How to Enable or Disable USB Selective Suspend Windows 11

What Is USB Selective Suspend?

USB selective suspend in Windows 11 is a power-saving feature that turns off USB devices when they aren’t active. This feature helps your computer use less energy, keeps the computer cooler, and reduces fan noise. It works by allowing the USB hub driver to pause power to individual USB devices when they’re not active.

Why should you care? Here are the main benefits:

• Selective suspend saves battery power.
• It reduces heat and fan noise from your computer.

Selective suspend saves battery power and reduces heat and fan noise. The feature lets the hub driver pause power to a single USB port, while others continue working—a real benefit for laptops. Devices like fingerprint readers, for example, don’t always need power. When they sleep, your computer uses less energy. Additionally, a device that remains active can prevent your USB controller from entering a low-power state, which in turn stops your processor from entering deeper sleep modes.

USB Selective Suspend – Windows drivers – This article discusses how to choose the right way to implement the selective suspend feature.

Demystifying USB Selective Suspend | Microsoft Community Hub – First published on MSDN on May 10, 2011. Hi, I am Vivek Gupta, a software developer on the USB team.

Selective Suspend in USB Drivers (WDF) - Windows drivers - A USB function driver supports runtime idle detection by implementing USB selective suspend.

Option 1Use Power Options Settings

Turning USB selective suspend on or off in Windows 11 is possible through the Power Options in the Control Panel. This method lets you choose different settings for when your laptop uses battery power compared to when it's plugged in, giving you control over how your USB devices manage power.

1. Open the Control Panel in icons view. Click on the Power Options icon.
2. Find your power plan (like "Balanced"). Click Change plan settings next to it.
3. Click Change advanced power settings.
4. Find USB settings. Expand it to see USB selective suspend setting.
5. Choose Enabled (the default) or Disabled for both On battery and Plugged in. Then click OK.
   

   📝Note

   You will only see separate On battery and Plugged in settings if your device has a battery or is connected to a UPS.

Option 2Use Command Line

If you prefer using commands, you can enable or disable USB selective suspend in Windows 11 using the Windows Terminal. By typing a specific command, you can quickly adjust this setting for your current power plan without needing to search through menus.

1. Open Windows Terminal. Choose either Windows PowerShell or Command Prompt.
2. Copy and paste one of the commands below into Windows Terminal. Press Enter.
   
   On Battery
   On battery: Enabled (Default)
   

   powercfg /SETDCVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 1

   
   OR
   On battery: Disabled
   

   powercfg /SETDCVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 0

   
   Plugged In
   

   Use this option for a desktop computer. Desktop computers usually do not have separate On battery and Plugged in options unless connected to a UPS.

   
   Plugged in: Enabled (Default)
   

   powercfg /SETACVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 1

   OR
   Plugged in: Disabled
   

   powercfg /SETACVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 0

That's it!

Summary

USB selective suspend helps your computer save power by turning off idle USB devices, and you can easily control this feature using either Power Options or command-line tools in Windows 11.