63

I want to put my Windows PC (Windows 7) into a sleep state via command line (so I can bind to macro button on keyboard).

The power button on the PC is setup to but the computer to sleep (but it's down on the floor and I'm too lazy to reach down) it exactly how I want it (sleeps using hybrid mode in case I loose power)

The sleep command on the shutdown menu also works.

most info I found says to use;

%windir%\system32\rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll, SetSuspendState 0,1,0

But this puts the computer in hibernate mode. I do have hibernate disabled but using hybrid sleep.

So, What is the command to use to put your computer to sleep (not hibernate)?

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  • 5
    rundll32.exe PowrProf.dll,SetSuspendState is not recommended. It is dangerous. (Because it corrupts the stack, as it does not comply with the function signature demanded by Rundll32. Then unforeseeable bad things may happen, as Raymond Chen warns…) Feb 20, 2013 at 22:30
  • Related: superuser.com/questions/42124/…
    – Nayuki
    May 25, 2016 at 6:12

9 Answers 9

14

I found a solution. I installed a freeware program called AutoHotKey and recorded the steps to invoke Start Menu -> Sleep into a script file. Then I complied the script file into a stand-alone executable SleepWin7.exe.

Now I simply run SleepWin7.exe to put my computer into hybrid sleep.

You may uninstall AutoHotKey if this is all you need it for.


Update: The above solution doesn't work when the user isn't logged in, i.e. Windows 7 Login Screen. (My computer wakes up at 4am every Sunday to perform weekly backup, which is done without user login.) In such case, the Wizmo program still works:

wizmo.exe quiet standby!

9
  • 3
    Here is an AutoHotKey script (using keyboard); Send, {LWINDOWN}{LWINUP} WinWait, Start menu, IfWinNotActive, Start menu, , WinActivate, Start menu, WinWaitActive, Start menu, Send, {TAB}{UP}{RIGHT}s
    – Eric L
    Jul 24, 2010 at 16:24
  • This is the solution that I ended up using. as it supports the hybrid sleep.
    – Eric L
    Oct 16, 2010 at 15:06
  • +1 This feels dirty but it works. I had to change the last Send part to: "Send, {RIGHT}{RIGHT}s". BTW I almost gave you a -1 for recommending to uninstall AHK, as that would be unforgivable :) Apr 22, 2011 at 8:33
  • I also added this to the start of the script to ensure the commands go to the desktop window, and prevent them getting lost: WinActivate, ahk_class Progman Apr 24, 2011 at 8:14
  • 2
    After switching to Windows 8, I'm now using NirCmd (very light weight) and it puts the computer to hybrid sleep; nircmd.exe standby more info can be found here -> nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html
    – Eric L
    Apr 6, 2013 at 18:25
73

Hope you find these useful.

Shutdown %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -s

Reboot %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -r

Logoff %windir%\System32\shutdown.exe -l

Standby %windir%\System32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Standby

Hibernate %windir%\System32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Hibernate

Caution: rundll32.exe should not be used to launch powerprof.dll. Instead you should call SetSuspendState directly. This can be done using Powershell - create a file eg sleep.ps1, with the below contents.

Add-Type -Assembly System.Windows.Forms
[System.Windows.Forms.Application]::SetSuspendState("Suspend", $false, $true)

Then run it using powershell -File C:\your-path\sleep.ps1. You may first need to run the command Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned to enable powershell scripts to run.

The above script causes a system suspend, which will either sleep or hibernate depending on your current hibernate setting. To change that setting from the command line, run powercfg -h off (or on) from the command line as administrator.

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  • 4
    whoa nice! +1...
    – studiohack
    Sep 15, 2010 at 3:38
  • 9
    This is great but where's the one for Sleeeeeeeeeeeeep Apr 22, 2011 at 8:22
  • 7
    Standby shortcut put my Win7 machine to hibernate :(
    – user
    Jul 13, 2011 at 15:12
  • 5
    @demoncodemonkey: Standbyyyyyyyyyyyyy = Sleeeeeeeeeeeeep :) Mar 1, 2012 at 12:22
  • 11
    Apparently it does not: superuser.com/a/331545/21887 So it is considered dangerous to use this method and not recommended. (It corrupts the stack.) Jun 20, 2012 at 19:07
16

