Mouse Won’t Wake Up Computer in Windows 10 or 11 – Here’s How To Fix

Lee Stanton June 21, 2023

Sleep mode is an easy way to save power on your computer. Once an operating system enters sleep mode, it shuts down the computer while saving the present state for each task you are working on.

Mouse Won't Wake Up Computer in Windows 10 or 11 - Here's How To Fix

Typically, all you need to do to wake up your PC is move the mouse. But sometimes, that doesn’t work. Even though you can always use the power button to wake it up, using a mouse is more practical.

In this article, we’ll talk about some of the most common problems that prevent your mouse from waking up your Windows computer from sleep and how to fix them.

Mouse Not Working in Sleep Mode: What’s the Cause?

Exiting sleep mode on Windows should be relatively straightforward. However, sometimes, you may discover that this doesn’t work as intended after Windows is suspended, preventing you from using it to resume activity. Here are a few possible problems:

Difficulties with the hardware
Compatibility issues
Outdated or corrupt drivers
Incorrectly configured settings

How to Wake Up Your Computer With a Mouse

For your mouse to wake up your PC from sleep, you must see if that option is allowed. Take these actions:

To access the “Power User” menu, right-click over the “Start” button or press “Win + X.”
Choose “Device Manager.”
Check the devices connected to your PC.
Tap the “>” icon (expand) next to “Mice and other pointing devices” if you cannot use the mouse to wake your PC from sleep.
Right-click over your mouse and choose “Properties.” You may have several identical entries, but you want the one that shows “Location: on USB Input Device” in the “General” tab.
Select the “Power Management” tab.
Turn on “Allow this device to wake the computer” by ticking the box.
Your mouse should now wake up your computer from sleep mode.

Be very careful if you’re using the above options on a laptop. If you have a wireless mouse connected and forget to switch it off, your computer could accidentally wake up from sleep in your bag. If you leave this for a while, it might generate heat and harm your computer.

Possible Solutions

There are several solutions to this issue. Try each one until you happen across one that fixes the problem.

Reconnect the Mouse

You can try a few things to help your computer start working properly again if you’re having trouble using the mouse to wake it up. If there is a hardware problem, unplugging and reconnecting can usually solve the problem. Also, make sure the mouse batteries are still working.

Update the Drivers

Sometimes, non-updated drivers can cause a variety of problems. This is a common issue. To fix it, do the following:

“Windows + R” and type “devmgmt.msc“ without quotes.
After you click “OK,” the “Device Manager” window will pop up.
Expand the “Mice and other pointing devices” option in the “Device Manager.”
Right-click the potentially troublesome device.
Choose “Update Driver.”
Select “Search automatically for drivers.”
Once finished, restart your computer to see if the problem is fixed.

Remove the Problematic Driver

Remove any recently applied updates and see if the problem still exists.

Press “Windows + R” and type “devmgmt.msc“ without quotes, then press “enter” or click “OK.”
The “Device Manager” window will pop up.
Expand the “Mice and other pointing devices” option in the “Device Manager.”
Right-click the defective or broken driver, then click “Uninstall Device.”

Prevent Your Computer From Turning Off USB Ports

While sleeping, your computer may also reduce energy through its USB ports. When you click or move your mouse in these circumstances, it won’t detect the signal.

Navigate to “Settings” and then to “System.”
Choose “Power & sleep,” then “Additional power settings.”
Select “Change plan settings.”
To access a window with more options, select “Change advanced power settings.”
Expand “USB settings” and “USB selective suspend settings” in that window.
Select “Disabled” from this drop-down box and click “OK.”

This will prevent your system from turning off USB ports to conserve power, making it easier for you to wake it up from sleep using a mouse.

Edit the BIOS

Sometimes, you may have the correct settings in Windows to allow the mouse to wake the computer but have the option turned off in the BIOS. The BIOS supersedes Windows settings like a circuit breaker restricting the functionality of a light switch. You can turn the switch on (Windows settings), but it does not operate if the breaker (BIOS) is turned off.

Here’s how to edit the BIOS to allow the mouse to wake the computer.

Reboot the PC and press the correct key to access the BIOS, such as pressing F12 or Delete. You should see the message after POST that displays the corresponding key/boot options.
Depending on your PC, navigate to the BIOS option that allows USB devices to wake the PC from sleep.

If your PC still does not wake up from a mouse move or click, try some of the Windows options in this article that you may not have attempted yet.

Reactivate Hibernation

Hibernation is a different power-saving mode in Windows, and it consumes more space by saving the current status of all running processes and programs. It’s notable for interfering with sleep mode and causing the computer not to wake up. Hence, you can try turning the feature off and then on again to see if that resolves the problem. This is how to do it:

Enter “cmd“ into the Windows search bar.
Choose “Run as administrator” for the “Command Prompt” app.
If the “User Account Control” window appears, select “Yes.”
To turn hibernation off, type “powercfg.exe /hibernate off,” then press “Enter.”
Turn on hibernation again by typing “powercfg.exe /hibernate on,” then tap “Enter” again.

To test whether your computer is operating properly, try putting it to sleep and waking it up.

Use Windows Troubleshooter for Hardware and Devices

While the mouse is connected, run this troubleshooter to check if that can solve the problem using the command prompt. This is how it works:

Type “cmd“ into the Start menu’s search field and run the “Command Prompt.”
Type “-id DeviceDiagnostic msdt.exe“ without quotes and press “Enter.”

Doing this should launch the troubleshooter. Let it run its scan and repair any issues it may detect.

Mouse Not Waking Windows 10/11 FAQs

What is the difference between sleep mode and hibernation?

When in sleep mode, a computer is turned on but not running any software, and your computer appears to be off because the screen is blank. Sleep mode conserves energy by switching your computer to a low-power mode, making it ideal when you need a few minutes.

When a computer is in hibernation mode, its volatile memory (RAM) contents are copied to the hard disk drive (HDD) or solid-state drive (SSD). The operating system can be safely shut down without causing data corruption.

Although shutdown and sleep modes have power-saving features, it is still unclear which is best for your computer. If you aren’t using your computer for longer than 20 minutes, you should put it in sleep mode. On the other hand, shut down the computer to save energy and the PC’s life span if you won’t use it for more than a couple of hours.

To Wrap It All Up

Sometimes, you may encounter some errors while waking up Windows. A mouse can cause a few of them. This situation can be frustrating and confusing, but this guide helps fix most mouse-related wakeup problems.

You may want to consider changing how you wake your computer, replacing the mouse, or resetting everything back to default settings if nothing else works.