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Studio render of a closed laptop beside a monitor and a speaker, all with dim amber standby indicators under low, even light

Reference · 2 min read

Sleep states and device participation

Sleep reduces a computer's activity while preserving a path back to use. Different platforms provide device assistance for different low-power arrangements, so the same everyday word can describe substantially different behavior underneath the screen.

How the pieces connect

The operating system coordinates application state and device power transitions. Some platforms use a traditional suspended state, while others provide device assistance for a modern standby model with carefully managed background activity. Components have to cooperate with the available platform design. A label in a menu does not establish which internal states are implemented by the machine.

An everyday example

A portable computer can appear inactive while still performing limited background work permitted by its standby model. Another system may stop nearly all activity until it resumes. Network availability and wake behavior consequently depend on platform capabilities and policy, not just whether the lid was closed or the display turned off.

Reading the information in context

Display-off, sleep, hibernation, and shutdown are different states. Hibernation stores a session representation on persistent storage, whereas sleep arrangements can retain more state in powered components. This page is not a recommendation to override power models that receive device assistance or force hidden settings. Use reference model-specific documentation when interpreting which transitions your system was designed to provide device assistance for.

Reading map: Sleep states and device participationFirst 3 topics in reading order: How the pieces connect; An everyday example; Reading the information in context. Each topic links to its section or page.INSIDE THIS PAGESleep states and device participation1How the pieces connect1 paragraph2An everyday example1 paragraph3Reading the informationin context1 paragraph

Laptops

Note these before you change anything

Useful facts to have to hand while reading about sleep states and device participation.

  • Exact model and variant code from the underside label
  • Firmware version
  • The maker's driver package versions
  • Which functions fail: hotkeys, touchpad gestures, sleep

Laptops: Selected laptop-specific layers

  1. Operating systempower and input
  2. Platform drivershotkeys, sensors, power
  3. Embedded controllerbattery and fans
  4. Integrated devicestouchpad, camera, keyboard
  5. Docks and portsUSB-C and similar
Conceptual schematic of a selected path, not every request. Shown in one direction; the reverse direction uses related layers. Real systems add services, filter drivers and firmware not shown. Highlighted: the layer a driver change affects.

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