How to keep your PC awake on Windows without changing power settings
Short answer
You can set sleep and screen timeouts to Never in Settings > System > Power, but then you have to remember to change them back. A keep-awake tool is cleaner: it tells Windows to stay awake only while it is switched on, then lets normal sleep resume. AppRig does this from the tray, indefinitely or for an hour, with no settings changed.
The manual way
Windows decides when to sleep from the screen and sleep timeouts in Settings > System > Power & battery (just “Power” on a desktop PC, “Power & sleep” on Windows 10). Set “Make my device sleep after” and “Turn off my screen after” to Never and the PC stays on.
The catch is that the change is permanent until you undo it. Most people only want the PC awake for one long download, a render, a presentation or a video, and then forget to put the timeouts back, so the PC never sleeps again. On a laptop that also means a drained battery.
Microsoft’s free PowerToys collection includes an Awake utility that solves this too, if you already use PowerToys.
The faster way with AppRig
AppRig puts a Keep awake menu on its tray icon. Pick Indefinitely, For 1 hour, or Until tracked Session ends (it stays awake while AppRig’s time tracker is running), and pick Off when you are done. A small sun badge on the tray icon shows when it is active, and the 1-hour mode shows how much time is left.
It uses the standard Windows method for keeping the system and screen awake, so your power settings are never touched. Turn it off, let the hour run out, or quit AppRig, and Windows goes back to sleeping normally.
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Common questions
How do I stop my screen turning off during a download, render or presentation?
Use a keep-awake tool for the duration of the job. It asks Windows to keep both the system and the display on, so a long download, video render, build or slideshow is not interrupted by sleep or a black screen. When you switch it off, your normal power settings apply again.
Is it safe to use a keep-awake app?
Yes, if it uses the standard Windows method. Windows has a built-in way for apps to say they need the PC to stay awake, the same one video players use during playback. Nothing is installed at system level and no settings are changed, so when the app is switched off or closed, Windows goes back to sleeping as normal.
Will a keep-awake tool stop my laptop sleeping when I close the lid?
Usually not. Many laptops treat closing the lid as an explicit request to sleep and ignore keep-awake requests. To keep a laptop running with the lid closed, change what closing the lid does under Control Panel > Power Options > Choose what closing the lid does.
Related questions
AppRig does this and more, all in one local-first Windows app. See what AppRig does →