How can I tell Ubuntu to do nothing when I close my laptop lid?

Question

I would like closing the laptop lid to be a no-op. How can I do that?

Found it hard to believe that there is no GUI setting for this. — Rocky Inde, Sep 29 '17 at 3:10

Community · Accepted Answer · 2017-04-13 12:23:55Z

up vote 209 down vote accepted

For 13.10 - 16.04:

To make Ubuntu do nothing when laptop lid is closed:

Open the /etc/systemd/logind.conf file in a text editor as root, for example,
```
sudo -H gedit /etc/systemd/logind.conf
```
Add a line HandleLidSwitch=ignore (make sure it's not commented out!),
Restart the systemd daemon with this command:
```
sudo restart systemd-logind
```
or, from 15.04 onwards:
```
sudo service systemd-logind restart
```

_{See also: Ubuntu Server 13.10 now goes to sleep when closing laptop lid}

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:23

Community♦

1

answered Nov 7 '13 at 18:24

Tasos Koutoumanos

2,114172

34

This didn't work for me. What finally solved it for me was setting IgnoreLid=true in /etc/UPower/UPower.conf – Kimble Apr 2 '14 at 14:10

3

HandleLidSwitch=hibernate if you want your laptop to hibernate instead of doing nothing. – Salman Abbas Apr 18 '14 at 1:08

6

Aternative: sudo apt-get install dconf-tools, open dconf Editor application, go to org => gnome => setting-deamon => plugins => power – abrasadera Apr 26 '14 at 18:21

6

Worked for me on 14.04. – kroiz Jun 13 '14 at 7:36

3

I restart it using sudo service systemd-logind restart – Iacchus Nov 17 '15 at 14:29

| show 12 more comments

Jorge Castro · Answer 2 · 2011-10-28 21:49:25Z

For 11.04 and earlier:

Do nothing when laptop lid is closed (helpful when an external monitor is connected):

Alt + F2 and enter this: gconf-editor
apps > gnome-power-manager > buttons
Set lid_ac and lid_battery to nothing

alt text

OR

1.When on AC Power, do nothing when laptop lid is closed:
gconftool-2 -t string -s /apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons/lid_ac nothing

2.When on Battery Power, do nothing when laptop lid is closed:
gconftool-2 -t string -s /apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons/lid_battery nothing

Blank screen when laptop lid is closed (preferable when no external monitor is connected):

System > Preferences > Power Management
On AC Power (On Battery Power) > Actions
When laptop lid is closed: Blank screen

alt text

OR

1.When on AC Power, blank screen when laptop lid is closed:
gconftool-2 -t string -s /apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons/lid_ac blank

2.When on Battery Power, blank screen when laptop lid is closed:
gconftool-2 -t string -s /apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons/lid_battery blank

Mateo · Answer 3 · 2016-04-03 04:19:10Z

up vote 39 down vote

For 11.10 - 12.04:

You can select "Do Nothing" in the power settings. Open the dash (super key), search for "power" and then select the correct option in the dropdown. Note that closing the lid will actually turn off the screen though plus any external monitors:

enter image description here

If you move the mouse then any connected monitors will power back up with the laptop closed. This will then become the primary monitor.

edited Apr 3 '16 at 4:19

Mateo

6,94184568

answered Aug 9 '11 at 22:19

Jorge Castro

30.5k100414608

3

Yes, but this doesn't seem to work. I think it's a bug in 12.04. – Thom Jun 17 '12 at 21:43

1

Works for me on Ubuntu 12.04.1 LTS. – Tgr Sep 6 '12 at 9:07

It is not working for me in Lubuntu 13.10 – Sandeep Jindal Feb 13 '14 at 17:45

working for my ubuntu 13.10 – Ashish Feb 17 '14 at 5:58

Any way to do this on the command line? No X server on my lucid machine... – Steve Kroon Aug 5 '14 at 15:17

| show 1 more comment

Edward Moffett · Answer 4 · 2016-12-21 12:37:23Z

up vote 20 down vote

Ubuntu 15.10 - Ubuntu 16.10

IgnoreLid=true in /etc/UPower/UPower.conf

In terminal do:
```
sudoedit /etc/UPower/UPower.conf
```
Change IgnoreLid to IgnoreLid=true
Save and exit the editor.
Restart the UPower service with:
```
service upower restart
```

edited Dec 21 '16 at 12:37

Edward Moffett

1317

answered Mar 6 '16 at 10:52

mrfromage

30124

1

For me, this didn't work on Ubuntu 15.10, but following these steps here did: askubuntu.com/a/594417 – CrazyPenguin May 19 '16 at 16:19

