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.

0 comments
Answer accepted by question author
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.

Was this answer helpful?

600+ people found this answer helpful.
0 comments

96 additional answers

Sort by: Oldest
Most helpful Newest Oldest
  1. Anonymous
    2021-02-08T05:02:39+00:00

    Hi JamesRP

    Would be happy if you can help me with this 2 minute issue as it is driving me mad now...lol

    regards

    Evan

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  2. Anonymous
    2021-02-22T03:57:31+00:00

    Hi JamesRP

    as per previous replies....would be happy if you can help me with this 2 minute issue as it is driving me mad now...lol

    regards

    Evan

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  3. Anonymous
    2021-02-22T21:26:25+00:00

    Hi Evan,

    Well let's just dive into the bad news, the fix initially mentioned in this message, is now no longer working for me and I'm getting locked anywhere from 30 seconds to 5 minutes of inactivity despite all settings being to the contrary. I even went so far as changing everything to 'never" (I'm never off AC power - hell, I just replaced my battery two weeks ago, a battery mind you, that broke just under three years ago. But, I'm running a Windows 10 enterprise insider edition pre-release evaluation copy of windows, so with every update (and the track I'm in, I get a new OS download every week or two) some, not all, my settings are changed, and I never know which ones until I come across a feature that isn't working. I'm still researching this though and I'll report back with any findings!

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments
  4. Anonymous
    2021-02-22T21:31:26+00:00

    Oh- and DON'T run the power troubleshooter unless you want to have all your settings reset based on what it THINKS you need. I ran it last night and it asked me about fixing ONE error, it told me my power consumption was too high because I opted for performance over battery saving since, like I mentioned in my previous message, I'm rarely, if ever, on battery. So I said NO to the fix, and what was the ultimate outcome? The troubleshooter took my custom settings and reset them to what they thought I should be using.

    Was this answer helpful?

    0 comments