouble accessing Command Prompt as an admin? Take a closer look at this guide.
4. Reset and restore the power plans to default
- Click Start
- Type cmd in the search box
- Right-click Command Prompt and select Run as administrator
- Click Yes to confirm
- At the prompt, type powercfg –restoredefaultschemes and press Enter
This will reset the power plan settings to default. Any customized power plans will be removed, so check if you’re getting the sleep option after resetting the power settings.
Does the power plan keep changing by itself? Don’t worry, we’ve got a dedicated fix guide about that.
5. Make Group Policy changes
- Right-click Start
- Select Run
- Type gpedit.msc
- Click OK
- Type User ConfigurationAdministrative TemplatesStart Menu and Taskbar
- Double click Remove and Prevent access to the Shut Down command
- Select Disabled
- Double click Change Start Menu power button
- Select Enabled
- Choose Shutdown
Most Windows 10 users have no idea how to edit the Group Policy. Learn how you can do it by reading this simple article.
6. Switch the account to a local account and then back to a Microsoft account
- Click Start
- Select Settings
- Click Sign in with a local account instead and follow the instructions to create the local account
- Once you’re signed in through a local account, go to Settings>Accounts>Your email and accounts and sign in with a Microsoft account instead
- Enter your Microsoft account credentials during the setup
If you’re having trouble opening the Setting app, take a look at this article to solve the issue.
Windows won’t let you add a new user account? Follow these easy steps to fix the issue.
7. Rollback the driver
- Select Sound Video and Game controllers and click to expand the list then choose the graphics/video card.
- Right-click the graphics/video card, and then select Properties.
- In Properties, select the Driver tab
- Select Roll Back Driver, then follow the prompts
If the button is unavailable, that means there’s no driver to roll back to.
After the rollback works, you’ll have to prevent Windows from automatically updating the driver in the future. To do that, just follow this step-by-step guide.
8. Uninstall and reinstall the driver
- Select the name of your Display Drivers
- Click Change/Remove or Add/Remove button
- Confirm that you wish to continue with the uninstall
- Once driver files have uninstalled, restart your computer to complete the uninstallation
- Turn on your computer and reinstall the graphics/video card driver
Driver files should be uninstalled before you update to newer drivers, or when removing an older graphics/video card and replacing it with a new one.
You can’t open Control Panel? Take a look at this step-by-step guide to find a solution.
9. Perform a Clean Boot
- Log on as an administrator
- Go to the search box
- Type msconfig
- Select System Configuration
- Find the Services tab
- Select Hide all Microsoft services box
- Close Task manager then click Ok
- Reboot your computer
Performing a clean boot for your computer reduces conflicts related to software that can bring up the root causes of sleep options missing in Windows 10.
These conflicts can be caused by applications and services that start up and run in the background whenever you start Windows normally.
You will have a clean boot environment after all these steps are carefully followed, after which you can try and check if the sleep option is restored.
If you want to know how to add or remove startup apps on Windows 10, check out this simple guide.
Can’t open Task Manager? Don’t worry, we’ve got the right solution for you.
10. Perform a System Restore
- Click Start
- Go to the search field box and type System Restore
- Click Create a restore point in the list of search results
- Enter your administrator account password or grant permissions if prompted to
- In the System Restore dialog box, click Choose a different restore point
- Click Next
- Click a restore point created before you experienced the problem
- Click Next
- Click Finish
Restoring doesn’t affect your personal files. It however removes apps, drivers, and updates installed after the restore point was created.
If you’re interested in more info on how to create a restore point and how would that help you, take a look at this simple article to find out everything you need to know.
Did any of these solutions work? Drop your comment in the section below and let us know your experience.
FAQ: Learn more about sleep mode
- Is sleep mode good for your PC?
Yes. There are several ways on how you can extend power on your PC, and sleep mode is one of them.
- How come when I press the sleep button it shuts down?
This can happen due to a variety of reasons – your computer’s power settings, a BIOS option that is inactive, and others. Check out our guide where we cover more troubleshooting steps when your PC shuts down instead of sleep.
- How do I wake my computer from sleep mode?
Simply moving your mouse or pressing a standard key on the keyboard should do it. Check out our guide if you have any issues and your computer is not waking from sleep mode.
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in January 2018 and was revamped and updated in December 2020 for freshness, accuracy, and comprehensiveness.
This post was written by Milan Stanojevic and was first posted to WindowsReport
