Last Updated on June 13, 2023 by Mathew Diekhake

Windows 10 lets you choose how long your display—and any other displays you might have connected to the computer—stay on before they turn off after the PC goes into idle.

Once the computer’s display has turned off, you need to move the trackpad/mouse or press a key on the keyboard for it turn back on again. When the display is back on, you will find the computer in the same state as you left it: all browser tabs, unsaved work, so forth, is still there.

Windows 10 doesn’t let you choose to the exact minute how long you’d like the display to remain on once you’ve walked away from the PC, but it does give you 5 minutes increments to pick from for the first 30 minutes, 15-minute increments from 30 minutes to an hour, and then goes into hours from 1 to 5. After 5 hours you’re only option is to have it so that it never turns off.

Here’s what you need to change how long it takes for your computer’s screen to turn off after you have let it go into idle.

How to Change Turn Off Display After Time in Settings

1. Open the Settings app and tap/click on the “System” link from the of categories from the Windows Settings.

2. Tap/click on “Power & sleep” from the sub categories in the left side of the window and then tap/click on the “dropdown menu” under the Screen heading on the right side.

Note: This menu differs between desktop PCs and laptops; since laptops aren’t always plugged in all the time, they get some added features here.

How it appears from a desktop:

How it appears from a laptop:

How to Change Turn Off Display After Time in Power Plan Settings

1. Open the power plan settings from the Control Panel.

2. Next to where it says Turn off the display, click the drop-down box and pick a time from the list. (You also have the option of selecting never from the bottom of the list if you don’t want the computer’s display to turn off at all.)

Note: If you’re viewing it from a laptop, you’ll also get a secondary option for turning off the display when running on battery.

Tap/click on the Save changes button at the bottom of the window before closing the Control Panel window.

How to Change Turn Off Display After Time in Advanced Power Plan Settings

1. Open the advanced power plan settings.

2. Scroll down the list until you see “Display” and expand it. You’ll then see a link that you can click to expand it again and reveal the “up” and “down” arrows that you can tap/click to change the time to turn off the display after.

3. Tap/click on the “OK” button before closing the Power Options dialog.

That’s all.