Turn off external monitor when lid is closed

Ask Fedora
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1

How do I configure Fedora 43 to turn off the external monitor when the lid of my laptop is closed?

I have managed to configure Fedora to turn off the internal monitor when the lid is closed, without suspending the system. Now, with an external monitor attached over HDMI, the external monitor becomes the primary screen, whenever the lid is closed.

I would like the external monitor to behave the same as the internal one. Shouldn’t both share the same settings? If not, how can the settings of the external monitor be changed?

2

If you are willing to put in into suspend,

sudo mkdir /etc/systemd/logind.conf.d/
sudo cp ‘/usr/lib/systemd/logind.conf’ ‘/etc/systemd/logind.conf.d/logind.conf’
sudo vi ‘/etc/systemd/logind.conf.d/logind.conf’
remove # from line HandleLidSwitch=suspend

3

Tell us what setting you are using, and what desktop you are on.

4

This is the expected result when HandleLidSwitch=ignore. The internal screen is disabled and external screen takes over.
Lock the session HandleLidSwitch=lock. This usually puts all external monitors into energy-saving mode.

5

I actually need the system running. I have disabled the machine from going into suspend when the lid is closed by setting HandleLidSwitch to ignore in logind.conf. I also have the setting IgnoreLid set to true in UPower.conf.

I’m using Gnome 49.

Unfortunately, HandleLidSwitch=lock doesn’t do anything, but I would not want my system to lock anyway, when the lid is closed.

1 Like
6

I really wish Gnome would allow users to adjust the behavior or at least the energy saving settings for external displays. I still haven’t found a solution to turn off the external display when the lid is closed. I also really would like to know, how other people had the opposite problem and what the underlying cause for that was.