USB Selective Suspend feature is enabled by default and will put your USB ports in a low-power state when not in use. While this feature is helpful, sometimes it can cause issues such as not detecting plugged-in USB devices, unresponsiveness, and compatibility with older USB devices. In such cases, you can disable the USB Selective Suspend feature via Windows Power Options. In this tutorial, I will show you how to do that on Windows 11 & 10. Let’s get started.
What is the ‘USB Selective Suspend’ Feature
USB Selective Suspend is a built-in power management feature in Windows that allows the OS to put your unused USB devices in a low-power state also known as standby mode. This reduces the overall power consumption of the system. On laptops, this reduced power consumption leads to better battery life.
When a user or process requires the USB device, Windows automatically sends a wakeup command which brings back full power to the USB device.
How to Disable USB Selective Suspend on Windows 11 & 10
Open the Start menu by clicking on the Windows logo on the taskbar.
Search for Edit Power Plan and click on the top result.
Click on the Change advanced power settings option at the bottom.
Expand the USB Settings & USB Selective Suspend Setting options.
Click the ‘Enabled’ option and select Disabled from the dropdown.
Note: On laptops, select Disabled from both ‘On Battery’ and ‘Plugged in’ dropdown menus.
Click the Apply and OK buttons to save new power options.
With that, the USB Selective Suspend feature is disabled and Windows will not put unused USB devices into a low-power state. That means the USB devices will have full power all the time.
Related: How to disable USB ports on Windows 11 & 10
Side Effects of Disabling USB Selective Suspend Feature
One of the main disadvantages or side effects of disabling the USB Selective Suspend feature is that it may increase the overall power usage of your PC. This is because the USB devices connected to your system will always run in full power even when they are not in use. Depending on how the USB device is designed and its power management settings, it might consume power even when you are not actively using it.
For desktop users, this might not be a big deal but for laptops, it can reduce your battery backup time significantly depending on the USB device. So, keep that in mind while disabling the USB suspend setting.
If you have any questions, comment below and I will answer.
