How to Disable Modern Standby in Windows 10 & 11

September 7, 2022 Abraham Smith

Windows Modern Standby (S0) replaces the classic S3 sleep mode in Windows 10 and 11. On a Modern Standby-compatible system, the feature adds better power management for connected devices.

While there are other benefits to using Modern Standby, not everyone prefers it over the classic S3 hibernation mode. If for some reason you need to disable Modern Standby in Windows 10 and 11, here we will show you how.

What is Modern Standby in Windows and why should you disable it?

Introduced in 2020, Modern Standby (S0) is a newer hibernation mode and a successor to the legacy sleep-standby mode (S3). It replaces the standard sleep function and puts your laptop in a lower energy state when it is idle.

In this sleep state, your system is kept awake with minimal power consumption to perform background tasks such as synchronizing emails and notifications over the internet, etc.

It also has an instant on/off feature that allows you to transition between on and off states more quickly, similar to your smartphone.

On the other hand, Modern Standby reportedly causes battery heating and draining issues, forcing some users to turn off the new power mode on their laptops.

Note that poor battery life and heating issues with your laptop are common and can occur for a number of reasons. Due to the nature of Modern Standby, which requires constant CPU participation, a moderate increase in CPU temperature is expected.

Before you decide to turn off Modern Standby, try these tips to improve battery life in Windows 11. You can also set a battery charge threshold for your laptop to extend battery life. Additionally, you can also troubleshoot your laptop for overheating issues by understanding the basics of computer overheating.

If you still need to disable Modern Standby in Windows 11, continue with the steps below.

How to check the current hibernation of your system

You can use the powercfg /a command in the command prompt to view and configure your system’s available hibernation. How to use this command in Windows 11:

Press Victory + X to open the WinX menu.
Then click on Windows Terminal (Admin).
In the Windows Terminal window, type the following command and press Enter to run it:
```
powercfg /a
```
When the system reports Standby (S0 Low Power Idle) Network connected/disconnectedthen you have enabled Modern Standby.
Next check Standby (S3) Status. If you see the message “This standby state is disabled if S0 low-power idle is supported”, it means you can disable Modern Standby to enable Legacy Standby (S3).

1. How to disable modern standby using a registry script

You can use a registry script to disable Modern Standby in Windows 11 and 10. It’s the easiest way to get things done without having to navigate through the Windows registry.

Before attempting to make any changes to your Windows registry, we strongly recommend that you create a restore point. This should help you recover your system in case something goes wrong during the process.

Press victory + R to open To run.
Type notepad and click OK reopen notepad File.

Copy and paste the following script into the Notepad file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power]
"PlatformAoAcOverride"=dword:00000000

Then click on file and select Save as.
Enter the file name as Disable_Modern_Standby.reg.
Then click on the Save as Drop down and select All files.
click Save on computer to save the registry file.
Next, double-click the Disable_Modern_Standby.reg file and click Yes when prompted by UAC.
Restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

If you need to re-enable Modern Standby, copy and paste the following script into a new Notepad file:

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power]
"PlatformAoAcOverride"=-

Save the file as Enable_Modern_Standby.reg. Then double-click the saved file and wait for the script to run. Restart your PC to see if Modern Standby is enabled.

To confirm the changes, run the powercfg /a Elevated Command Prompt command. When Legacy Standby (S3) is enabled, you will see the following:

The following Sleep states are available on this system:
- Standby (S3)
- Hibernate
- Fast Startup

2. How to disable modern standby using Command Prompt

Disable Windows 11 modern standby prompt

You can use Command Prompt to turn off Modern Standby on your PC. This method uses the Reg commands run from the command prompt to modify the Windows registry.

Follow these steps to disable modern standby in Windows 11 using registry commands:

Press Victory + X to open Run.
Click on Windows Terminal (Admin) to open the terminal with administrator rights.

In the Windows Terminal window, copy and paste the following Reg command:

reg add HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power /v PlatformAoAcOverride /t REG_DWORD /d 0

When the “Operation completed successfully” message appears, close Command Prompt.
If you need to re-enable Modern Standby, use the following command in the elevated Windows Terminal window:
```
reg delete "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power" /v PlatformAoAcOverride /f
```
Make sure to restart your PC for the changes to take effect.

You can use the above powercfg /a Command to show the sleep status and confirm the changes.

3. How to disable modern standby using Registry Editor

If the script and reg command don’t work, you can manually change the required registry entry to disable Modern Standby. That’s how it’s done:

Press victory + R to open To run.
Type regedit and click OK to open the registry editor. click Yes when prompted User Account Control.
In Registry Editor, navigate to the following location. You can copy and paste the registry path into Registry Editor for quick navigation:
```
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power
```
Click here with the right mouse button perfomance Subkey and select New > DWORD (32-bit) value.
Rename the value as PlatformAoAcOverride.
Right click on the PlatformAoAcOverride worth and select Change.
Enter in the value data field 0 and click OK.
close Registry Editor and restart your PC.

Disable Modern Standby in Windows 10 and 11

Modern standby, with all its advantages, is not for everyone. For many users, Modern Standby has resulted in poor battery life and heating issues.

You can work around this issue by putting your device to sleep instead of going to sleep when you close the lid. Also, consider optimizing your power consumption in Windows 11 to extend battery life.

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