Wake on LAN (or Windows 11 WOL) can be a bit tricky. It allows you to power up or wake a computer remotely over your network, which sounds awesome until you realize that half the time, it just doesn’t work. Honestly, part of the chaos is because of various settings in the BIOS, Windows, network drivers, or even power options messing each other up. Getting it to reliably work has felt like trying to herd cats — but after fiddling with the right options, one or the other finally lets you wake up that PC without hauling out a keyboard. So, here’s a kinda messy but practical way to get WOL working on your Windows 11 machine, assuming you’re okay with diving into BIOS and network configs.
Part 1: Enable Wake on LAN (Windows 11) in BIOS/UEFI
This is crucial. If you don’t switch it on here, nothing else matters because the hardware just won’t listen for magic packets. Every motherboard has its own way of sneaking into BIOS, so it might be “Delete, ” “F2, ” “F12, ” or even “Esc.” You can try holding these keys as your PC boots, or if you’re scared to mess with BIOS, you can also go through “Settings” > System > Recovery > Advanced startup > Restart now, then choose “Troubleshoot” > “Advanced options” > “UEFI Firmware Settings.” But honestly, most are F-keys or Delete.
Step 1. Reboot and get into BIOS. Once in, look for sections labeled “Power Management, ” “Advanced, ” or “Integrated Peripherals.” The naming varies wildly between brands—some might hide Wake options deep in menus, so keep a sharp eye out.
Step 2. Find options like “Wake on LAN, ” “Wake on PCI-E, ” “Power on by PCI-E device, ” or “Resume by PCI device.” Sometimes they’re under “Onboard Devices” or “Networking” tab. If you’re scratching your head, check your motherboard manual online—it’s not exactly consistent. Once found, enable it.
Step 3. Some systems also include “Deep Sleep” or “ErP Ready” settings that might interfere, so disable those if WOL isn’t working. Because of course, Windows has to make it harder than necessary.
Step 4. Save your changes (usually F10) and reboot. Fingers crossed, the new setting sticks.
Part 2: Configure Network Adapter Settings in Windows 11
This step is about convincing Windows’ drivers to listen for magic packets. You’ll need to dig into Device Manager and tweak some advanced settings. It’s kind of weird, but these switches need to be flipped for the network card to actually accept waking signals.
Step 1. Right-click on the “Start” button, select Device Manager. Find your Ethernet adapter—generally under “Network adapters.”
Step 2. Right-click that adaptor, then choose Properties.
Step 3. Head over to the “Advanced” tab. Here’s where it gets a little annoying—look for properties like:
- Wake on Magic Packet
- Wake on Link Settings
- Wake on Pattern Match
Step 4. Set each relevant “Wake on” property to “Enabled.” You might need to select it from a dropdown or toggle it. Happens that some settings are disabled by default, so make sure you enable all of them. Click “OK” once done.
Part 3: Configure Power Management Settings
This is about making sure your PC will actually wake up when it receives the magic packet. Windows power options are usually the culprit that stops WOL in its tracks, so don’t skip this.
Step 1. Still inside the network adapter’s properties, go to the “Power Management” tab.
Step 2. Check these boxes:
- Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power
- Allow this device to wake the computer
- Only allow a magic packet to wake the computer
Step 3. Hit “Apply” and “OK” to save those changes. You’re slowly building the environment for magic to happen.
Part 4: Adjust Windows 11 Power Settings
Windows’ own power management can break WOL, especially with aggressive sleep or hybrid sleep modes. So, these tweaks are kind of essential.
Step 1. Hit Windows + X and pick “Settings.”
Step 2. Under “System, ” go to “Power” (or on some setups, it’s “Power & battery”).
Step 3. Set “Power Mode” to “Balanced.” Sometimes, “High performance” disables sleep features, and “Power saver” Limits too much.
Step 4. Customize sleep and hibernate timeouts—set them to a minimum or “Never” if you’re testing WOL. But honestly, not sure why, but disabling “Allow hybrid sleep” under Change advanced power settings in the control panel helps a lot. Expand “Sleep” > “Allow hybrid sleep” and set it to “Off.”
Step 5. Also, turn off “USB selective suspend setting” under “USB settings, ” because sometimes the network card gets suspended when it shouldn’t. Set it to “Disabled.”
How to Actually Wake the PC
This part feels almost anti-climactic but is the ‘fun’ in WOL. Find your MAC address by opening Command Prompt (here’s how to do that):
ipconfig /allLook for your network adapter and find the “Physical Address”—that’s the MAC. On one setup it worked right away, on another, I had to restart after changing all those settings. Once you know the MAC, use a Wake on LAN app or tool from another device on the same network—like [Depicus](https://www.depicus.com/wake-on-lan/) or a similar app—to send a “magic packet”.Just punch in the MAC address and hit send.
If everything’s set up right, your PC should turn on or wake up in a few seconds. It’s kind of weird, but that’s how WOL is supposed to work…sometimes. Not sure why it works, but on most machines, it just takes a bit of trial and error.