How to Change Power Button Action

In this post, we will show you how to Change Power Button Action in Windows 11/10 to change what the Power button does when it is on battery or plugged in. Even though it’s more common to use the power options in the Start menu to shut down Windows 11/10 these days, there are still a lot of people who find it easier to use the hardware power button.

If you are one of the people who likes to use the physical button, you can also change its behavior so that when you press it, it does nothing, sleeps, hibernates, shuts down, or turns off the screen. Something that can be useful in many situations, like if you have a tablet and want to save battery life by making it hibernate instead of sleep.

Or, if you want to turn on a desktop PC quickly, you may want to use the “sleep” mode instead of shutting it down. You can also go to the official Microsoft support site to know more information.

Ways to Change Power Button Action

Using Group Policy Editor

Policy settings are another way to change what a power button does. These rules take precedence over the settings in Power Options. To change the rules about the power button,

1. Open Run and enter gpedit.msc to open the Local Group Policy Editor.
2. Go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > System > Power Management > Button Settings.
3. Double-click on Select the Power button action (plugged in).
4. Check Enabled and set Power Button Action to your preference.
5. Click Apply and Ok.
6. Apply the same process for Select the Power button action (on battery).

Through Power Options

This is how the GUI changes the settings for the power button by default. Power Options is an option in the Control Panel that lets you change all of the power settings. You can change the way the power button works for either all power plans or just one.

Plans for All Power. Here’s how this method works:

1. Press Win + R to open Run.
2. Type powercfg.cpl and press Enter. It will load Power Options.
3. Click Choose what power buttons do.
4. Click on the drop-down boxes next to When I press the power button.
5. Select the option you want.
6. Click Save Changes.

Follow the steps below to change the settings for a certain plan’s power button:

1. Open Power Options.
2. Click on Change plan settings for your power plan.
3. Select Change advanced power settings.
4. Expand Power buttons and lid > Power button action.
5. Click the drop-down boxes for On battery and Plugged in, and set the option you want.
6. Click Apply and Ok.

Using Command-line Interface

If you know how to use the CLI, it might be easier to change these settings with it. You can change the settings for the power button for the current power plan or for any other power plan. Choose one based on what you need.

Here are the steps to change power button actions for your current power plan using a CLI:

1. Open the Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell.
2. Enter the following commands:
3. powercfg -setdcvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT 4f971e89-eebd-4455-a8de-9e59040e7347 7648efa3-dd9c-4e3e-b566-50f929386280 “Option Index”
4. powercfg -setacvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT 4f971e89-eebd-4455-a8de-9e59040e7347 7648efa3-dd9c-4e3e-b566-50f929386280 “Option Index”
5. Make sure to replace “Option Index” with a value as follows:
   • Do nothing – 0
   • Sleep – 1
   • Hibernate – 2
   • Shutdown – 3
   • Turn off display – 4
6. Type powercfg -SetActive SCHEME_CURRENT and press Enter.

To change the settings of a power plan, you need to know its GUID. Here’s how to change all of the settings for the power button:

1. Open the Command Prompt or Windows PowerShell.
2. Enter powercfg /l and note the GUID number for the plan you want.
3. Enter the same commands as the above method while replacing SCHEME_CURRENT with the GUID number.

With Registry Editor

You can also change the settings for the Power Button in the registry. The Registry Editor can be used to do this. First, make a copy of your registry, and then do the following:

1. Launch Run and enter regedit. It directs you to the Registry Editor.
2. Navigate to Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\
3. Right-click on Microsoft and select New > Key.
4. Set its name to Power.
5. Create a new key PowerSettings inside Power.
6. Create new key 7648EFA3-DD9C-4E3E-B566-50F929386280 inside PowerSettings and go inside this key.
7. Right-click on an empty area and select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.
8. Set its nameit ACSettingIndex.
9. Create another DWORD value and name it as DCSettingIndex.
10. Double-click on the entries to set their Value data to any of the following options:
    • Take no action = 0
    • Sleep = 1
    • Hibernate = 2
    • Shut down = 3