Why Do USB Devices Disconnect Randomly?
In an effort to maximize battery life on laptops and reduce power consumption on desktop PCs, Windows 10 includes a feature called “USB Selective Suspend.” This feature allows the operating system to automatically cut power to specific USB ports if it detects that the connected device has been idle for a period of time.
While this is great for saving battery, it can cause massive problems. External hard drives might unexpectedly unmount, gaming mice might freeze for a second when you move them after a pause, and USB audio interfaces might drop connections and crash recording software. If you rely on stable, continuous USB connections, you need to stop Windows from putting your ports to sleep.
How to Disable USB Selective Suspend in Windows 10
You can turn off this aggressive power management feature deep within the Windows Power Options.
- Click the Start button, type Control Panel, and press Enter to open it.
- In the top-right corner of the Control Panel, change the “View by” setting to Large icons or Small icons.
- Click on Power Options.
- Find your currently active power plan (it will have a filled radio button next to it, like “Balanced” or “High Performance”) and click the blue link next to it that says Change plan settings.
- On the next screen, click Change advanced power settings.
- A small “Power Options” popup window will appear. Scroll down the list and find the category labelled USB settings. Click the little plus (
+) icon to expand it. - Expand the next sub-category labelled USB selective suspend setting.
- Change the setting from “Enabled” to Disabled. (If you are on a laptop, you will see two options: “On battery” and “Plugged in”—change both to Disabled).
- Click Apply, then click OK.
Windows will now supply constant, uninterrupted power to all of your USB ports, preventing your external devices from randomly disconnecting or going to sleep while you are working.