Files taking too long to download can test our patience a lot. Sometimes, you just want to close the laptop and go away, but still want the download to continue.

So, do laptops download when closed? Laptops do not download when their lids are closed. To continue downloading, you need to change the power settings for when I close the lid to ‘Do nothing’.

Laptop will not download when in sleep mode or hibernate mode or when turned off. So, let’s deep dive into how to change the settings so that your laptop will continue to download even after you close the lid.

Can A Laptop Download While Closed?

A laptop can download when closed as long as the power setting for when the lid is closed is set to “Do nothing”.

What this setting does is even after you close the laptop lid, the laptop does not shut down or hibernate or goes to sleep. This “Do nothing” setting enables your laptop to work normally and keep on operating as it would be when opened.

As a result, laptops will continue download even when the lid is closed.

To put it simply, the ‘do nothing’ option when lid is closed enables the laptop to operate normally and continue to download even after you close the laptop.

Also, you can choose to keep the do nothing option separately for when the laptop is plugged in with a charger and when it is running on the battery. For more details and step by step guide on how to set up this option in your laptop, read on the section.

How To Make Your Laptop Download With Closed Lid?

Here is your go to guide steps on how to make your laptop download even after you close the lid.

Step 1: Go to Settings >> System >> Power & Sleep

Firstly, you need to go to settings. If you are using Windows 10, all you need to do is click on the start button which you can see on the bottom left part of your laptop screen.

Once you click on the Settings button, it will take you to the Windows Settings screen from there. Now, you need to click on the System icon which is the first option in the screen.

The system settings will now take us to a different screen which covers various settings from Display to Battery to Remote Desktop. All these different options can be seen on the left panel of the System settings screen.

You can see Power & sleep as one of the options in the left panel. Click on this option now.

Step 2: Go to Additional Power Settings (Power Options)

Once you click on Power & sleep settings, you will be taken a different screen containing screen and sleep settings. We are not interested in these options.

What we are interested is the Additional power settings available in the right side of the screen under Related settings.

Click on the Additional power settings to go to the control panel section of power settings.

Step 3: Click on Choose what closing the lid does in Power options

Once you click on Additional power settings, you will be taken to the Power Options page in Control Panel.

Note: You can directly skip to step 3 by going to Control Panel >> Power Options as well. this step is especially helpful in Windows 7.

Now, within power options, click on ‘Choose what closing the lid does’ option in the left panel.

Step 4: Choose ‘Do nothing’ when the lid is closed

Next, we will change the settings of your laptop when the lid is closed.

All you need to do is click on the options available to the right of ‘When I close the lid:’ settings – available both for on battery and plugged in.

Change the settings to ‘Do nothing’ for both of these on battery and plugged in settings.

If you have a specific requirement like – continue download only when the laptop is on battery and not when charging, you can customize it by changing to do nothing only for on battery option.

And voila, your laptop will now continue to download even after you close the laptop lid.

Does A Laptop Download In Sleep Mode?

Laptops do NOT download when in Sleep mode.

You need to change the laptop settings from sleep to ‘Do nothing’ for when the lid is closed.

Sleep mode essentially ceases all active operations like downloads running in your laptop. As a result, your laptop will not be able to download once it is set in the sleep mode.

Furthermore, laptop will not download in Hibernate mode as well. Any other option apart from do nothing when the lid is closed in power options will end up in laptop not downloading anything.

Related Questions

Is it OK to leave your laptop ON overnight?

It is okay to leave the laptop ON overnight. If you are downloading and want the laptop to be ON for the entire night, make sure to plug in the laptop with charger.

While there might be some concerns over such long charging period or leaving the laptop on for such a long duration, there will not be any considerable change in performance as long as it is not a regular occurrence.

So, it will not be a problem at all if you leave your laptop ON overtime.

Can you turn off your laptop while downloading?

Turning off the laptop while downloading will result in the file failing to download.

So, it is best to keep the laptop ON if you are downloading a file or multiple files. Turning off or sleep or hibernate or restart option will stop downloading any files in download mode.

Do downloads continue when display turns off?

Downloads have nothing to do with display on or off.

If the display is off because the monitor is off, then the download will continue without interruption. On the other hand, if the display is off because the laptop has gone to sleep or turned off, then the download will not continue.