Can I disable the screen saver going to the laptop screen in a multi-monitor setup?

Question

This is not an important issue at all, but strangely annoying. I have a quad monitor setup driving off of a docking station plugged into my laptop with the lid closed normally.

When the screen saver kicks on, 1 of the 4 monitors is stays on every time. I eventually found that Windows 11 is trying to send the screen saver to the laptop display whether the lid is down or not AND even if the laptop is marked as disconnected when the lid is open.

It seems like the screen savers are hard coded to go to screen 1 no matter what and also has a max of 4 screens.

I have tried all of the screen savers, tried closing the lid, opening the lid and disabling. The only thing that sorda worked was extending the laptop display with the wide screens. The down side is that it put the wide screen in a much lower resolution. When I tried the same thing with one of the portrait displays, one of the screens still stayed on.

System Info below

Latitude 5440

Docking station - Targus USB C Universal Docking Station with Quad 4K(QV4K)

Edition Windows 11 Enterprise

Version 23H2

Installed on ‎5/‎24/‎2024

OS build 22631.3737

Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.22700.1009.0

***moved from Windows / Windows 11 / Display and graphics***

Answer 1

Hello@DS12434

It seems like you’re having trouble with the screen saver on your multi-monitor setup in Windows 11. Here are a few steps you can try:

Disable the Screen Saver: You can disable the screen saver entirely. To do this, open the Settings app and click on Personalization. Click on Lock screen and scroll down to Related settings. Click on Screen saver and select None from the drop-down menu. Click on Apply and OK to save the changes.

Turn Off Laptop Screen: If you want to turn off the laptop screen when using an external monitor, you can do so from the Windows Settings. Press Win+I to open Windows Settings. Ensure that you are in the System tab. Click on the Display menu on the right side. Expand the Extend these displays drop-down list. Choose the Show only on 2 option. Click the Keep changes button.

These steps might not completely solve your problem as it seems like there’s a specific issue with how Windows 11 handles screen savers on multi-monitor setups.If the problem persists, it is recommended to report this issue to Microsoft through the Feedback Center APP:

Send feedback to Microsoft with the Feedback Hub app - Microsoft Support

Best regards

Wesley Li.