<page xmlns="http://projectmallard.org/1.0/"
      type="topic" style="question"
      id="power-closelid">

  <info>
    <link type="guide" xref="power"/>
    <link type="seealso" xref="power-suspendfail"/>
    <revision pkgversion="3.2" date="2011-09-26" status="final"/>
    
    <desc>Laptops go to sleep when you close the lid, in order to save power.</desc>
    <credit type="author">
      <name>GNOME Documentation Project</name>
      <email>gnome-doc-list@gnome.org</email>
    </credit>
    
    <include href="legal.xml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude"/>
  </info>

<title>Why does my computer turn off when I close the lid?</title>

<p>When you close the lid of your laptop, your computer will <em>suspend</em> in order to save power. This means that the computer is not actually turned off - it has just gone to sleep. You can wake it up by opening the lid. If it doesn't wake up, try clicking the mouse or pressing a key. If that still doesn't work, press the power button.</p>

<p>Some computers are unable to suspend properly, normally because their hardware isn't completely supported by the operating system (e.g. the Linux drivers are incomplete). In this case, you may find that you are unable to wake up your computer after you've closed the lid. You can try to <link xref="power-suspendfail">fix the problem with suspend</link>, or you can prevent the computer from trying to suspend when you close the lid.</p>

<section id="nosuspend">
 <title>Stop the computer from suspending when the lid is closed</title>
 <p>If you don't want the computer to suspend when you close the lid, you can change the settings for that behavior.  To set the computer to blank the screen, rather than suspend, when the lid is closed:</p>
 <note style="warning">
   <p>Be very careful if you change this setting. Some laptops can overheat
   if they are left running with the lid closed, especially if they are in
   a confined place like a backpack.</p>
 </note>
 <steps>
   <item>
     <p>Open the <app>Terminal</app> application from the <gui>Activities</gui> overview.</p>
   </item>
   <item>
     <p>To change the setting used when running on battery power, type this command and press <key>Enter</key>:</p>
     <screen>gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugin.power lid-close-battery-action blank</screen>
   </item>
   <item>
     <p>To change the setting used when running on AC power, type this command and press <key>Enter</key>:</p>
     <screen>gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugin.power lid-close-ac-action blank</screen>
   </item>
 </steps>
 <p>There are other settings available besides "blank," such as "nothing," which causes the computer to do nothing.</p>
</section>

</page>
