Fix: Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power is greyed out

In order to make efficient use of electrical power, your Windows system manages to turn off the devices which are not currently used. You can configure these settings from the Device Manager. Right-click over the device and select Properties.

Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power

In the Power Management tab, you have to enable Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power and Windows will turn off the device when not in use so that power couldn’t be wasted. But what if the same option is greyed out:

The image shown above is referenced from this Microsoft Community thread. It clearly shows that you can’t adjust the mouse which is an external hardware device; to be turned off / on while not in use. So how to change this settings? Well, a registry manipulation will help you to fix this. Here is how:

Cannot Turn Off Mouse To Save Power In Device Manager

1. Press Windows Key + R combination, type put Regedt32.exe inRun dialog box and hit Enter to open the Registry Editor.

2. Navigate to the following location:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4d36e96f-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}\DeviceNumber

3. In the right pane of this location, you’ve to look for the DWORD named PnPCapabilities. If the DWORD doesn’t exists, you can create it usingright click -> New -> DWORD Value. It must be having the default Value data set to 0, which means that the device is getting power even while not in use. Double click on the same DWORD to modify its Value data:

4. In the above shown box, input the Value data to 24 in order to enable computer to turn off the device while it is idle. You may now close the Registry Editor and reboot the machine to make changes effective.

That’s it!