See the free utility of Wizmo, which can do very many things.
The command you're looking for is probably:

wizmo standby

3
  • Wizmo looks pretty cool! Almost makes me wish I wasn't a mac fanboy
    – trolle3000
    May 28, 2010 at 20:13
  • The utility doesn't need to be installed. Nice simple tool. Jun 29, 2011 at 0:12
  • 2
    wizmo.exe quiet standby suppresses arguably annoying beeps by wizmo.exe. Jun 20, 2012 at 18:59
14

You can create a file with extension .ps1 (powershell) like "sleep.ps1" and write this:

Add-Type -Assembly System.Windows.Forms
[System.Windows.Forms.Application]::SetSuspendState("Suspend", $false, $true)

I use this when I have something running and have to leave the pc and don't want to turn it off. So I change the script to look like this:

$minutes = read-host "Enter minutes to wait until sleep";
$secs= 60*$minutes;
Start-sleep -s $secs

Add-Type -Assembly System.Windows.Forms
[System.Windows.Forms.Application]::SetSuspendState("Suspend", $false, $true)

And now when I run it, I just enter the minutes I want to wait until sleep.

You can run this from the cmd line by writing

powershell -File C:\your-path\sleep.ps1

If you've never run a PowerShell script before, you'll want to first run

Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned

in PowerShell to enable script running. This only has to be run once.

1
  • Aren't your variables' names backwards? Aug 15, 2016 at 20:28
10

With Sysinternals PsTools [download]:

psshutdown -d

using the Command Line tool PsShutdown.

(You might prefer this solution if you already have downloaded PsTools, it's pretty widely used. Other than that, this approach is equivalent to using wizmoquiet standby.)

Source: https://superuser.com/a/331545/21887

7

I've been using this SLEEP.EXE utility for years. It works well, and you don't have to remember what arguments to give it for suspend mode (its default form of "sleep").

1
  • SLEEP.EXE works for me, on Windows 7 Pro SP1. The parent page also lists many other useful-looking command line tools for Windows. Thanks, @jjlin!
    – CODE-REaD
    Sep 11, 2016 at 20:40
6

to disable hibernate mode you need to use

powercfg -h off

now, rundll32 powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState will put your station in stanby mode

[EDIT]

actually I can't setup for an hybrid sleep because I have a laptop (a state that is not available on mobile stations), for hybrid sleep you need to have hibernation enabled and some say that rundll32 powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState trigger the default sleep mode in your control-panel\power-management settings. please try if rundll32 powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState hybrid sleep give some results.

3
  • This also disables hybrid sleep, so it kinda defeats the purpose
    – Eric L
    Sep 14, 2009 at 10:22
  • rundll32 powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState hybrid sleep still put the computer into hibernation. thanks for the idea.
    – Eric L
    Sep 15, 2009 at 10:09
  • rundll32 is not designed for calling SetSuspendState, so it gets wrong parameter values. That's why it always cause hibernation if you have not disabled it intentionally.
    – SergeyT
    Jul 26, 2016 at 22:32
5

Make a bat file, where 600 is delay in seconds.

ping -n 600 -w 1 127.0.0.1 > nul

powercfg -h off

%windir%\System32\rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Standby

3
  • Great way to put the computer to sleep, and very easy to send someone else who wants to have sheduled sleep.
    – Maurycy
    Oct 31, 2011 at 23:10
  • Creative answer!
    – Jane Panda
    Apr 30, 2012 at 15:06
  • Don't use rundll32.exe to call SetSuspendState: it is not designed for that. See explanations here
    – SergeyT
    Jul 26, 2016 at 22:29
4

If you're competent with compiling a .NET program the following command will do this

System.Windows.Forms.Application.SetSuspendState(PowerState.Suspend, 
                                                 false,   /* force */
                                                 true     /* disableWake */);

Note: You do not need to disable hibernation as is required by the rundll32 powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState command. You can also use PowerState.Hibernate which will hibernate the machine if you want.

You could easily compile an EXE with this command with any version of Visual Studio. Just create a console application and add a reference to the System.Windows.Forms DLL.

3
  • 1
    Wizmo cited above basically has already done this - using it seems like the equivalent. And it's written by Steve Gibson and free, so probably better than what I'd get hand coding the same thing! Jun 9, 2011 at 0:03
  • +1. Looking for something like this here superuser.com/q/310045/84229
    – user
    Jul 13, 2011 at 15:18
  • You don't even have to use Visual Studio to compile. Instead, the command-line compiler csc.exe could be used. It is already installed in all modern versions of Windows.
    – SergeyT
    Jul 26, 2016 at 22:36

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