How to Enable Energy Efficient Ethernet in Windows 11

Option 1Use Device Manager

You can enable energy efficient ethernet through Device Manager by finding your network adapter properties and changing the power saving settings. This built-in Windows tool gives you direct access to your hardware settings, so you can turn on power-saving features for your wired internet connection without installing 💿 extra software. The same steps work on Windows 11 Home and Pro.

Use it to locate your network adapter and adjust the EEE setting. Expect your connection to drop for a second or two when you save the change. That is normal, because the adapter resets itself.

1. Open Device Manager. Search for it in the Windows search bar, or right-click the Start button ⊞ and pick it from the list. The Device Manager window opens with a list of hardware categories.
2. Find and expand the Network adapters section. You will see every network adapter in the PC, including Wi-Fi 📶, Bluetooth 🔷 and virtual adapters.
3. Double-click the wired network adapter you want to change. It might have a name like “Intel(R) Ethernet Connection” or “Marvell AQC111C”. You can also right-click it and choose Properties. Do not pick a Wi-Fi 📶 or virtual adapter, because those will not have an EEE setting. A Properties window for that adapter opens.
4. Click the Advanced tab. If there is no Advanced tab, you opened the wrong device or the driver does not expose any extra settings.
5. In the list of properties, find and select Energy Efficient Ethernet. The name might be slightly different depending on your network adapter. It could also say “EEE”, “Green Ethernet”, or “Power Saving Mode”. The list is usually sorted alphabetically, so you may need to scroll. When you select the property, its current setting appears in the Value box on the right.
6. In the Value box, choose On or Enabled to turn it on, or Off or Disabled to turn it off. Some adapters offer other choices, such as Maximum Power Savings or Minimum Power Savings. Use the highest saving level if you want the most power reduction.
7. Click OK to save your changes. The network icon in the taskbar 🖥️ may briefly show that the connection is reconnecting. It should then return to normal.
8. You can now close Device Manager. You do not need to restart the 🔄 PC.

If the property is missing from the list, your adapter or its driver does not support EEE under that name. Updating the driver from the PC or motherboard maker sometimes adds it. To undo any change, reopen the same property and set the Value back to what it was before.

Option 2Use PowerShell

You can enable energy efficient ethernet using PowerShell if you prefer command-line tools over graphical menus. This method lets you run specific commands to change your network adapter power settings quickly. It is helpful if you manage multiple computers or want to skip clicking through the standard Windows settings windows. You need an elevated (administrator) session for this to work.

1. First, you need to know the exact name of your network adapter. Open Network Connections by pressing Windows key + R, typing ncpa.cpl, and pressing Enter. A window opens listing your connections. Note down the name of the adapter you want to change (e.g., "Ethernet"). Spelling and spaces matter, so copy the name exactly.
2. Open Windows Terminal as an administrator. Search for "Windows Terminal", right-click it, and select "Run as administrator". Click Yes if User Account Control asks for permission. Make sure PowerShell is the active tab in the terminal window. In Windows 11 it normally is by default, but if you see a Command Prompt tab, open a new PowerShell tab from the drop-down arrow at the top.
3. To find the exact name of the EEE setting for your adapter, type the following command and press Enter. Replace Ethernet with the name of your network adapter from step 1:
   Get-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty -Name "Ethernet" | Format-Table
   The terminal prints a table of the advanced properties for that adapter.
4. Look at the DisplayName column in the results. Find the exact name for Energy Efficient Ethernet. It might be listed as "Energy-Efficient Ethernet", "EEE", "Green Ethernet", or "Power Saving Mode". If nothing like this appears, the adapter driver does not offer the setting, and the commands in the next step will not work for it.
5. Now, type one of the following commands and press Enter to turn EEE on or off. The command normally prints nothing if it succeeds, and your connection may drop for a moment.

   • To turn EEE on:
     Set-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty -Name “Ethernet” -DisplayName “Energy-Efficient Ethernet” -DisplayValue “Enabled”
     
   • To turn EEE off:
     Set-NetAdapterAdvancedProperty -Name “Ethernet” -DisplayName “Energy-Efficient Ethernet” -DisplayValue “Disabled”
     
6. Remember to replace Ethernet with your network adapter's name and Energy-Efficient Ethernet with the exact EEE property name you found in step 4. A typo in either one causes an error message in red text. If that happens, check both names against the earlier steps and run the command again.
7. Run the command from step 3 again to confirm the new value is in place, then close Windows Terminal. No restart is needed.

Summary

Toggle Energy-Efficient Ethernet (EEE) using either Device Manager or PowerShell, depending on your preference. EEE helps save power, but disabling it might fix connection issues. If you are chasing drops or slow speeds, turn it off first, test the connection for a day or so, and turn it back on if nothing improves. Administrator rights are required to make these changes.