The Aggressive Ubuntu Screen Lock
By default, Ubuntu Linux prioritises security by automatically turning off the screen and locking your session after only five minutes of inactivity. To resume your work, you are forced to re-enter your user password. While this is a critical security measure for an office environment or a public space, it is incredibly tedious on a personal home desktop. If you are watching a long video, reading a lengthy PDF, or monitoring a terminal process without touching the mouse, having your screen constantly lock is a massive productivity killer.
How to Disable the Automatic Screen Lock via Settings
The standard GNOME desktop environment in Ubuntu allows you to decouple the screen blanking feature from the actual security lock, giving you complete control over your session’s behaviour.
1. Open the Activities overview by pressing the Super (Windows) key.
2. Type Settings into the search bar and launch the main Settings application.
3. In the left-hand sidebar menu, click on Privacy (or Privacy & Security depending on your Ubuntu version).
4. Select Screen Lock from the list of privacy options.
5. Look for the toggle switch labelled Automatic Screen Lock.
6. Click the toggle to turn it Off.
Understanding the “Blank Screen” Setting
With the Automatic Screen Lock disabled, your computer will no longer ask for a password when you step away. However, to save power, the monitor will still turn off (go blank) after five minutes of inactivity. Moving your mouse will instantly wake the screen back up without a password prompt. If you want to stop the screen from turning off entirely, navigate to the Power section in the main Settings sidebar, locate the Screen Blank option, and change the timer to Never.