The most common reason is a background Realtek audio driver or a USB/Bluetooth audio device that doesn’t fully turn off the audio stream. Sometimes, issues can also be caused by NVIDIA HDMI audio, Steam’s virtual microphone, or other third-party audio drivers. Now that you know what this message means, let’s walk through how to resolve it so your computer can sleep without any issues. Let’s get started.
1. Disable Cortana
The first thing to check is whether Cortana is enabled on your computer. Cortana often listens in the background thanks to the “Hey Cortana” feature, which lets it respond to your voice. Sometimes, this activity can keep your computer from sleeping properly. To stop this, you’ll want to disable Cortana.
2. Disable Line In from Sound Settings
Another possible cause is the Line In jack on your sound card, which is used to connect audio devices for recording or input. If Line In is active, it might prevent sleep mode.
3. Override Power Management Settings
The main reason your computer isn’t sleeping is often due to a device streaming audio, which Windows interprets as ongoing activity. You can override this by telling Windows to let your device sleep even when audio is playing.
4. Reinstall Audio Drivers
If none of the solutions above have worked, your audio drivers might be causing the issue. In this case, reinstalling the drivers can help. You can let Windows reinstall them for you automatically, or manually download the drivers from your sound card manufacturer’s website.
