8 Ways to Quickly Turn Off Your Screen in Windows 10

Say you had to attend to an emergency at work or your child or spouse needed something suddenly. This means leaving your PC and attending to other relevant issues every once in a while. But there are risks attached, especially if you don’t turn off the screen.

Someone could access your data and use it for malicious purposes. Or they could ruin an entire day’s work by mistake when going through your computer. To prevent any of that from happening and to also help use less energy, here are several ways to turn your Windows PC screen off more quickly.

1. Use Your Windows Power Management Settings

You can create a custom setting that forces your computer to shut down the screen just by using the power button. To do this, you will need to do the following:

1. Go to your computer’s Control Panel and search for the terms “change what the power buttons do.”

2. Click on the result and set your PC to sleep each time you press the power button. You can do this by clicking the drop-down menu.

3. As soon as you finish, save your settings.

2. Set Your Power and Sleep Settings

Using the power settings is an efficient way to turn off your screen in Windows quickly. It is especially useful when you have to step away from your computer at a moment’s notice. It works by turning the display off after a set period elapses. Here’s how to do this:

1. Go to Windows search and search for “power & sleep settings.” (You must use the ampersand sign.)

2. Click on the result. It should present a screen that looks like the following image:

3. Click on the first two drop-down menus and set the screen to go off in two minutes.

4. Repeat the same step for the sleep settings too.

That’s all. The next time you step away from your PC, you can be sure it would go to sleep after two minutes.

3. Turn Your Screen Off in Windows Using a Keyboard Shortcut

Windows has many built-in shortcuts for many functions. There is also one that you can use for turning off your PC screen more quickly. Follow the steps below to achieve this.

1. Go to your desktop screen/home screen. This is important because the next step only works on the home screen.

2. Press the keyboard combination keys Alt + F4 .

3. Choose “sleep” and your PC screen will turn off immediately.

4. Use the Start Menu

All it takes is two quick clicks to put your Windows computer into Sleep mode. As long as you have a username/password set up, no one can access your screen until you get back.

Open the Start menu and click the Power icon. Click Sleep to immediately turn off your screen without turning off your computer. You don’t even have to save your work before you do it.

5. Using a BAT Script

A BAT script is an executable file for Windows. You can run it from the command prompt tool. You can use the script to turn your screen off in Windows, and it is safe too.

Follow these steps to use the BAT script:

1. Download the BAT file and place it on your desktop.

2. Right-click and select “Run as Administrator.” This will shut off your PC screen immediately.

6. Use DisplayOff Tool

The DisplayOff tool is a free utility program designed to help you switch off your Windows PC screen. It is easy to use and doesn’t have any Graphical User Interface. It is run the same way as a BAT file.

How to use the DisplayOff tool:

• Download the tool
• Run as administrator.
• Your Windows PC screen will go off immediately.

7. Use Dark Tool to Turn Off Windows PC Screen

Dark is a small tool that you can install to help you quickly turn your screen off in Windows. It requires installation. After installation, it places an icon as a shortcut in your Windows taskbar.

1. Download and install Dark Tool.

2. Start the Dark tool. It will create an icon on your taskbar.

3. Click the icon to turn off your screen.

8. Use Blacktop Tool to Turn Off Your Screen in Windows

The Blacktop tool is like the Windows BAT file, except that it allows you to use a keyboard shortcut to run it instead of clicking on it. The shortcut is Ctrl + Alt + B .

You can download this tool on Softpedia.

Wrapping Up

Turning off your Windows PC screen should not be a tedious task. The above steps should be more than enough to help you achieve that. When you next need to shut off your PC screen more quickly, remember that you have many options.

Related:

Crystal Crowder has spent over 15 years working in the tech industry, first as an IT technician and then as a writer. She works to help teach others how to get the most from their devices, systems, and apps. She stays on top of the latest trends and is always finding solutions to common tech problems.

4 comments

I use [+] L (where [+] represents the ‘Windows’ key). This locks your PC and puts up the log-in screen or screensaver. I find this works on my Linux machines too (assuming I have a Windows Keyboard)_.

Since the title of your article is “8 Ways to Quickly Turn Off Your Screen in Windows 10” and doesn’t mention going into hibernation, I’d like to mention an old trick I’ve been using for years. I simply assign a keystroke combination to a shortcut for the scrnsave.scr screen saver. I use “Ctrl-Alt-B” with the “B” standing for either “blank” or “black”.

o blank my screen, I simply turn off the monitor with its power switch.

If you have bluetooth on your computer and phone, you can also use your phone to lock and activate the screen when you’re away from the computer. It’s passive. The only thing you have to do is have pair your phone to the computer and enable “Dynamic Lock” under the Windows sign-in options menu. Once you’re out of bluetooth range the screen is locked. The screen isn’t *off* though, so this is just a security feature.

Technically, Microsoft claims it’s just a bluetooth “device” that’s needed, so presumably bluetooth headphones/IEMs would also work. I’ve tested the phone part and it works, but I haven’t tried the other.

The **easiest** way is Tim’s suggestion as it’s built-in and requires no additional work.

Windows 10 windows open off screen

Replies (7) 

Is your resolution set correctly, right click your desktop, select ‘Display Settings’, then choose ‘Advanced Display Settings’ is your resolution set to the one marked ‘Recommended’. If your resolution is set correctly, is your Display Driver loaded correctly — check in Device Manager

I Hope this Helps!

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Yes, display is default to recommended. I havent changed anything.

This is NOT a display problem.

I actually asked this same question subject a different way using Google and obtained the answer.

