Should i close the laptop lid

I have a laptop which I use as my main computer at home and I rarely take it with me. My setup is a dual monitor system, I have a main monitor and I also use the laptop screen as a second monitor.

Since I don't move it I keep the laptop lid always open. Is it okay if I don't close it at all, not even when it's turned off? It seems OK, but I wonder if the lid hinges are designed to hold the weight of the open monitor all the time.

What do you think?

Source: Cale Hunt / Windows Central

Using a laptop with an external monitor and some peripheral accessories is a great way to create an effective workstation, especially if you've got one of the best computer monitors. Something that can be annoying about this setup, however, is the fact that closing the lid of your laptop to save on space will also put the device to sleep. This will cut off the display signal to the monitor. Thankfully, you can easily solve this problem by changing a few settings in Windows 10. By doing this, you'll be able to make it so that your laptop doesn't go to sleep when you close its lid.

In this Windows 10 guide, we'll show you how to keep your laptop on when closed so that you can use an external monitor.

How to close your laptop lid and still use a monitor

Here's how to use a monitor with your laptop closed:

Source: Windows Central

1. On your laptop's desktop, right-click the battery icon.
2. Select Power Options.

3. On the left side of the Power Options page, select Choose what closing the lid does.

   Source: Windows Central

4. In the "When I close the lid" options row, select Do nothing from the dropdown menu under the "On battery" column.
5. Also select Do nothing from the dropdown menu under the "Plugged in" column.
6. At the bottom of the page, select Save changes.

You can now close your laptop lid while still using your external monitor, regardless of whether or not your laptop is plugged in to a charger. Note that we recommend plugging your laptop in while using an external monitor so that you don't have to worry about the battery draining while you use your workstation.

More Windows resources

If you have an external monitor but you're having issues getting your laptop to connect to it, check out our guide on how to fix second monitor not detected on Windows 10. Also, for more helpful articles, coverage, and answers to common questions about Windows 10 and Windows 11, visit the following resources:

Brendan Lowry is a Windows Central writer and Oakland University graduate with a burning passion for video games, of which he's been an avid fan since childhood. You'll find him doing reviews, editorials, and general coverage on everything Xbox and PC. Follow him on Twitter.

There are several different power options that will accommodate your laptop usage, and needs, when you close the lid. Shutting down will power your laptop down completely and save all your data safely before the laptop shuts down. Sleeping will use a minimal amount of power but keep your PC in a state that’s ready to go as soon as you open the lid. Sleeping also saves your work and will shut down completely once it senses the battery is running too low. Hibernation is like sleep, only it’s designed to draw even less power and is the better option to consider if you’re not planning on returning to your laptop for some time.

It’s a straightforward process to modify your laptop settings, to get the option that works best to meet your needs.

1. Click the Windows 10 Start Button to reveal the Cortana search box. For some, this will be visible by default.
2. Type Power and Sleep Settings.
3. Under the Best Match option you’ll see Power & Sleep Settings appear. Click this option to go directly to the needed menu.
4. Under the Related settings section, click on Additional power settings.
5. On the left-hand side of the Power Options screen, you’ll see an option that says Choose what closing the lid does. Click it.
6. From there, select the behavior you’d like your PC to use when closing the lid. In the drop down menu, select the action you’d prefer: Do Nothing, Sleep, Hibernate, and Shut down.
7. Click Save changes to finalize your selection and apply the changes.

Credit: Laptop Mag

I have an Asus ROG strix g and I always use it in one place only. I'm a little concerned that opening and closing the laptop too much will damage the display because the lid is really flimsy and applies pressure on the screen everytime I open or close the lid. so, is it okay to always leave the laptop open?

While your Windows laptop obviously works great while on the go, you can make it into a proper workstation at home too. By connecting an external keyboard, mouse, and monitor, a laptop can function as a desktop. But there's one problem with this: how do you keep the laptop awake when it's closed?

By default, Windows puts your laptop to sleep when you close the lid. This means that even if you don't want to use your laptop screen as a secondary monitor, you still have to leave your laptop open to keep your computer awake.

Or do you? Thankfully, you can keep your monitor on when your laptop is closed. Here's how.

How to Keep the Screen on When Your Laptop Lid Is Closed

Windows provides a simple toggle to let you keep your laptop screen on, even when it's closed. Find it through the following steps:

1. In the System Tray [at the bottom-right corner of the screen], find the Battery icon. You may have to click the small arrow to show all icons. Right-click Battery and choose Power Options.
   1. Alternatively, to open this menu on Windows 10, you can head to Settings > System > Power & sleep and select Additional power settings from the right menu. Drag the Settings window to make it wider if you don't see this link.
2. On the left of the resulting Power Options Control Panel entry, select Choose what closing the lid does.
3. You'll see options for the power and sleep buttons. Under When I close the lid, change the dropdown box for Plugged in to Do nothing.
   1. If you like, you can also change the same setting for On battery. However, this can cause some issues, as we'll explain below.
4. Click Save Changes and you're good to go.

Now when you close your laptop screen, your machine will continue to run as normal. This means that you can control it with external devices while the laptop itself is neatly tucked away.

However, remember that when you want to put your laptop to sleep or shut it down, you'll need to use the commands on the Start Menu [or try shortcuts for sleeping and shutdown] once you've made this change. Another option is using the physical power button on your computer to turn it off; you can change the behavior for this on the same page mentioned above.

Beware of Heat When Closing a Laptop Without Sleeping

That's all you have to do in order to close your laptop without it sleeping. However, changing this option has a consequence that you should know about.

The default shortcut for closing the lid to put your PC to sleep is convenient when you put your laptop in a bag. But if you forget about that after changing this option, you could accidentally put your laptop in an enclosed space while it's still turned on.

In addition to wasting battery power, this will generate a lot of heat and can destroy your laptop over time. Thus, you should consider only changing the lid setting for when your laptop is Plugged in, and always plugging in your laptop when you use it at your desk.

That way, you won't forget and put a running laptop in an enclosed space without thinking. This is a good combination of convenience and safety.

Easily Keep Your Laptop Awake When It's Closed

As we've seen, it's easy to change how your laptop behaves when the screen is closed. Keeping it awake, even with the lid shut, allows you to take advantage of your computer's power even if you aren't using its built-in display.

If you often use your laptop in this fashion, we recommend getting a laptop dock for more functionality.

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