If you've looked for a way to keep a Windows PC awake, you've probably come across PowerToys Awake. It's free, it's made by Microsoft, and it's very good. It's also often recommended for a problem it doesn't solve, so here's what it does and doesn't cover.

What PowerToys Awake is

PowerToys is a free set of utilities from Microsoft for Windows 10 and 11. You can install it from the Microsoft Store or with winget install Microsoft.PowerToys. One of the tools inside is Awake, which adds a coffee cup to your system tray.

Awake has a few modes:

  • Keep using the selected power plan: Awake is off and Windows behaves normally.
  • Keep awake indefinitely: the PC won't sleep until you change it back.
  • Keep awake for an interval: for example two hours, then normal behavior resumes.
  • Keep awake until expiration: until a specific date and time.

There's also a Keep screen on switch, so the display stays lit as well as the PC.

How it works

Awake asks Windows not to sleep, the same way a video player does while it's playing. Windows honors the request and leaves your power plan untouched, so when you turn Awake off, everything goes back to how it was. That's much tidier than changing your sleep settings and forgetting to change them back.

What it doesn't do

Awake doesn't create keyboard or mouse input. Teams, Slack and similar apps decide you're away from how long it's been since your last input, not from whether the PC is asleep. With Awake running, the PC stays on, and after a few minutes Teams still turns your status yellow.

That isn't a flaw in Awake. It's designed to prevent sleep, and it does that well.

Where a mouse jiggler fits

A mouse jiggler produces small amounts of real input. That keeps the PC awake and also resets the idle time your apps read, so your status stays Active.

Virtual Mouse Jiggler for Windows does this with an invisible one-pixel nudge, so your cursor doesn't wander. It also keeps an Away Brief of the Teams, Outlook and Slack notifications that arrive while you're gone, so you can catch up quickly when you sit back down.

Quick guide

  • Long download, install, backup or render, and status doesn't matter: PowerToys Awake.
  • Presentation or a dashboard on a wall screen: Awake with Keep screen on.
  • Waiting on a long job and you want to stay reachable and show as available: a mouse jiggler.

On a work PC, check your IT policy before installing either one. Many companies allow PowerToys; some block it. The same goes for any tool that affects idle status.