Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Screens Wake Back Up After About 5 Minutes

If DisplaySnooze turns the screens off, then they wake back up around 5 minutes later, the first question is:

Does the same thing happen when Windows turns the displays off by itself?

If yes, the cause is probably not DisplaySnooze. DisplaySnooze only sends the standard Windows monitor-off command. It does not schedule wake events, listen for input, change power settings, or turn the displays back on.

The default DisplaySnooze guard window is 180 seconds. If the screens wake after 5 minutes, the program has already exited.

For a step-by-step way to tell whether the wake came from input, system sleep, or display/GPU behavior, see Diagnosing Display Wakeups.

As a workaround, try a longer guard:

.\DisplaySnooze.exe 600 5

That tells DisplaySnooze to keep asking the displays to turn off for 10 minutes, every 5 seconds.

Check What Is Waking The PC Or Display

Run these in PowerShell or Windows Terminal:

powercfg /requests
powercfg /lastwake
powercfg /waketimers
powercfg -devicequery wake_armed

What they mean:

• powercfg /requests shows apps or drivers keeping the system awake.
• powercfg /lastwake shows what last woke the computer from sleep.
• powercfg /waketimers shows scheduled wake timers.
• powercfg -devicequery wake_armed lists devices allowed to wake the PC.

Common Causes

Common causes include:

• Mouse movement or a sensitive mouse sensor.
• Keyboard, controller, USB hub, dock, or Bluetooth device sending input.
• Network adapter wake-on-LAN behavior.
• Scheduled wake timers.
• Remote desktop, streaming, capture, or media software.
• GPU or monitor input detection.
• Monitor firmware waking when inputs are rechecked.

Things To Try

Try these one at a time:

• Unplug or turn over the mouse before bedtime.
• Disable wake permission for devices you do not need to wake the PC.
• Check Device Manager for network adapter wake settings.
• Disable wake timers in Windows power plan settings.
• Close remote desktop, game streaming, or media apps.
• Try another display cable or monitor input if the monitor is waking itself.
• Run DisplaySnooze with a longer guard window, such as 600 5.

The EXE Does Nothing

Try running it from PowerShell so you can see whether Windows blocks it:

.\DisplaySnooze.exe

If Windows SmartScreen appears, choose the option to run it only if you trust the download/source.

Linux Says No Supported Display-Off Backend Was Found

Install the tool for your session:

• X11: install xset
• Sway: install/use swaymsg
• Hyprland: install/use hyprctl
• KDE Plasma: install/use kscreen-doctor

If your desktop uses a different compositor, DisplaySnooze may need a new backend.