Windows 10 will not turn off display when screen is locked

Question

Is there an option to turn off the display while the screen is locked?

I do not want to turn off display based on idle time as the "Power & sleep" settings allow. I do not want the screen to turn off after a minute when the screen is not locked.

I do want the screen to turn off when the screen is locked.

This currently works on my laptop. The display is turned off after the screen is locked for a minute. It is not working on a new Windows 10 Pro install on my desktop which is fully updated. When the screen is locked, the display stays on indefinitely.

Update: This doesn't work on my laptop either. Did something change?

I really can't believe that this isn't an option and feel like I am overlooking something obvious as a user. We aren't really expected to run third party software for something like this, are we? I am able to easily set preference in Ubuntu and I'm pretty sure it was set as an option on my laptop. What am I missing?

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What I have tried

Searching for solutions brings suggestions of running task scheduler with a trigger to run third party software that will turn off the screen when the screen is locked. I do not wish to install third party software for a basic Windows setting that I know to work on other systems.

I could not find any appropriate duplicates of this question. The only thing close was a question about an apparent bug that was fixed in a later Windows update1, except that user seemed to want a general idle time applied and I do not.

I have turned off my USB wireless mouse while testing.

I have confirmed there is no software preventing the screen from turning off:

powercfg /requests

DISPLAY: None.

SYSTEM: None.

AWAYMODE: None.

EXECUTION: None.

PERFBOOST: None.

ACTIVELOCKSCREEN: None.

I have generated an energy report that shows no helpful information by running:

powercfg /energy

I have tried running the power troubleshooter from control panel with no helpful fixes.

Answer 1

See this: https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/troubleshoot/windows-client/shell-experience/monitor-powers-off-when-pc-locked

You can use this to adjust screen-off when locked.

EDIT: Actually this seemed to work better: https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/lock-screen-display-off-timeout-windows-10-8/

• Start Regedit.exe and go to the following key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\7516b95f-f776-4464-8c53-06167f40cc99\8EC4B3A5-6868-48c2-BE75-4F3044BE88A7

• Double-click the value named "Attributes". Its value data is set to 1 by default. Change the Attributes data to 2.

• Launch Powercfg.cpl to open the Power Options Control Panel applet.

• In the Power Options Control Panel, click Change Power Settings link next to your current power plan.

• Click Change advanced power settings under "Display".

Answer 2

I'm not able to find any way to do this out of the box. However, I was able to put together a short PowerShell script and Task Scheduler task to handle this. This is working for me in Windows 10.

1. Create the PowerShell script:

   Add-Type -TypeDefinition @"
   using System;
   using System.Runtime.InteropServices;
   public class User32 {
       [DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
       public static extern IntPtr FindWindow(string lpClassName, string lpWindowName);
   
       [DllImport("user32.dll", SetLastError = true)]
       public static extern int SendMessage(IntPtr hWnd, uint Msg, int wParam, int lParam);
   }
   "@ 
   
   $WM_SYSCOMMAND = 0x0112
   $SC_MONITORPOWER = 0xF170
   $MonitorOff = 2
   $hWnd = [User32]::FindWindow([NullString]::Value, "Program Manager")
   [User32]::SendMessage($hWnd, $WM_SYSCOMMAND, $SC_MONITORPOWER, $MonitorOff)
   

2. Create the Task Scheduler task:
   1. Open Task Scheduler (taskschd.msc)
   2. Click "Create Task..."
   3. In "General":
      • Provide a task name (e.g., "Turn Off Monitor on Lock").
      • Select "Run only when user is logged on".
   4. In "Triggers":
      • Create a new trigger for "On workstation lock".
      • Ensure "Any user" is selected for the trigger.
   5. In "Actions":
      • Create a new action for "Start a program".
      • For "Program/script", enter powershell.
      • For "Add arguments", enter the quoted string of the PowerShell script path. E.g.: "C:\Users\MyUser\Documents\Scripts\TurnOffMonitors.ps1".

If you're comfortable installing nircmd (no specific concerns with Nir's work, but I limit downloaded utilities), the PowerShell script can be replaced with nircmd.exe monitor off (source).

I'll also note that I created this and then disabled it shortly after, since the added delay from my monitors turning back on just wasn't worth it for me. YMMV.

Sources:

• AutoHotkey statement for monitor shutoff (SendMessage,0x112,0xF170,2,,Program Manager) https://www.reddit.com/r/AutoHotkey/comments/et5umu/comment/ffeewin/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web2x&context=3
• Running tasks on workstation lock: https://www.winhelponline.com/blog/auto-turn-off-monitor-when-lock-computer-workstation/?expand_article=1

Answer 3

I do not want to turn off display based on idle time as the "Power & sleep" settings allow. I do not want the screen to turn off after a minute when the screen is not locked.

Here's the key though. For whatever reason Windows connects the idle display turn off setting with lock screen display turn off behavior:

• If idle display turn off is set to "never", it won't turn off the display on the lock screen, ever.
• If idle display turn off is set to anything other than "never", it will always turn off the display upon locking after 1 minute. It doesn't matter if you set it to 1 minute or 5 hours (the maximum value), it will always turn off the display precisely after 1 minute on the lock screen.