This article outlines how to keep your computer awake, without having to touch your mouse and move it every so often. You can do this by changing your computer’s power settings or by downloading a program to move your mouse for you.

What to Know

  • Control Panel > System and Security > Power Options > Change Plan Settings Next to Turn off the display and Put the computer to sleep, select your desired time frame in the drop-down boxes.

How Do I Make My Computer Stay Active?

If you want to stop your computer from going to sleep, you can do so from Windows power settings. This method will keep your computer on no matter how long you may be “inactive” on it, not moving the mouse or touching the keyboard.

The instructions in this article apply to Windows 10.

  • Go to the search bar and find the Control Panel.
  • Select System and Security.
  • Select Power Options.
  • Next to the plan setting you have checked, select Change plan settings.
  • The Turn off the display option allows you to choose how long the computer display stays on, both on battery or plugged in. You can choose an amount of time, or choose Never. The Put the computer to sleep option determines how long the computer itself stays on until it is put into sleep mode.
  • Select Save Changes.

How Do I Make My Cursor Move Automatically?

If for any reason you are unable to change the power settings on your computer, you can also use a program that moves your mouse or presses a button automatically. In these steps, we’ll use the program Coffee.

Go to the search bar and find the Control Panel.

Select System and Security.

Select Power Options.

Next to the plan setting you have checked, select Change plan settings.

The Turn off the display option allows you to choose how long the computer display stays on, both on battery or plugged in. You can choose an amount of time, or choose Never. The Put the computer to sleep option determines how long the computer itself stays on until it is put into sleep mode.

Select Save Changes.

  • Download the Coffee program. Next, open the installer and follow the prompts to install the program.
  • Once installed, go to the search bar and find the Coffee program.
  • Once you open the program, it will start pressing the F15 key in the background every minute to keep your computer awake.
  • If you want to close the program, go to your toolbar at the bottom of your desktop, right click on the Coffee app and select Exit.

How Do I Stop My Computer From Locking?

If your computer goes to sleep after periods of inactivity, you may find you have to enter your password to start using it again. This is actually another setting you can change if you don’t want this to happen.

Download the Coffee program. Next, open the installer and follow the prompts to install the program.

Once installed, go to the search bar and find the Coffee program.

Once you open the program, it will start pressing the F15 key in the background every minute to keep your computer awake.

If you want to close the program, go to your toolbar at the bottom of your desktop, right click on the Coffee app and select Exit.

  • Go to the Start menu and select Settings.
  • Select Accounts.
  • On the sidebar, select Sign-in options and then scroll down to Require sign-in.
  • In the drop down box under If you’ve been away, when should Windows require you to sign in again? Select Never. Now you won’t have to sign back into your computer when you wake it from sleep.

Go to the Start menu and select Settings.

Select Accounts.

On the sidebar, select Sign-in options and then scroll down to Require sign-in.

In the drop down box under If you’ve been away, when should Windows require you to sign in again? Select Never. Now you won’t have to sign back into your computer when you wake it from sleep.

  • How do I keep my computer awake without changing settings?
  • In addition to a program that moves your mouse automatically, such as Coffee (described above), you can adjust your screensaver. Go to Control Panel > Personalization > Change Screensaver. Next to On Resume, Display Logon Screen, uncheck the box. This prevents your system from sleeping.
  • Can anyone detect Mouse Jiggler on my computer?
  • No. If you’re using the Mouse Jiggler plug-in device to stop your computer from going to sleep, employee monitoring software or network personnel won’t be able to detect it because there’s no software involved; it acts as a pointer device.
  • How do I keep a Mac computer awake?
  • From the Apple menu, select System Preferences > Energy Saver. Check the box next to Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off. Uncheck the box next to Put hard disks to sleep when possible. Then, drag the Computer Sleep and/or Display Sleep sliders to Never.

In addition to a program that moves your mouse automatically, such as Coffee (described above), you can adjust your screensaver. Go to Control Panel > Personalization > Change Screensaver. Next to On Resume, Display Logon Screen, uncheck the box. This prevents your system from sleeping.

No. If you’re using the Mouse Jiggler plug-in device to stop your computer from going to sleep, employee monitoring software or network personnel won’t be able to detect it because there’s no software involved; it acts as a pointer device.

From the Apple menu, select System Preferences > Energy Saver. Check the box next to Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off. Uncheck the box next to Put hard disks to sleep when possible. Then, drag the Computer Sleep and/or Display Sleep sliders to Never.

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