If you’ve gotten your hands on the latest Sony console, then you might have noticed that the PS5 sometimes turns on by itself. The signature PlayStation beep might take you by surprise as your PS5 suddenly springs to life, seemingly by itself. But you don’t have to worry about the console displaying signs of sentience just yet. There are several reasons why your PS5 turns on by itself and there are easy ways to fix it.
Your PS5 might turn on by itself because of the HDMI Device Link or the “Stay connected to the internet in Rest Mode” feature. You can fix the issue by disabling one or both of these features. You may also need to disable Remote Play, which can trigger the console to turn on.
If your PS5 is turning on by itself – don’t worry. This doesn’t mean it’s achieved sentience and is about to take over (lol). Let’s look at some of the reasons why your PlayStation 5 turns on by itself before moving on to the steps you can take to stop it from turning on automatically.
Why Does Your PlayStation 5 Turn On by Itself?
There are multiple reasons why your PlayStation 5 turns on by itself. Fortunately, these are integrated features of the console and not bugs. In fact, you can easily access these features and disable them using your PS5’s settings menu.
And real quick – consider the behavior you’ve seen and ask yourself if your PS5 is turning off by itself too. If that’s the case, check out this article, but if it’s only turning on by itself, you’re in the right place. If your PS5 console won’t turn on at all, you for sure need to reference that article instead.
And one note, you should make sure all of your DualSense controllers (link to Amazon) are accounted for first, because sometimes a controller pinned between some cushions or something like that could have button presses turning the console on. If you’re sure it’s not that, you’re ready to move forward!
Most of the reasons for unexpected turn-ons are locating within the console’s settings themselves. You should skim our Ultimate PS5 Owner’s Guide for a broad overview of the issues you could face with the console, but some common reasons for phantom on/off behavior include:
HDMI Device Link
The HDMI Device Link is a feature exclusive to Sony. If you switch off your TV and console, but leave it on the HDMI channel your console is on, when you switch on your TV to that specific input channel your PS5 will turn on.
This feature is incredibly useful for people who don’t want to leave their bed or couch to turn on their PlayStation console. However, many people are frustrated by the HDMI device link because they’re unable to simply watch TV without turning on their PS5.
Rest Mode
If you’ve put your PS5 into Rest Mode without disabling the “Stay connected to the Internet” option, then your console might turn on by itself to upload data to the cloud or download updates.
It’s important to remember that these are the newest features integrated into next-gen consoles. Even the Nintendo Switch boasts similar features – it automatically turns on your TV and switches to the proper input as soon as you insert the console into the dock.
These are neat little features, but you can disable them easily if you’re inconvenienced by them.
How Do You Stop Your PS5 From Turning on Automatically?
If you’ve tried restarting your PS5, but the issue still persists, then try any of the following fixes to stop your console from turning on automatically:
Disable Internet Connectivity Under Rest Mode
If you’ve turned on the “Stay connected to the internet” feature in Rest Mode, then your console will automatically turn on to upload data and download the latest system software updates. You can turn off this feature so that your console only connects to the internet when the device is active or when you’re playing a game.
Here’s what you need to do:
- On your PS5’s main screen, click on the Settings gear option.
- Go to the Power Settings menu located in the left pane and choose “Features Available in Rest Mode.”
- Turn off the “Enable Turning On PS5 from network” and “Stay connected to the internet” options.
If you see a white circle next to the “Stay connected to the internet” feature, you’ll need to select it to disable it. Make sure you check that the white circle turns transparent before quitting the settings menu.
The “Enable Turning On PS5 from Network” feature allows you to use Remote Play or the PlayStation App to power on your PS5. A transparent circle next to the option indicates that the feature has been turned off.
If you’ve already turned off the “Stay Connected to the Internet” feature, then your console should automatically disable the “Enable Turning On PS5 from Network” feature as well.
In theory, you can mistakenly turn on your PS5 with the PlayStation App for Android and iOS. While this scenario is somewhat difficult to imagine, it’s still advisable to make sure that you’ve fully closed the mobile app after you’re done using it.
Disconnect HDMI Device Link
Your PlayStation 5 can turn on by itself if you’ve enabled the HDMI Device Link feature in your console’s settings. With this feature, any device connected to the HDMI, such as a soundbar or Blu-ray can switch on your PS5.
To stop your PS5 from turning on automatically, you’ll need to disable this feature. Here are the steps you need to follow to disconnect the HDMI device link:
- From your PS5’s main Dashboard, access the Settings menu.
- Choose the System menu from the given list.
- Choose the HDMI option present in the left pane, and then turn off the “Enable HDMI Device Link” option.
Hopefully, disabling this feature will stop your PlayStation 5 from turning on by itself. However, it’s important to remember that there are two additional features related to the HDMI device link: Enable One-Touch Play and Enable Power Off Link.
Enabling one-touch play will allow you to automatically turn on your PlayStation 5 by simply turning on the device that’s connected to it.
On the other hand, enabling Power Off Link will automatically put the console into Rest Mode once you switch off the device that’s connected to it. For instance, if you switch off your TV, your PS5 will automatically switch to Rest Mode.
Some people love this feature because it eliminates the need for manually putting the PlayStation 5 into Rest Mode whenever they’re done playing games. You just need to turn off your TV to enable Rest Mode.
So, before you disable the HDMI Device Link feature, make sure you disable or enable all the other related features according to your preference.
Turn Off Remote Play
If you think that one of your devices is turning on your console via Remote Play, then you can easily disable the feature to get rid of the issue.
Here’s what you need to do to turn off Remote Play:
- From your PlayStation 5’s main Dashboard, select the Settings option.
- Select Systems, and then choose Remote Play.
- Now, switch the “Enable Remote Play” feature to the off position.