SOLVED: Windows 10 Sleeps After 1-4 Minutes of Inactivity

After upgrading from an older version of the Windows Operating System to Windows 10, or even after upgrading from an older build of Windows 10 to a newer one, quite a few users start experiencing a variety of problems, chief among them being their computer going to sleep after 1-4 minutes of inactivity. For some affected users, their computers go to sleep after 2 minutes, whereas some affected users have reported 3-4 minutes of inactivity triggering the problem in their case. This seems to happen even if an affected user has set their computer to go to sleep after a longer period of time, which is why this problem can be quite troubling.

Thankfully, though, this problem is pretty fixable, and the following are the two solutions that have proven to be most effective in resolving this problem:

Solution 1: Resetting and then re-configuring your power settings

In most cases, the root of this problem are customized power plan settings – if you have custom power settings and you upgrade to a newer version of Windows, the new Operating System may not be able to cope with and support your custom power settings and, as a consequence, cause your computer to go to sleep after every 1-4 minutes of inactivity. If this is what is causing this issue in your case, you can fix it by resetting and then re-configuring your power settings. To do so, you need to:

Open the Start Menu.

Click on Settings.

Click on System.

Navigate to Power & sleep in the left pane.

In the right pane, click on Additional power settings.

Select Choose when to turn off the display.

Click on Change advanced power settings.

Click on Restore plan defaults.

Once you do so, you need to re-configure all of your power settings – including the one that dictates the amount of time of inactivity after which your computer goes to sleep – and these settings will then work as they are supposed to.

Solution 2: Fix the problem by editing your registry

Many affected users have also had luck with applying a certain fix to their registry and then configuring custom power settings to make sure that your computer only goes to sleep after a longer period of inactivity. To do so, you need to:

Press Windows Logo key + R to launch a Run

Type regedit into the Run dialog and press Enter.

In the left pane of the Registry Editor, navigate to the following directory:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > Power > PowerSettings > 238C9FA8-0AAD-41ED-83F4-97BE242C8F20 > 7bc4a2f9-d8fc-4469-b07b-33eb785aaca0

In the right pane of the Registry Editor, double-click on a value named Attributes to modify it.

Replace whatever is in this value’s Value data field with 2.

Click on OK.

Exit the Registry Editor.

Once you have applied the registry fix, you need to change your system unattended sleep timeout to a longer period of time. To do so, you need to:

Open the Start Menu.

Search for “power options”.

Click on the search result titled Power Options.

Click on Change plan settings under your selected power plan.

Click on Change advanced power settings.

Click on Change settings that are currently unavailable.

Click on Sleep.

Select System unattended sleep timeout. The value for this setting will probably be set to 2 minutes – change it to something longer, for example, 30 minutes.

Also, click on “Hibernate After” and then select a longer period of time such as 30 minutes.

Apply and save the changes you have made, exit, and the problem should have been fixed.

Solution 3: Checking Screensaver Settings

Screensaver utility is known to cause potential problems related to your sleeping. The screensaver is a utility present in Windows which allows your computer to go into a sleep mode to preserve energy. The computer is running in the background but with minimum usage and the screen is turned off. Improper configuration of this setting might cause discrepancies and hence, cause the problem. We can try disabling it and check if the problem still persists.

1. Press Windows + R to launch the Run application. Type “control panel” in the dialogue box and hit Enter.
2. Once in the control panel, click on the heading of “Appearance and Personalization”. It will be present at the second entry in the right column.

3. Now click on “Change screen saver” button present in the personalization heading.

4. Now the screensaver settings window will pop up. You can check if it is enabled. If it isn’t, you can disable it easily by selecting “None”.

If your Windows is updated to the latest version, you might not find the settings of the screensaver in the default location as in the past. Follow the steps below.

1. Press Windows + S to launch the search bar of your start menu. Type “lock screen settings” in the dialogue box and hit enter.
2. Select the first result which comes and click it. You will be navigated to your computer’s lock screen settings.
3. Navigate to the bottom the screen and click on “Screensaver settings”.

4. It is possible that there is a default screensaver active on your computer. Many users gave feedback that the screensaver was activated with a black background which didn’t let it distinguish whether it was a screensaver or not. Make sure that it is disabled and try checking the problem again.

Note: You can also set the screensaver time to a very large number if you don’t want to remove it completely.

There was another glitch present in the system where the fix reported by the users was to set all the power settings as you want, select another screensaver, save changes, then select the blank screensaver again and save changes for the final time. Here we are temporarily selecting another screensaver so the settings are updated properly when we set our blank screensaver. Also, make sure that the screen timeout is set as 30 minutes + for both (powered and battery).

Solution 4: Disabling all Themes

Themes can be characterized as a bundle of settings consisting of a font, wallpaper, sounds, cursor and sometimes, even screensaver. It is possible that you have a theme installed and activated on your Windows which is causing your computer to sleep every once in a while. You can disable all the themes and reset the settings to default so the computer sticks to the default configuration done (it is assumed that you have already set the sleep time higher than 2-3 minutes when the problem is occurring).

1. Press Windows + S to launch the search bar. Type “themes” in the dialogue box and open the most relevant result.

2. Once the theme settings are opened, select the default (or windows) theme and exit. Restart your computer and see if this solves the problem for you. If you are using a third-party theme, it is recommended that you do a little digging and confirm it isn’t the theme which is causing you the problem.

Solution 5: Changing What the Power Buttons Do

There are advanced power options available on Windows to make sure you have complete accessibility on what you can change. Sometimes these very features tend to be the root of the problem. In this solution, we will change the advanced power options and make all the power buttons do “nothing” in the “what the power buttons do” option.

1. Press Windows + R to launch the Run application. Type “control panel” in the dialogue box and press Enter.
2. Once the control panel is opened, click the subheading “Hardware and Sound”.

3. Now beneath the Power Options heading, you will see a sub-option “Change what the power buttons do”. Click it.

4. Now change all the options to “Do nothing”. Press Save Changes, exit and reboot your computer.

Solution 6: Downloading Third-Party Software

If all the above methods don’t work, you can try downloading third-party software like MouseJiggler etc. to keep your computer from sleeping. This program fakes mouse movements every minute or so which triggers the action from the user; this activity makes the system believe that a user is moving the mouse; hence your computer doesn’t go into sleep mode.

Note: Appuals have no affiliations with any third-party software. All the software listed are for the pure information of the reader. Install and use them at your own risk.

1. Download Mousejiggler from the GitHub website and open the executable.
2. Once it is opened, you will see a small window like this.

The Enable jiggle option enables jiggling your mouse whenever it is not in use. You can check this option and leave your mouse still and see the effect for yourself.

The Zen jiggle option makes the mouse move “virtually”; the mouse doesn’t move in the screen in front of you but the system still thinks it is moving.

3. You can click the arrow button after activating the jiggle for it to disappear from the screen and be shown at your taskbar (besides the clock).
4. You can disable the function anytime you wish.

Solution 7: Using the Projection menu

Some users have pointed out that they were able to prevent their system from going to sleep by using the Project menu. This is especially helpful for those users that are only encountering this behavior when they connect their computer to an external TV source.

The Project menu can be accessed by pressing the Windows + P command. Most users report that they managed to resolve the issue by using the Project menu to the option Projector Only, Extend or Second Screen Only.