Different power setting for different users in the same PC

Question

I have Desktop PC running:

Edition Windows 11 Pro

Version 25H2

OS build 26200.7840

Experience Windows Feature Experience Pack 1000.26100.291.0

It has two users accounts: one is the admin, the other is ACC_user (No admin privileges)

I want to configure the screen to turn off after 20 minutes for the ACC_user

I want to configure the screen to never turn off for the admin

Any help on how I can configure this power setting INDEPENDENTLY for each of the user accounts?

Thank you in advance.

Answer 1

Windows 11 power plans and screen timeouts are primarily device-wide, but per-user behavior can be approximated using separate configuration mechanisms and management tools.

On shared or multi-user devices, Intune and the Shared PC / Shared multi-user device configuration can centrally control power behavior, including when the device goes to sleep and related power features. In that model, the admin configures power settings at the device level and restricts what standard users can change. However, the configuration is still scoped to the device (or device group), not to individual users on the same PC.

For more granular power control (for example, different disk or display timeouts) Windows exposes power settings through:

• Group Policy / ADMX-backed policies (for example, the ADMX_Power policies such as DiskACPowerDownTimeOut_2), which are computer-scoped in the documented CSP.
• Provisioning and OEM customization via Windows Configuration Designer, using the Common\\Power namespace in a provisioning package.
• The powercfg.exe command-line tool, which manages power schemes and specific GUID-based settings at the system level.

These mechanisms are designed around device-level configuration rather than per-user screen timeout differences on the same machine. The documented Intune Shared multi-user device and SharedPC CSP features allow an admin to:

• Choose when the device goes into sleep mode.
• Enable or disable power management settings.
• Control access and account cleanup behavior on shared devices.

But they do not provide a supported way, in the provided documentation, to set one screen-timeout policy for the admin account and a different one for a standard user on the same Windows 11 Pro PC.

To manage power settings in a supported way on shared Windows devices, the recommended approach is to:

1. Use Intune’s Shared multi-user device profile (for managed environments) to define consistent power behavior for all users on that device.
2. For OEM or image-level customization, use Windows Configuration Designer and the Common\\Power provisioning settings, or powercfg.exe, to define the desired default power scheme for the device.

Per-user screen timeout differences on a single Windows 11 Pro PC are not covered as a supported configuration pattern in the referenced documentation.

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References:

• Control access, accounts, and power features on shared PC or multi-user Windows devices using Intune
• Windows settings to manage shared devices using Intune
• Configure power settings overview
• Policy CSP - ADMX_Power
• Manage multi-user and guest Windows devices with Shared PC

Answer 2

Dyari, I'm very thankful for your attempt to help on this matter.

What you suggested as a course of action is precisely what I did, to no avail, before I wrote my post asking for help.

Now I will appreciate your help on how I work around the "If the PC is joined to a domain or controlled by Group Policy, an enforced policy may override individual settings."

Thanks again for your intervention.

It was a clear demonstration that a human intervention is still lights years ahead of a dumb "Artificial Intelligence" answer.

Answer 3

Dyari, I'm very thankful for your attempt to help on this matter.

What you suggested as a course of action is precisely what I did, to no avail, before I wrote my post asking for help.

Now I will appreciate your help on how I work around the "If the PC is joined to a domain or controlled by Group Policy, an enforced policy may override individual settings."

Thanks again for your intervention.

It was a clear demonstration that a human intervention is still lights years ahead of a dumb "Artificial Intelligence" answer.

Answer 4

Hi ,

I'm Dyari. Thanks for reaching out. I will be happy to assist you in this regard.

On a normal standalone Windows 11 Pro PC, Power settings are applied per user profile, not system wide. That means each user account can have its own screen timeout settings.

Sign in to the ACC_user account > Go to Settings > System > Power & battery > Screen and sleep >

On battery power, turn off my screen after 20 minutes

When plugged in, turn off my screen after 20 minutes

If this is a desktop PC, you’ll usually only see the “plugged in” option.

For the Admin account, sign in to the Admin account. > Go to Settings > System > Power & battery > Screen and sleep > Set the screen timeout to Never.

If the PC is joined to a domain or controlled by Group Policy, an enforced policy may override individual settings.

Please feel free to ask if you need further assistance.

Answer 5

Very disappointing answer.

Again, another missed opportunity on Win 11 to provide user's needed configuration flexibility