2

This worked for 16.10. Thanks! – koukouviou Dec 19 '16 at 8:04

Perfect. This prevents my external monitor from going to sleep on lid close in 16.10. No more worries when closing it. – Andreas Mar 19 '17 at 21:35

add a comment |

fossfreedom · Answer 5 · 2012-04-01 09:15:18Z

11.04 and previous versions

Copying 1st given answer from: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=1319921&highlight=close+laptop+lid

In a terminal (Applications-->Accessories-->Terminal), type: gconf-editor

Navigate to apps-->gnome-power-manager-->buttons and set lid_ac and/or lid_battery to "nothing" (without the quotes).

alt text

Fynn · Answer 6 · 2016-07-18 01:32:59Z

I have 14.04.1 LTS, Trusty Tahr.

What doesn't worked for me:

Open the /etc/systemd/logind.conf file in a text editor as root, for example,
```
sudo -H gedit /etc/systemd/logind.conf
```
Add a line HandleLidSwitch=ignore (make sure it's not commented out!),

Restart the systemd daemon with this command:
```
sudo restart systemd-logind
```

Edit gConf

When on AC Power, do nothing when laptop lid is closed:

gconftool-2 -t string -s /apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons/lid_ac nothing

When on Battery Power, do nothing when laptop lid is closed:

gconftool-2 -t string -s /apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons/lid_battery nothing

What worked for me:

Setting IgnoreLid=true in /etc/UPower/UPower.conf

Working at Xubuntu 14.04.3 i386. Xubuntu have utility Power manager but settings for closing lid not worked for me. This is registered bug? — Vitaly Zdanevich, Aug 28 '15 at 23:36

Ramon Suarez · Answer 7 · 2012-06-15 07:22:37Z

There is a bug with some laptops and monitors that makes Ubuntu not honor the "do nothing" setting when the laptop's lid is closed. I have not been able to find a complete solution, but maybe there is something to do with this link where they hint at this file : /etc/default/acpi-support and using:

gconftool-2 -t string /apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons/lid_ac -s "blank"
gconftool-2 -t string /apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons/lid_battery -s "blank"

Robie Basak · Answer 8 · 2013-06-11 12:50:25Z

up vote 3 down vote

For Saucy:

Edit /etc/systemd/logind.conf and set HandleLidSwitch=lock to lock the screen on lid close (but not suspend), or HandleLidSwitch=ignore to not even lock the screen.

This is due to an upstream GNOME change. See GNOME bug 687277 for the rationale for this change.

answered Jun 11 '13 at 12:50

Robie Basak

10.3k23863

Does ubuntu use systemd? – Khurshid Alam Oct 16 '13 at 19:38

systemd is now many things. Ubuntu does not use systemd's init ("pid 1"), but it does use components that were formerly independent but are now absorbed into the systemd source, such as udev. So you will see mentions of the systemd name on an Ubuntu system, but that does not mean that its init system has suddenly changed. – Robie Basak Oct 17 '13 at 8:14

add a comment |

fossfreedom · Answer 9 · 2012-04-01 09:14:00Z

up vote 2 down vote

11.04 and previous versions

you can also go to system->preferences->power management

near bottom of the window you will find a dropdown where you can select what your system does when lid is closed

edited Apr 1 '12 at 9:14

fossfreedom♦

140k32317359

answered Dec 8 '10 at 13:15

binW

8,67663760

add a comment |

fossfreedom · Answer 10 · 2012-04-20 08:37:32Z

up vote 2 down vote

12.04

In System Settings, open Brightness & Lock. On that page, uncheck the checkbox at the bottom that says, "Require my password when waking from suspend."

edited Apr 20 '12 at 8:37

fossfreedom♦

140k32317359

answered Apr 20 '12 at 0:40

Kelley

15.8k21526

1

Tried this and it made no difference. – Thom Jun 17 '12 at 21:43

add a comment |

Patrick · Answer 11 · 2013-12-16 11:03:19Z

I like to suspend my laptop sometimes, and other times I like to keep it going for long times like a server (do nothing when I close the lid). I use Debian, and here's my simple script to do either one on the fly without rebooting:

