Microsoft Weekly

Prevent your PC from going to sleep

By Ed Bott

On desktop PCs and laptops, sleep is a useful energy-conservation feature. It can also be a source of frustration if you're trying to complete a time-consuming task. The solution? Use Windows' power options to temporarily prevent your PC from going to sleep.

In Windows 10, go to Settings > System > Power & Sleep. There, under the Sleep heading, you can change the current setting to Never. In Windows 7, type sleep in the search box and then choose Change When The Computer Sleeps in Control Panel. (Note that in both operating system versions there are separate settings for when your PC is running on battery power and when it's plugged in.)

If you'd prefer to automate the process with a script or a shortcut, use one of these commands:

powercfg -change -standby-timeout-ac 0

powercfg -change -standby-timeout-dc 0

(The "ac" and "dc" at the end of each command indicates plugged in or battery power, respectively.)

Be sure to change these settings back after your task is complete.

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