Windows 10 PC goes to lock screen after 2 minutes

Anonymous
2018-01-08T18:24:24+00:00

Screen saver set at 15 minutes, yet after 2 minutes of inactivity display goes blank requiring "enter" to get lock screen . I must always move my mouse to stay "active." Can't seem to find a solution online that works. 

*Modified title for accuracy*

*Original title: Windows 10: PC goes to lock screen after 2 minutes*

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Settings

Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.

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Anonymous
2018-11-14T19:39:45+00:00

The setting to fix this is "System unattended sleep timeout" in advanced power settings. (Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Power Options\Edit Plan Settings > change advanced power settings).

However this setting is hidden because Microsoft wants waste our time and make our lives miserable. 

To un-hide it, you need to change a registry attribute value data from 1 to 2 at the following registry path:

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Control > Power > PowerSettings > 238C9FA8-0AAD-41ED-83F4-97BE242C8F20 > 7bc4a2f9-d8fc-4469-b07b-33eb785aaca0

Full instructions:

  1. windows key + R
  2. type regedit and hit enter
  3. click Yes if asked
  4. on registry editor - ctrl+F
  5. search for 7bc4a2f9-d8fc-4469-b07b-33eb785aaca0
  6. wait, can take a while to find
  7. when found, double click attributes on the right pane
  8. change value data to 2
  9. hit ok, close registry editor.
  10. Right click the start button > power options > Additional power settings > Change Plan Settings > change advanced power settings
  11. expand Sleep
  12. expand System unattended sleep timeout
  13. change both values to zero for never or set your preferred value.

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  1. Anonymous
    2020-04-04T23:54:39+00:00

    I hope this helps you guys out there. I started experiencing this same problem of Windows locking me out after two minutes of inactivity. 

    i tried all options given here to no avail and what fixed it for me was editing a setting in windows settings under the local policy. 

    Navigate to Local Poilcy editor by typing gpedit.msc in windows run, then under Computer Configuration, go to

    Windows Settings/Security Settings/Local Policies/Security Options

    Now look for Interactive logon: Machine inactivity limit and double click.

    Change the figure there to 0

    Apply and click OK. 

    This worked for me and i hope it works for you too.

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  2. Anonymous
    2020-04-11T21:41:59+00:00

    Thank you so much. This was really driving me crazy!

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  3. Anonymous
    2020-04-14T15:23:05+00:00

    It appears that the registry found the value in the incorrect folder, if you follow the path directory in H_Durham's screenshot, you should be able to find it. Worked for me!

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  4. Anonymous
    2020-04-20T14:48:38+00:00

    I thank you so much.

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