Numlock on when computer is off

The behavior is of the keyboard LEDs being ON is fine, and it stays on because:

  • After a normal / successful shutdown, the motherboard LED is on, and that means the motherboard is still receiving power.

  • As long as the motherboard receives power, it will give +5V AUX supply. The +5V AUX voltage is what is used to power up the system.

  • It can also power the USB ports when the PC is off if your motherboard supports that function.

  • It also maintains the state of the LEDs on the keyboard as far as my knowledge goes, for example if your NumLock was ON when your PC was ON, then it will remain ON

The only way you can prevent it is to shut off the power from where it is plugged in, or just pull out the power cord connecting your SMPS / PSU from the back of your CPU.

For more reference and details read this on SevenForums. He does mention that even his NumLock remains ON along with his motherboard LED.


It could be that the computer is waiting for a 'wake on HID (Human Interface Device, e.g. keyboard)'. This is especially likely if you are hibernating instead of actually turning it off. There may also be a BIOS setting controlling this.

You could try hitting a key and seeing if the computer wakes. It may not necessarily do this, and if you don't need wake on keyboard you may as well disable it anyway.


You could try disabling wake on keyboard in the Windows 7 device settings:

  1. Open the Device Manager

  2. Find your keyboard, right click, Properties

  3. Go to the Power Management tab

  4. Uncheck Allow this device to wake the computer


You could also take a look at your BIOS settings for something related. I can't give more precise instructions on that.