Does Steam Download Games In Sleep Mode? How To Download PC Games When Laptop/PC Is Asleep


Does Steam Download Games In Sleep Mode: How To Download PC Games When Laptop/PC Is Asleep

Does Steam download games in sleep mode? In principle, it's a great idea. Start a download up, then save energy by putting your computer into sleep mode. Then go and live your best life. Go out, go to bed, eat crisps, and when you go back to your computer, your game will have finished downloading, and be ready for you to play.

We know Xbox and Nintendo Switch allow downloading games in sleep mode. But the question is, can you actually do this? Can you download PC games when your laptop or PC is asleep? That's the knotty question we'll be unravelling today.

Does Steam Download Games In Sleep Mode

Following the traditional linear approach to question answering, let's deal with the first question first. Does Steam download games in Sleep Mode? The answer, perhaps unsurprisingly, perhaps disappointingly, is no.

When you place your PC or laptop in Sleep Mode, you are effectively turning off all the main processes of the CPU. So it won't continue to operate in the background. You'll find that if you reboot your computer, your download will be stuck at the same point it was when you put the computer in Sleep Mode. In order to keep the download going, you need to keep the computer awake.

Which seems a fairly straightforward answer to the question. But there may be a couple of options to help get that download done.

How To Download PC Games When Laptop/PC Is Asleep

PSX Steam Deck VR Steam Download Games
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As we said above, Steam can't download games when your computer is in Sleep Mode. But, if you find yourself confronted by an enormous download, and want to try downloading it overnight, you can. You can tweak settings on your computer to stop it from automatically shutting down. You can turn off the monitor on a desktop, or close the lid on a laptop, and still let the download run.

On a laptop, look for settings marked 'Change what closing the lid does' in the control panel. This will then allow you to, as the name suggests, close the lid of your laptop without automatically entering Sleep Mode. At least that way, you can let your download continue without having the screen on, hopefully minimising energy consumption and heat.

You can also try to download your game at a time when there is as little network traffic as possible. So overnight is a good shout, as you are less likely to have other people competing for bandwidth. It isn't a perfect solution. But if you do want to download a Steam game, you are going to have to keep your computer on.

For more articles like this, take a look at our How To and PC Gaming page.