This is the tablet mode feature of Windows 10. This should not be easily «on» for windows 10 default but I did find tablet mode was turned on after the windows update patch was applied two times ago. So something in the update turned on tablet mode for which I had no knowledge of using a desktop computer.

So for those out there with this off screen window problem, go to windows 10 settings, system, tablet mode. Turn off tablet mode and this will stop the off screen problem.

Of course, I had to find this myself, without help from Microsoft. and I had to fiddle around with just the right way to specify my search other than what was actually happening.

Hope this helps others and takes so much less time for them finding a resolution than all the stress of this happening day after day, over and over.

How to turn off Windows laptop screen with a click using ScreenOff

Desktop users can turn off their monitor screens with the button provided. But if you are using a Windows laptop, then it is not possible for you to turn off the laptop screen manually – unless of course, its manufacturer has given you an Fn keyboard shortcut. Sure the Windows Power Options do let you configure the Plan Settings so that you can turn off the display after some time. But what if you just need to turn off the display on your laptop screen manually right away, without locking the laptop or putting it to Sleep?

Turn off Windows laptop screen with ScreenOff

ScreenOff is a first-of-its-kind 13KB freeware that lets you turn off your Windows laptop monitor screen in a click, without putting it to Sleep. This tool does not use a batch command. It uses a SendMessage Visual Basic command to send the system, the command to turn off the display. Moreover, it is a portable tool that does not require to be installed. Nor does it ask you to download and install any specific .NET Framework version.

Simply download the zip file, extract its contents, move the folder to your Program Folder, and pin the shortcut of ScreenOff.exe to your Start Screen or Taskbar.

When you need to go away and want to turn off the laptop screen, just click on its icon and the laptop monitor will be turned off. No need to lock Windows. This free tool does not put Windows to Sleep; it just turns off the laptop screen.

When you want to turn on the laptop screen, just move the mouse or touch the screen if your laptop has a touch-screen.

Create Hotkey to make your computer screen go black or blank

• To create a Hotkey, right-click on the shortcut of ScreenOff
• Select Properties.
• Under the Shortcut tab, set a Shortcut key for it.

ScreenOff does not have any UI – It works in the background. The tool is useful to have around, for your Windows laptop or tablet, as it can also help you save power – especially when your device is running on battery.

ScreenOff v 2.1 has been developed by Paras Sidhu and has been tested on Windows 10, Windows 8.1, and Windows 7, 32-bit, and 64-bit. Version 1.0 enabled a blank screensaver that turned the screen black. The code has been updated by the developer, and in recent versions, it turns off the screen.

Like all our TWC freeware, this tool too is completely clean and free and does not push any PUPs or 3rd-party offers.

Date: January 6, 2020 Tags: Laptop, TWC App

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Anand Khanse is the Admin of TheWindowsClub.com, a 10-year Microsoft MVP (2006-16) & a Windows Insider MVP. Please read the entire post & the comments first, create a System Restore Point before making any changes to your system & be careful about any 3rd-party offers while installing freeware.

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Windows: Bring Off-Screen Window Back Onto Screen

By Mitch Bartlett 115 Comments

While using Microsoft Windows, I had a window that had somehow fallen completely off of my screen. Right-clicking the window in the Taskbar and selecting Maximize brought it back, but there was no way I could get the window restored to where I could move it around my screen with my mouse.

Luckily, there are a couple of ways to bring off-screen windows back to the desktop screen.

Fix 1 – Resolution Trick

Windows 10 & 8

1. Start the problematic application.
2. Right-click a blank area of the Desktop, then choose “Display settings“.
3. Select “Advanced display settings” at the bottom of the window.
4. Temporarily change the “Resolution” to another value, then choose “Apply“.
5. See if you can see the window on your screen now.
6. Change the resolution back to the previous value, then select “OK“.

Windows 7

1. Start the problematic application.
2. Right-click a blank area of the Desktop, then choose “Screen Resolution“.
3. Temporarily change the “Resolution” to another value, then choose “Apply“.
4. See if you can see the window on your screen now.
5. Change the resolution back to the previous value, then select “OK“.

Fix 2 – Show Desktop Toggle

1. Hold down the Windows Key, then press “D“. Repeat these steps to see if it makes the window you are looking for reappear.
2. Alternately, you can right-click a blank area of the taskbar, then choose “Show the desktop“, then repeat.

Fix 3 – Move Option 1

1. Select the program in the task bar.
2. Hold the Windows Key while pressing Left Arrow or Right Arrow repeatedly to move the window back into view.

Fix 4 – Move Option 2

1. In Windows 10, 8, 7, and Vista, hold down the “Shift” key while right-clicking the program in the taskbar, then select “Move“. In Windows XP, right-click the item in the task-bar and select “Move“. In some instances, you may have to select “Restore“, then go back and select “Move“.
2. Use your mouse or the arrow keys on your keyboard to move the window back onto the screen.

Fix 5 – Cascade Windows

• Right-click a blank area of the task-bar, then select “Cascade windows“.
  

Fix 6 – Maximize

Sometimes a single app will get stuck in a state where it cannot redraw onto the Window. You can usually alleviate this by doing the following.

• Hold “Shift” and right-click on the program icon in the taskbar, then choose “Maximize“.
  

How do I prevent my application from starting off the screen every time I launch it?

Most applications will stop doing this if you properly exit out of the application while it is on the screen. If you have already properly exited the application, you might need to uninstall and reinstall it.

Otherwise, you can try right-clicking the icon for the application, then choosing “Properties“. Under the “Shortcut” tab, change the “Run” setting to “Maximized“, then select “OK“.