How to Automatically Turn Off the Screen in Windows 11 After Inactivity

Leaving your computer monitor on all night while you sleep wastes a significant amount of electricity. Furthermore, if you own a high-end OLED gaming monitor, leaving a static image (like the Windows taskbar) on the screen for hours on end can cause permanent, irreversible pixel burn-in. However, you do not want to fully shut down or put the PC to sleep if it is currently in the middle of rendering a video or downloading a massive 100GB video game. The perfect solution is to configure Windows 11 to automatically cut the video signal to the monitor after you walk away.

How to Configure the Screen Timeout

Windows allows you to set precise timers for when the display should turn off.

1. Click the Start Button and select the Settings gear icon (or press Windows Key + I on your keyboard).
2. In the left-hand sidebar, ensure System is selected.
3. On the right side of the screen, click on Power & battery.
4. Look for the section labeled Screen and sleep and click on it to expand the menu.

Choosing Your Time Limit

You will now see several drop-down menus. If you are using a desktop PC, you will only see two options. If you are using a laptop, you will see four options (allowing you to set different rules depending on whether the laptop is plugged into the wall or running on battery power).

5. Look for the setting that says “On battery power, turn off my screen after” or “When plugged in, turn off my screen after.”
6. Click the drop-down menu next to it.
7. Select your preferred time limit. For a desktop PC, 10 minutes or 15 minutes is usually the sweet spot. It is long enough that the screen will not suddenly go black while you are reading a long article, but short enough to save power when you leave the room.

You can close the Settings window immediately. The changes are saved automatically. When the timer expires, the screen will go completely black and enter a low-power standby state, but your computer will continue to run its background tasks flawlessly. To wake the screen back up, simply jiggle your mouse or tap any key on the keyboard.