What is USB Selective Suspend and How To Enable or Disable it

First, let us try to understand what is Selective Suspend Feature in USBs. We all know that , when a system is inactive or idle for some time, it automatically goes on a low-power state(Sleep , Hibernation, etc.) to conserve the power. Interestingly, it has this feature, where it can send some of it’s components to low power state(when they are idle) even when the system is up and running. This will save the power significantly.

A system might be connected to a lot of USB devices such as Printers, finger print scanners, web cameras, Storage devices like external hard disks, card readers etc. These devices wont be running all the time and can be sent to a low-power state(when they are idle). Let’s say , the printer is active while all other USB devices are in idle state. With the Selective Suspension feature enabled, the system would suspend(i.e put them on low-power state) all the idle USB devices connected to the system. However , the Printer will be not be suspended as it is actively running.

From a system’s perspective, USB is a component in itself. Within this component there would be lot of USB devices connected. The system does not suspend whole of the USB component instead it selects a portion of the component that is to be suspended based on its state(idle or active). This is why it is called USB Selective Suspend Feature.

By default, this feature is Enabled on our System. But with certain setups,

  • The USB devices are not recognized throwing “USB device not recognized” error
  • The Connected USBs are disconnected automatically. At times , they do not turn back ON when needed.

In such cases, Disabling the USB Selective Suspend feature might help.

In this article, let us discuss various ways to Enable and Disable USB Selective Suspend Feature.

Method 1: From Advanced Power Plan Settings

Step 1: To Open Run window,  press the keys Windows+r at the same time

Step 2: Copy and paste the command given below  and Press OK 

 control.exe powercfg.cpl,,3

 

Advanced Power Plan Settings

 

 



Step 3: In the Power Options window , scroll down and locate USB Settings option

1. Double click on USB Settings to expand and look at the options.

2. Double Click on USB selective suspend setting

 

Power Options Window

 

 

Step 4: To Enable USB Selective Suspend setting,

For Enabling USB Selective Suspend On Battery,

  1. Click on On battery option
  2. From the drop down , choose Enabled
  3. Click on Apply
  4. Press OK

 

 

On Battery Setup

 

For Enabling USB Selective Suspend when Plugged in,

  1. Click on Plugged in option
  2. From the drop down , choose Enabled
  3. Click on Apply
  4. Press OK

 

 

Plugged In Setup

 

 

Step 5: To Disable USB Selective Suspend setting,

For Disabling USB Selective Suspend On Battery,

  1. Click on On battery option
  2. From the drop down , choose Disabled
  3. Click on Apply
  4. Press OK

 

 

On Battery Setup Disable

 

 

For Disabling USB Selective Suspend when Plugged in,

  1. Click on Plugged in option
  2. From the drop down , choose Disabled
  3. Click on Apply
  4. Press OK

 

 

Plugged In Setup Disable

 

Method 2 : From Device Manager

Step 1: Open the Run window by holding Windows+r keys together.

Step 2: In the run window, type devmgmt and press OK

 

 

Devmgmt In Run

 

Step 3: Locate Universal Serial Bus controllers and double click on it to expand and view the options. Alternatively, you can also click on the arrow next to it.

 

 

Double Click On Usb

 

Step 4: Locate the devices having Hub in its name and do the changes mentioned in Step 5.

 

 

Device Management

 

 

Step 5: As an example lets do the required changes for Generic USB Hub

1. Right Click on the USB device and Choose Properties

 

 

Right Click Properties

 

 

2. To Enable USB Selective Suspend feature, in the properties Window ,

  1. Click on Power Management Tab
  2. Tick on Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power
  3. Finally, press OK

 

Properties Setup

 

 

3. To Disable USB Selective Suspend feature, in the properties Window ,

  1. Click on Power Management Tab
  2. Untick on Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power
  3. Finally, press OK

 

 

Properties Setup Disable

 

 

Make sure to repeat this step for all the USB devices that have Hub in their names.

Method 3 : From Command-line

To run the commands you can either use Command Prompt or PowerShell

Step 1: Hold the keys Windows+r at the same time to open the Run window

Step 2: To open , command prompt type cmd and hit Enter

NOTE: If you want to run the commands using PowerShell , type powershell and hit Enter

 

 

Cmd

 

 

Step 3: In the command prompt window that opens,

Type the following command and hit Enter to Enable USB Selective Suspend feature On Battery,

powercfg /SETDCVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 1

 

 

Cmd Enable On Battery



 

 

Type the following and hit Enter command to Disable USB Selective Suspend feature On Battery,

powercfg /SETDCVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 0

 

 



Cmd Disable On Battery

 

 

Type the following command and hit Enter to Enable USB Selective Suspend feature when Plugged in,

powercfg /SETACVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 1

 

 

Cmd Enable Plugged In

 

 

Type the following command and hit Enter to Disable USB Selective Suspend feature when Plugged in,

powercfg /SETACVALUEINDEX SCHEME_CURRENT 2a737441-1930-4402-8d77-b2bebba308a3 48e6b7a6-50f5-4782-a5d4-53bb8f07e226 0

 

 

Cmd Disable Plugged In

 

 

That’s All. Hope you have found this information useful. Let us the know in comments , the method that helped you.

Thank you for Reading.