Stop Windows 11 From Sleeping External USB Drives

Windows 11 frequently suspends power to external USB storage devices to conserve energy, which can cause annoying delays, unexpected disconnections, or data transfer interruptions. This guide provides quick, step-by-step instructions to stop Windows 11 from putting your external USB drives to sleep using Power Options and Device Manager settings.

Method 1: Disable USB Selective Suspend

The USB Selective Suspend feature allows the operating system to power down individual USB ports without affecting others. Disabling it ensures constant power delivery to connected drives.

  1. Press Windows Key + R to open the Run dialog box.
  2. Type control.exe powercfg.cpl,,3 and press Enter to open Advanced Power Options directly.
  3. Scroll down and expand the USB settings category.
  4. Expand the USB selective suspend setting sub-category.
  5. Change the setting to Disabled for both On battery and Plugged in (or just Setting on a desktop).
  6. Click Apply, then click OK.

Method 2: Adjust Device Manager Power Management

Device drivers for USB hubs often contain independent power-saving switches that must be turned off manually.

  1. Right-click the Start menu button and select Device Manager.
  2. Scroll down and expand the Universal Serial Bus controllers section.
  3. Right-click on USB Root Hub (USB 3.0) (or standard USB Root Hub) and select Properties.
  4. Navigate to the Power Management tab.
  5. Uncheck the box labeled Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
  6. Click OK.
  7. Repeat this process for any other entries named USB Root Hub or Generic USB Hub.

Method 3: Prevent Hard Disks from Turning Off

Windows also has a global timer that stops the spinning platters in external mechanical hard drives after a period of inactivity.

  1. Press Windows Key + R, type powercfg.cpl, and press Enter.
  2. Click Change plan settings next to your active power plan.
  3. Click Change advanced power settings.
  4. Expand the Hard disk section, then expand Turn off hard disk after.
  5. Change the time (Minutes) to 0 (which sets it to Never) for both battery and plugged-in states.
  6. Click Apply and OK to save the changes.