I'd like to write a short python script that puts my computer to sleep. I'Ve already searched the API but the only result on suspend has to do with delayed execution. What function does the trick ?
6 Answers
I don't know how to sleep. But I know how to Hibernate (on Windows). Perhaps that is enough?
shutdown.exe
is your friend! Run it from the command prompt.
To see its options do
shutdown.exe /?
I believe a hibernate call would be:
shutdown.exe /h
So, putting it all together in python:
import os
os.system("shutdown.exe /h")
But as other have mentioned, it is bad to use os.system. Use the popen instead. But, if you're lazy like me and its a little script them meh! os.system it is for me.

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Without resorting to shell execution, if you have pywin32 and ctypes:
import ctypes
import win32api
import win32security
def suspend(hibernate=False):
"""Puts Windows to Suspend/Sleep/Standby or Hibernate.
Parameters
----------
hibernate: bool, default False
If False (default), system will enter Suspend/Sleep/Standby state.
If True, system will Hibernate, but only if Hibernate is enabled in the
system settings. If it's not, system will Sleep.
Example:
--------
>>> suspend()
"""
# Enable the SeShutdown privilege (which must be present in your
# token in the first place)
priv_flags = (win32security.TOKEN_ADJUST_PRIVILEGES |
win32security.TOKEN_QUERY)
hToken = win32security.OpenProcessToken(
win32api.GetCurrentProcess(),
priv_flags
)
priv_id = win32security.LookupPrivilegeValue(
None,
win32security.SE_SHUTDOWN_NAME
)
old_privs = win32security.AdjustTokenPrivileges(
hToken,
0,
[(priv_id, win32security.SE_PRIVILEGE_ENABLED)]
)
if (win32api.GetPwrCapabilities()['HiberFilePresent'] == False and
hibernate == True):
import warnings
warnings.warn("Hibernate isn't available. Suspending.")
try:
ctypes.windll.powrprof.SetSuspendState(not hibernate, True, False)
except:
# True=> Standby; False=> Hibernate
# https://msdn.microsoft.com/pt-br/library/windows/desktop/aa373206(v=vs.85).aspx
# says the second parameter has no effect.
# ctypes.windll.kernel32.SetSystemPowerState(not hibernate, True)
win32api.SetSystemPowerState(not hibernate, True)
# Restore previous privileges
win32security.AdjustTokenPrivileges(
hToken,
0,
old_privs
)
If you want just a one-liner with pywin32 and has the right permissions already (for a simple, personal script):
import win32api
win32api.SetSystemPowerState(True, True) # <- if you want to Suspend
win32api.SetSystemPowerState(False, True) # <- if you want to Hibernate
Note: if your system has disabled hibernation, it will suspend. In the first function I included a check to at least warn of this.

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import os
os.system(r'rundll32.exe powrprof.dll,SetSuspendState Hibernate')

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If you're using Windows, see this gmane.comp.python.windows
newsgroup post by Tim Golden.
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1I followed your link but the script doesn't work for me. How can I get win32api and win32security, both imports won't work. – lhk Sep 22 '11 at 16:33
subprocess.call(['osascript', '-e','tell app "System Events" to sleep'])
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2While this code may answer the question, providing additional context regarding how and/or why it solves the problem would improve the answer's long-term value. – leopal Jan 08 '20 at 10:19