How to put programs to sleep in Windows 10

How to put programs to sleep in Windows

Wondering how to put programs to sleep in Windows 10 computer? Search no more!

We’ll be focusing on that all through this article.

After long periods of use, your computer is likely to feel slow at some point or run out of battery juice faster.

If it is not a battery problem, it could be happening because you are running too many applications in the background.

Windows 10 operating system is set up in a way that applications keep running in the background so that if you ever need to open them again, those apps will have a fast startup, popping up within seconds.

Other reasons why applications run in the background include giving your computer the ability to make use of additional features such as downloading important data, showing up-to-date notifications, and updating Live Tiles.

While these features are essential and can be useful in many ways, a background app (whether you started it or not) can clog system resources, drain your battery and sap your bandwidth.

Luckily, you can do without those apps running in the background by making changes in settings and putting them in sleep mode.

If you thought that those changes might require you to uninstall some programs, you don’t need to worry about that.

What you simply have to do is put some of those background apps to sleep, and you will be freeing up the device resources used up by those programs.

This guide shows you detailed steps on how you can put programs to sleep on Windows 10.

Table of Contents

  1. How to put programs to sleep in Windows 10
    1. Put programs to sleep using Privacy Settings 
    2. Put programs to sleep on Windows 10 using System Settings
  2. Wrap Up

How to put programs to sleep in Windows 10

Put programs to sleep using Privacy Settings

  • Hover your mouse to the Windows Start button icon to access the Start Menu. . Right-click on it and click on “Settings”;
  • In the resulting window, locate “Privacy” from the options and click it;
How to put programs to sleep in Windows 10

  • Privacy settings opens up. Hover to the left pane of the screen, scroll down and locate “Background Apps”. Open it;
How to put programs to sleep in Windows 10

  • To put all the programs on your Windows 10 PC to sleep, hover your mouse to the right. Then, disable the toggle switch beneath “Let apps run in the background”;
How to put programs to sleep in Windows 10

  • The image below shows the toggle switch after disabling it.
How to put programs to sleep in Windows 10

You can also choose the specific programs you would like to disable in case you do not want to disable them all. Simply scroll down and chose the apps you want to run in the background.

Set the toggle switch to off, as displayed in the image below. We have chosen to turn off the “Calculator” application.

How to put programs to sleep in Windows 10

Put programs to sleep on Windows 10 using System Settings

Using System Settings, you can put programs to sleep or prevent apps from running in the background by turning on the Battery Saver mode.

Although this option usually turns on automatically once the battery power level is less than 20 percent, you can manually turn it on whenever you want.

Follow the steps below:

  • Open Settings and click on “System”;
How to put programs to sleep in Windows 10

  • Click on “Battery”, and on the right, locate “Battery Saver”;
How to put programs to sleep in Windows 10

  • Under the battery saver slider, use the toggle switch to turn off: “Battery saver status until next charge”. This will turn on the battery saver.

Once you do this, your apps will no longer run in the background.

NOTE: These steps only work for applications that you got from the Microsoft Store. Programs outside the store will need to be put to sleep manually and be stopped from running at startup.

How do desktop apps come into play? Can I put them to sleep too?

Your traditional Windows desktop apps are not controlled by the settings highlighted above. They only work with the new mobile-style universal apps on Windows 10, which are also known as “Metro apps” on Windows 8.

If you want to stop desktop apps from running in the background, the best way to do it is to close desktop applications when they are not in use.

Also, check that applications aren’t hiding in your notification area and running in the background.

Go to “Task Manager” and click on the “Startup” tab to view all the applications you have running. You can disable any app you don’t need.

Wrap Up

Saving system resources on your computer let you work more efficiently, and your machine runs smoother too.

If you have to apply the sleep setting to some programs to achieve that, then so be it.

We hope that the steps highlighted above have shown you some of the best methods on how to put programs to sleep on Windows 10.

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