# run this in the as the same user (or root) that xwindow is using

# test for required parameter --> empty not allowed
if [ "$1" == "" ]; then
    echo "Please provide true or false"
    echo "True means keep running when lid is closed"
    echo "False means suspend the computer when lid is closed"
    exit;
fi

# "running true" means keep running even if the lid is closed
if [ "$1" = "true" ]; then
    gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power lid-close-ac-action nothing
    gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power lid-close-battery-action nothing
fi


# "running false" means suspend the computer!
if [ "$1" = "false" ]; then
    gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power lid-close-ac-action suspend
    gsettings set org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power lid-close-battery-action suspend
fi

# if "echo" is supplied as a param, just show the current settings
if [ "$1" = "echo" ]; then
    gsettings get org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power lid-close-ac-action
    gsettings get org.gnome.settings-daemon.plugins.power lid-close-battery-action 
fi

# restart gnome to make changes effective
/etc/init.d/gdm3 restart

SunnyDaze · Answer 12 · 2017-08-23 22:16:32Z

You can easily disable the lid lock feature by clicking the System Settings icon in the Launcher/Task bar, and then clicking on Brightness & Lock.

From there, you flip the Lock switch to the off position, and un-check the "Require my password when wakening from suspend." check-box.

Another thing you have to watch for if you also plan on setting up hibernation (suspend-to-disk) is whether or not your system has a large enough swap partition to actually go into hibernation. Hibernation is different than suspend, but sometimes people like to set up the hibernation feature while they are configuring suspend.

You can also go over your Power settings, so they don't suspend the system when the lid is close. You can do this in System Setting -> Power.

Robie Basak · Answer 13 · 2013-06-11 11:02:06Z

up vote 0 down vote

For 12.10:

Edit /etc/UPower/UPower.conf and add IgnoreLid=true to the bottom.

This method no longer works in Saucy. I am unsure about 13.04.

answered Jun 11 '13 at 11:02

Robie Basak

10.3k23863

Works on 15.04 64 bit after issuing systemctl restart upower. – KcFnMi Sep 9 '15 at 16:36

1

/etc/UPower/Upower.conf IgnoreLid=true on ubuntu 14.04 use to work. after the 3.13 kernel roll out it not longer works anymore – user493997 Jan 16 '16 at 17:48

add a comment |

user123456 · Answer 14 · 2016-09-28 08:58:32Z

Let us create a script that works on all versions

#!/bin/bash

# PLEASE FEEL FREE TO CHANGE THE SCRIPT

# Ubuntu 16.04 [PLEASE COMPLETE]

sed -i '/HandleLidSwitch/d' /etc/systemd/logind.conf >/dev/null 1&>2
echo 'HandleLidSwitch=nothing' >> /etc/systemd/logind.conf >/dev/null 1&>2

# Ubuntu 14.04 [PLEASE COMPLETE]


sed -i '/IgnoreLid/d' /etc/UPower/UPower.conf >/dev/null 1&>2
echo 'IgnoreLid=true'>> /etc/UPower/UPower.conf

# [PLEASE COMPLETE ]

# gconftool-2 -t string -s /apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons/lid_ac [PLEASE COMPLETE ]
# gconftool-2 -t string -s /apps/gnome-power-manager/buttons/lid_battery nothing [PLEASE COMPLETE ]

# RESTART SERVICES

service upower restart
service systemd-logind restart

asked	7 years, 1 month ago
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How can I tell Ubuntu to do nothing when I close my laptop lid?

14 Answers 14

For 13.10 - 16.04:

For 11.04 and earlier:

For 11.10 - 12.04:

Ubuntu 15.10 - Ubuntu 16.10

11.04 and previous versions

For Saucy:

11.04 and previous versions

12.04

For 12.10:

protected by Community♦ Jun 9 '16 at 4:02

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How can I tell Ubuntu to do nothing when I close my laptop lid?

14 Answers 14

For 13.10 - 16.04:

For 11.04 and earlier:

For 11.10 - 12.04:

Ubuntu 15.10 - Ubuntu 16.10

11.04 and previous versions

For Saucy:

11.04 and previous versions

12.04

For 12.10:

protected by Community♦ Jun 9 '16 at 4:02

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged power-management or ask your own question.

Linked

Related

Hot Network Questions