How to keep using your Windows 11 laptop after closing the lid

No other device can match the portability and convenience of a laptop. If you want to buy and use a laptop for work purposes or if you want to consume some information on a screen larger than your laptop from time to time, you may want to connect it to an external display.

This is where the problem arises because you will most likely want to close the lid of your laptop without turning it off completely. By default, the Windows 11 lid closing action is set to put the laptop to sleep when the lid is closed.

As you might imagine, having a laptop cover open on your desk while it’s attached to a newly purchased external monitor isn’t an ideal situation, nor is it comfortable to be exposed to. Thus we will show you how to customize the Windows 11 lid closing procedure to fix this problem.

You don’t have to put up with such a harsh state, and you can close the laptop’s lid without putting it to sleep or interfering with its operation. Let’s see how you can achieve this, right after we understand what hibernation and sleep mode are.

Are hibernation and sleeping the same thing?

A distinction must be made between two computer modes namely sleep and hibernation, which are frequently used interchangeably but are not actually the same thing.

Sleep mode is a power saving mode that allows activities to be restarted once the device is fully charged again.

Hibernate mode, is meant to conserve power, but it differs from sleep mode in terms of what happens to your data. The documents and files you’re working on are now stored in random access memory (RAM), requiring minimal power in the process.

The former effectively accomplishes the same thing as hibernation, except that it stores information on your hard drive, allowing you to shut down your computer and save all the power it would otherwise take.

When your computer restarts, your hard drive lets you pick up exactly where you left off. Hibernate is primarily designed for laptops, and is most effective when you are not planning to use your device for an extended period of time.

But now, let’s see how you can easily customize the settings for the Windows 11 lid closing action and achieve the results you want.

How do I change the near action cover in Windows 11?

1. Keep the screen on when the laptop is off

1. In order to do nothing when the laptop lid is closed in Windows 11, open a file Windows Search functionality then type control Board And open the highest score.
2. Here, go to Power Options.
3. Next, select File Choose what closing the lid does Option to edit Windows 11 lid closing action when laptop is opened.
4. Here, you can select a file Do not do anything option under on battery oath and connected One, in order to keep your screen on when the laptop lid is closed. For more information about other options, see Microsoft’s page about these procedures.

When your laptop is connected to an external monitor, you can now close the lid and continue working without having to worry about sleeping or hibernating. Note that this mode of operation is called shell mode and refers to a laptop running with a closed lid.

What do I do if the cover customization settings are missing?

1. Note that this solution also works for the missing lid closing procedure in Windows 10 error. Open Command Prompt Application by writing poultice inside Windows Search functionality.
2. Next, type or copy and paste the following command and hit Enters To fix missing lid closing process in Windows 11/10: REG ADD HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\4f971e89-eebd-4455-a8de-9e59040e7347\5ca83367-6e45-459f-a27b-476b1d01c936 /v Attributes /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f
3. If you also want to add the missing Windows 11 cover, open action type or paste the following command and press Enters: REG ADD HKLM\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\4f971e89-eebd-4455-a8de-9e59040e7347\99ff10e7-23b1-4c07-a9d1-5c3206d741b4 /v Attributes /t REG_DWORD /d 2 /f
4. To customize the cover opening process, go to Power Options Inside control Board and choose Change plan settings next to your current plan.
5. Next, tap Advanced force change Settings and expand Power buttons and cover Option to modify the configuration.

Now you should be able to change the Windows 11 lid close action on startup settings as we explained in the first solution, as well as modify the lid opening action configuration.

Furthermore, if you run into problems when connecting a second monitor, check out our guide on what to do when your laptop won’t detect the second monitor.

Alternatively, take a look at our post on how to fix random external monitor behavior, such as turning off or disconnecting.

Feel free to let us know what you think in the comments section below as well if you have more solutions in mind. Thanks for reading!