Adjust screen lock

Question

How do I change the amount of time before screen locks?

Answer 1

Hello,

Have you already tried this?

Open Settings

Go to System > Power & sleep

Under Screen, change:

On battery power, turn off after

When plugged in, turn off after

Set this to a longer time (e.g., 10, 15, 30 minutes)

Answer 2

To change how long Windows waits before locking the screen, adjust the screen saver and power/display timeouts. There are two main scenarios: when signed in and idle, and when the PC is locked.

1. Change when the screen saver activates (and optionally locks)
   1. Open Settings → Personalization → Lock screen (or use the shortcut: Lock screen).
   2. Select Screen saver.
   3. In Screen Saver Settings:
      • Choose a screen saver or (None) if not wanted.
      • Use Wait to set how many minutes of inactivity before the screen saver starts.
      • To require sign-in (lock effect), check On resume, display logon screen.
   4. Select OK.
2. Change how quickly the display turns off when locked (Console Lock Display Off Timeout) By default, when the PC is locked, the monitor can power off after 1 minute. This can be changed using powercfg.
   1. Open Command Prompt as administrator.
   2. Expose the Console Lock Display Off Timeout setting:

            powercfg.exe -attributes SUB_VIDEO 8EC4B3A5-6868-48c2-BE75-4F3044BE88A7 -ATTRIB_HIDE
      

   3. Open Control Panel → Hardware and Sound → Power Options → Change plan settings for the active plan → Change advanced power settings.
   4. Under Display, adjust Console lock display off timeout to the desired number of minutes.
   5. Select OK.
3. Directly set lock/unlock display timeouts via powercfg
   1. Open Command Prompt as administrator.
   2. For AC power (plugged in), run:

            powercfg.exe /setacvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_VIDEO VIDEOIDLE <time in seconds>
            powercfg.exe /setacvalueindex SCHEME_CURRENT SUB_VIDEO VIDEOCONLOCK <time in seconds>
            powercfg.exe /setactive SCHEME_CURRENT
      

      • VIDEOIDLE controls display timeout when unlocked.
      • VIDEOCONLOCK controls display timeout when at the lock screen.
   3. For battery (DC) power, use /setdcvalueindex instead of /setacvalueindex.

These settings together control how long the system stays active before the screen saver starts, when it requires sign-in again, and how quickly the display turns off when locked.

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References:

• Configure a Screen Saver in Windows
• Monitor powers off after 1 minute when PC is locked

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