It’s driving me crazy; my nephew changed the settings on my Windows 10 computer and now the screen goes to sleep almost instantly if I stop using the computer! How do I fix the sleep feature??
Ah kids, ya gotta love when they tweak and fiddle with the settings on someone else’s computer out of mischief. I guess it’s better than being short-sheeted, but since tech is such an integral part of our lives and can be so inexplicable, maybe a bed that’s made incorrectly would be better after all. I mean heck, what kids nowadays even make their beds? 🙂
Fortunately the setting that your nephew has changed is quite easy to fix because Windows 10 features a great search system – Cortana – that makes finding the exact setting you have to tweak as easy as typing in a word or two. In this case, the word is “sleep“.
Let’s have a look! Start by searching for “sleep”, as explained:
Lots and lots of interesting options, but the highlighted one turns out to be exactly what you need: “Power & sleep settings”. Choose that and you’ll be able to immediately see what that boy has done!
There’s a lot going on here with this screen of options, but the key setting is at the very top of the middle column: “On battery power, turn off after” and “1 minute”. If you see the problem when your computer is plugged in, it’ll be the next field down on the screen, but either way, it’ll be set to “1 minute” or something equally too darn short.
To fix it, click on the value and you’ll get a pop-up menu with lots and lots of options:
There is a balance here if you are working with battery power, because the screen is going to consume more battery than just about anything else on your computer. Don’t set it too long or you’ll find you need to keep plugging in your computer more often. I suggest 10 minutes for battery power and 15 minutes for when it’s plugged into the wall. Like this:
You can tweak it further if you want. In fact, you can go back to the old school Windows power management window by clicking on “Additional power settings” on the right side of the main window, which will bring up this window that might be familiar to long-time Windows users:
Lots you can change and try out, but at least you can slow down that over-eager sleep setting. Now in terms of what to do about that mischievous nephew of yours, well, I’ll leave you to figure out a suitable response!
Pro Tip: While you’re here, I invite you to check out our Windows 10 help area. Lots to help you out!