Automatically Turn Off Monitor After Locking Windows

Once you lock your computer, Windows locks the console and shows a lock screen wallpaper. If you want, you can configure Windows to automatically turn off the monitor after you lock your Windows computer.

Generally, this default behavior of showing the lock screen wallpaper is good enough for most people. However, the downside is that the monitor is still turned on.

As you can guess, when the monitor is turned on, it consumes power. That means you have to pay the power bill even when you are not actively using the computer. To put it simply, this is a waste of energy. Additionally, the bright lock screen can be a bit distracting. This is especially true at night times.

Thankfully, there are several tricks you can use to make Windows automatically turn off the monitor after locking the system.

In this guide, let me show you two ways to turn off the monitor after you lock your Windows computer. Let’s get started.

Table of contents:

1. Automatically turn off the monitor after locking Windows
2. AutoHotKey script to turn off the monitor automatically after locking Windows

Automatically Turn off the Monitor After Locking Windows

Windows has a hidden feature called ‘Console lock display off timeout’ that lets you turn off the monitor automatically after locking Windows. Let me show you how to enable and configure the option.

1. Press the “Windows key + R” to open Run.
2. Type “regedit” in the blank field.
3. Press the “Ok” button or press Enter.
4. Go to the “HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\7516b95f-f776-4464-8c53-06167f40cc99\8EC4B3A5-6868-48c2-BE75-4F3044BE88A7” registry folder.
5. Double-click on the “Attributes” value.
6. Set the Value Data to “2.”
7. Click on the “Ok” button to save changes.
8. Close the Registry.
9. Press the Start key on your keyboard.
10. Search and open “Control Panel.”
11. Set the “View by” to “Large icons.”
12. Go to the “Power Options” page.
13. Click on the “Change power settings” link.
14. Click on the “Change advanced power settings” link.
15. Expand the “Display” option.
16. Set the “On battery” and “Plugged in” timeouts for “Console lock display off timeout.”
17. Press the “Ok” button.
18. Close the Control Panel window.
19. Reboot the computer.
20. With that, Windows will automatically turn off the monitor once you lock the system.

Steps with more details:

First, we need to enable the “Console lock display off timeout” option. To do that, press the Start key on your keyboard, search for “Registry Editor,” and click on the result to open the Registry Editor.

Once opened, go to the below folder in the registry editor. You can paste the path in the registry to get to the folder quickly.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\7516b95f-f776-4464-8c53-06167f40cc99\8EC4B3A5-6868-48c2-BE75-4F3044BE88A7

Find the double-click on the “Attribute” value in this registry folder.

The above action will open the edit value window. Here change the Value Data to 2 and click the “Ok” button to save changes.

After that, close the Registry Editor and open the Control Panel. Just like the Registry Editor, you can search for Control Panel in the Start menu.

Change the View By to Large icons in the Control Panel window and click on the Power Options link. As you can guess, this is where you can configure Windows power options.

Here, click the “Change plan settings” link next to your active power plan.

After that, click on the “Change advanced power settings” link at the bottom.

Now, scroll down, expand the “Display -> Console lock display off timeout” option, and set the “On battery” and “Plugged in” timeouts. Click the “Ok” button. For example, set the timeout to 1 minute, and Windows turns off the monitor after one minute of locking the system.

Finally, close all windows and reboot the computer.

That’s it. From now on, Windows will turn off the monitor automatically after you lock the system.

AutoHotKey Script To Turn off the Monitor Automatically After Locking Windows

AutoHotKey is a free and open-source Windows automation software that lets you create custom shortcuts and macros to automate tasks in Windows. You can think of it as a supercharged task scheduler.

Thanks to its incredible flexibility, you can use a simple AutoHotKey script to automatically turn off your monitor after you lock your Windows device. Let me show you how to create and use the script.

First of all, download and install AutoHotKey on your Windows computer.

Download AutoHotKey: https://www.autohotkey.com/download/

Afterward, go to your desktop, right-click on an empty space, select “New,” and then the “Text Document” option to create a new text file.

After that, rename the file to ‘Turn Off Monitor.ahk.’ It is important that you replace the .txt extension with .ahk.

Once the file is created, right-click on it and select the “Show more options” and then the “Edit script” option. This action will open the script file in Notepad.

Here, paste the following script and press the “Control key + S” key to save the file.

;Automatically turn off monitor after locking
;WindowsLoop.com
#L:: ; Windows key + L
{
Sleep, 200
DllCall("LockWorkStation")
Sleep, 200
SendMessage,0x112,0xF170,2,,Program Manager
}
return

After saving the file, close it. Next, double-click on the file. This action runs the script.

As long as the script is running in the background, the monitor will turn off automatically when you lock your Windows computer. I recommend adding the AutoHotKey script to Windows startup. That way, the script is always running; you don’t have to start it manually.

Turning off your monitor when you lock your Windows computer — Conclusion

In conclusion, you have two ways to automatically turn off the monitor when you lock your Windows computer. One way is to adjust the power settings, which allows you to configure the monitor to turn off after a certain period of inactivity. Another way is to use an AutoHotKey script, which turns off the monitor as soon as you lock your Windows computer.

Which method you want to use depends on your preferences and needs. The power settings method is a great choice if you’re looking for a quick and easy solution. However, the AutoHotKey script method may be a better option if you want more control and flexibility.

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That is all. It is that simple to configure Windows to turn off your computer when you lock your computer.

I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.

If you are stuck or need help, email me, and I will try to help as much as possible.