Turning on/waking a computer from USB C dock without laptop being powered through the dock

Question

Is it possible to wake/turn on a laptop with a USB-C Thunderbolt 3 dock when the laptop is not powered through the dock? (the laptop cannot be powered through the dock)

Solution

I quote from plugable.com the answer for the post Wake on Mouse with Thunderbolt 3:

In our experience helping others, we have found that not all Thunderbolt 3 systems perform in the same manner when it comes to waking from a sleep state via a USB device connected to a Thunderbolt 3 dock. [...]

Speaking in general, some systems will power off the Thunderbolt 3 port when entering a sleep state and as a result devices connected to a Thunderbolt 3 dock will not be able to power on the system. Since your system cannot be charged via its Thunderbolt 3 port, ensuring that the original MSI power adapter is connected could possibly help.

Other systems (such as the Dell XPS 13 9350) require a BIOS setting change to allow the system to wake from USB devices, which in turn also affects the behavior of USB devices connected to a Thunderbolt 3 dock.

Examining and changing what settings are available within your System BIOS for Thunderbolt 3 and USB devices (and Power settings) may provide options to change the behavior.

The answer for your question much depends on the hardware. You may already check if your BIOS has an option for waking from USB devices, or ask the Support of the manufacturer.

You will also need to set Windows not to cut power to the dock, which is most probably possible (but not guaranteed).

Comments

[harrymc]

Try it and see.

[Daverry]

I don't own a dock yet (they cost like $190) I was wanting to know if it worked before I bought one.

[Daniel B]

Not generally. But depending on the make and model of your notebook, options may be available.