By default, most laptops are designed to shut down or go into sleep mode as soon as you close the lid. While this may save power, it's not ideal if you regularly move your laptop from one room to another. To have your laptop stay awake even when you close the lid, you can change the power settings. Windows 8 gives you two options for what happens when you close the lid. You can set one action for when it's on battery power and another when it's plugged in. This way you can take your laptop where you need it without precariously balancing an open laptop in your hands.
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Step 1
Open the Windows 8 Search by pointing the cursor in the top right corner of the screen and then moving it down and clicking "Search." Type "power options" in the Search field.
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Step 2
Select "Power Options" from the list of search results. There are two menus beside the "Choose what closing the lid does" item. The first one is for when the laptop is powered by battery and the second is for when the laptop is plugged in.
Step 3
Click either or both "Choose what closing the lid does" menus and select "Do Nothing." Click "Save Changes." Depending on your selections, the laptop will keep running when you close the lid when it is running on battery power or plugged in.
Tip
The power options for closing the lid may not appear if your computer isn't a laptop.
Warning
Remember that having the laptop running when the lid is closed will quickly drain the battery.
Information in this article applies to Windows 8.1. It may vary slightly or significantly with other versions or products.
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