Two methods for energy-efficient idle listening enhancement for WLAN systems are provided. The first method performs a change of operation of a station (STA) from an active mode to an idle listening mode without notifying the change to an access point (AP) associated with the STA. In the idle listening mode, the AP may transmit frames to the STA using a higher bandwidth, but the STA can only sense channels in a lower bandwidth to save energy. The second method transmits a frame to the AP associated with the STA to notify the AP the change of operation of the STA from the active mode to the idle listening mode. In the idle listening mode, the AP may transmit frames to the STA using the lower bandwidth, and the STA can only sense channels in the lower bandwidth to save energy.