With every newer generation of computers, these devices are getting mobile and faster. Chips are becoming smarter to serve faster wake up from standby, faster charging, more power efficiency and more. The newest generation of these chips supports the S0 (Zero) power mode which is a newer iteration than the older S3 power mode. The S0 power mode supports all the modern capabilities that we talked about above. This feature of Modern Standby was first released with Windows 8 and was expanded to Windows 8.1, Windows 10 and Windows 11 as well. When a computer goes to the Modern Standby mode, it keeps some of the services in the backend like Network Connections, Disk Services and others active so that it can get them to work faster when required by the user.
Enable or Disable Network Connections in Modern Standby
There are two modes for Network in Modern Standby. They are as follows:
- Connected Modern Standby.
- Disconnected Modern Standby.
1] Connected Modern Standby
In this mode, your computer will be able to stay connected to the network and get an email, VoIP and other notifications. This might result in more excessive use of the battery.
2] Disconnected Modern Standby
In this mode, your computer will not be able to stay connected to the network and get an email, VoIP and other notifications. This might result in the least use of the battery.
There are 5 ways by which, one can Enable or Disable Network Connections while in Modern Standby on Windows 11/10:
- Using the Windows Settings app.
- Use Power Options.
- Using Windows Command Prompt.
- Using the Group Policy Editor.
- Using the Registry Editor.
1] Using the Windows Settings app
Open the Windows Settings app.
Select System > Power & sleep.
Under the section of Network connection, select either of these:
- Never – Never disconnect from the network connections.
- Always – Always disconnect from the network connections.
- Managed by Windows – Windows decides if the network connection works in the background.
2] Use Power Options
Search for Power Options in the Windows Search Box and select the appropriate option.
For your Active power plan, under Networking connectivity in Standby, you can enable this feature while your device is plugged in and on the battery with these three options:
- Never – Never disconnect from the network connections.
- Always – Always disconnect from the network connections.
- Managed by Windows – Windows decides if the network connection works in the background.
3] Using Windows Command Prompt
Open the Windows Command Prompt with Admin rights.
If your computer is on battery, execute the following commands for the following cases:
Enable:
powercfg /setdcvalueindex scheme_current sub_none F15576E8-98B7-4186-B944-EAFA664402D9 1
Disable:
powercfg /setdcvalueindex scheme_current sub_none F15576E8-98B7-4186-B944-EAFA664402D9 0
Managed by Windows (default):
powercfg /setdcvalueindex scheme_current sub_none F15576E8-98B7-4186-B944-EAFA664402D9 2
If your computer is plugged in, execute the following commands for the following cases:
Enable (default):
powercfg /setacvalueindex scheme_current sub_none F15576E8-98B7-4186-B944-EAFA664402D9 1
Disable:
powercfg /setacvalueindex scheme_current sub_none F15576E8-98B7-4186-B944-EAFA664402D9 0
Managed by Windows:
powercfg /setacvalueindex scheme_current sub_none F15576E8-98B7-4186-B944-EAFA664402D9 2
Close the Windows Command Prompt to save the changes that you just made.
4] Using the Group Policy Editor
Open the Windows Group Policy Editor.
Navigate to the following location:
Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Power Management > Sleep Settings.
For the policy of Allow network connectivity during connected-standby (plugged in) or Allow network connectivity during connected-standby (on battery) depending on your choice, to enable the Modern Standby feature, select Enabled.
In order to disable the Modern Standby feature, select Disabled.
Select Apply and then select OK for the changes to take effect.
5] Using the Registry Editor
Open the Windows Registry Editor.
For Plugged In mode:
Navigate to the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Power\PowerSettings\f15576e8-98b7-4186-b944-eafa664402d9
For the DWORD named as ACSettingIndex, select value to the following as per your choice:
- Enabled: 1
- Disabled: 0
Reboot your computer to see the changes taking effect.
For On Battery mode:
Navigate to the following path:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Power\PowerSettings\f15576e8-98b7-4186-b944-eafa664402d9
For the DWORD named as DCSettingIndex, select value to the following as per your choice:
- Enabled: 1
- Disabled: 0
Reboot your computer to see the changes taking effect.
I hope you found this guide useful.
