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If you’re the lucky owner of a new Lenovo laptop, then you’ll have spotted that it turns itself on when you open the lid. This is a feature Lenovo call Flip to Start and it’s part of their Vantage suite of utilities which help keep your machine up to date.
Although this is a handy feature and saves time pressing the power button, not all users like it – I know of many that believed their machines to be faulty. Fortunately, it’s easy to turn off Flip to Start, so that your Lenovo laptop doesn’t power up the next time you open the lid.
Vantage is pre-installed on all new Lenovo laptops, so it’s easily found by using Windows search. Press the Windows key (or click the Start button) and type Vantage. It should be the first item that appears.
If you uninstalled Vantage from your laptop, you can download it again from the Microsoft Store.
If you’ve not read our What is Lenovo Vantage? Should I get rid of it? feature, then you may not know that the app contains a stack of features which will help you keep an eye on your laptop. Aside from security features, there’s a mass of options which are specific to your model in relation to cooling, charging and audio and visual settings. It’s really worth spending a bit of time inside Vantage.
To turn off Flip to Start, select Device from the menu, and then select Power.
Once the Power page appears, scroll down to Power settings. Flip to start is usually the first option so click the slider to disable the feature. That’s it – nothing to it really.
Flip to Start is a great feature, particularly when paired with facial log-in software like Windows Hello and whilst it undoubtedly saves a bit of time, many Lenovo customers like to turn it off. However, if you change your mind, you can now see that it won’t take long to re-enable it.
While you might only dip into Lenovo Vantage to tweak the Flip to Start setting, it’s worth knowing that this utility does much more than that. Lenovo Vantage acts as your laptop’s command centre, providing options for system updates, hardware health monitoring, and performance tuning.
For example, you can:
To explore these features:
It’s worth spending a little time inside Vantage — you might discover some handy adjustments you didn’t know were there.
There’s little doubt that many users who use a Lenovo laptop at a desk will find Flip to Start extremely useful. However, as I mentioned at the start, there are many users who don’t realise that the merest movement of the lid can trigger a machine start-up or wake-up.
Modern Windows laptops rely heavily on a power state called Modern Standby, which keeps the machine in a low-power state rather than switched off. The idea behind Modern Standby is to provide an ‘instant-on’ experience for the user, similar to that of a phone or tablet.
Laptops often flex during travel when you throw them into a backpack or bag. If the user is unlucky, then a slight movement of the screen will trigger a power-up. This can be disconcerting if the machine unknowingly switches back on and, thanks to Modern Standby, resumes from the end of the last user session. YouTube movies, Spotify playlists could all spring back to life without any user interaction. Clearly, the chances of your packed laptop blaring out your re-watch of The Guns of Navarone is an extreme and almost-humorous example, but there is a serious side.
If your machine does fire up whilst it’s in the confines of a bag or case, the real danger is the accumulation of heat. Should the machine run background syncs or Windows updates, it won’t enjoy doing these tasks from the confines of an airtight or insulated container.
The heat generated will have nowhere to go, causing the cooling fans to ramp up to maximum speed, desperately trying to cool a suffocated system. It’s a potentially machine-killing thermal feedback loop.
Aside from the frustration of pulling out a scorching-hot laptop with a completely dead battery when you arrive at your meeting, this type of trauma causes severe hardware damage. Overheating places unnecessary stress on the motherboard, RAM, and solid-state drives (SSD), which will compromise the machine’s longevity.
While the Flip to Start saves seconds, think about how you use your laptop. Having a machine that can turn itself when there is a slight gap between the screen and chassis will not work for everyone.
If you’re after another hands-free way to start up your laptop, Lenovo laptops also support a Power on with AC Attach option inside the BIOS (also known as UEFI). This means your laptop can automatically turn itself on as soon as you plug in the power adapter — ideal if you use your laptop docked at a desk.
Here’s how to enable it:
Now, connecting the laptop to a power source automatically turns it on, even if the lid stays shut.
Occasionally, users find that Flip to Start stops working unexpectedly, either after a software update or BIOS reset. If opening the lid no longer turns on your laptop, here’s a quick checklist to troubleshoot:
Once these are checked and corrected, Flip to Start should work smoothly again.
This article was updated on the 24 June 2026 with additional instructions
