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How To Turn Off The Screen But Keep THE Computer Running?

  • Aryan 
  • 6 min read
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How Can I Turn Off My Screen While Leaving My Computer Running?

There are several ways to turn off your screen while leaving your computer running. You can either shut down your computer completely or simply close the lid. Either way works fine.

However, if you really want to leave your computer running without turning off the monitor, there are several options available to you. Here are eight simple methods that can do the trick.

Use The Power Button

There are two methods to shut down your computer. You can either press the power button on your keyboard or hold down the power button on your laptop. Either way works fine, but if you want to keep your computer running after pressing the power button, you’ll need to adjust the power button settings.

  1. To start, head to the control panel and look under hardware and sound.
  2. Then, select power options.
  3. Once there, click on change what the power buttons do and scroll down until you reach the power button and lid settings.
  4. There, you should see two options: When I press the power button and When I press the power lid.
  5. Choose the second option, and you’ll notice that your screen turns off. However, your computer still runs.

Now, press the power button and your screen will turn off. However, your system will continue to run. To stop your computer from shutting down, you’ll need to press the power button once more.

You can also use the power button action to wake up your computer. Simply press the power button, wait a couple of seconds, and your computer will boot up.

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After Some Time, Turn Off The Display

If we don’t want to use the keyboard shortcut to shut down our computer, we can just let the screen go dark by waiting for it to turn off. Read the below steps to configure the additional power settings:

  1. Launch your Windows Control Panel from the Start Menu.
  2. Under Hardware and Sound, choose Power Options.
  3. From the left panel of the screen, select choose “when to turn off the display”.
  4. Make sure to set the put the laptop to sleep option to never so that your PC doesn’t automatically shut down when you’re just trying to turn off its screen.
  5. Now, expand the Turn off the display option for both On Battery power and Plugged In. Set them to a time you want your desktop screen to turn off.

You can easily turn off your computer after some time if you’ve configured it properly. All you have to do is open the control panel, select “power options”, and then click on “Choose when to turn off the display option”. There, you can specify a time at which you’d like your computer to go to sleep or turn off the display.

To prevent your computer from sleeping, you must set the option to never. Otherwise, your computer might wake up every now and then and start working.

So, if you want to save electricity and still enjoy using your computer, try configuring your computer to turn off the display after some time.

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Use The Screen Saver

Using Screen Saver

You’ll start by navigating to the magnifying glass on your Windows taskbar. From there, search for a screen saver or a related keyword. Once you’ve found it, click on the Change Screen Saver link.

Then, expand the Screen Savers section and select the Blank option under the Screen Saver drop-down menu. Set the number of minutes after which you’d like the screen to be blanked. For example, if the default setting is 30 minutes, you can set it to 5 minutes.

Finally, tap on the OK or Apply button to save your changes.

Configure The Lid Closing Settings

  1. First, visit the control panel and navigate to hardware and sound.
  2. Next, locate the power options section and click on the “Choose what closing the lid does” located under the power button and lid settings.
  3. Expand the drop-down menu and select Do nothing for both On battery and plugged in. Press save changes.

Now, whenever you close the lid, your system will continue to work without shutting down.

Using Third-party Software

There are lots of great third-party utility options out there that let you turn off your computer screen without turning it completely off. Their installation process is very straightforward.

You’ll find plenty of free options online, but if you’d prefer to pay for a premium option, here are a few suggestions:

  • Turn Off Monitor
  • Blacktop
  • ScreenOff

Two Methods To Turn Off A Laptop Screen On Linux Without Shutting It Down

Method 1

This method works great if you’re using a laptop running Ubuntu Linux. It requires no additional software, and it’s super easy to use. All you have to do is open the System Settings window, find the Display Settings section, and disable the Mirror Display option. Then, you’ll be able to toggle the Monitor off and on at any time.

You can also customize the setting by clicking the LCD Display named laptop icon. Once there, you can select the option to turn off the monitor. Here is the detailed process:

  • On the desktop, go to the system settings menu.
  • Go to the Display settings menu and select “Disable Mirror Display”.
  • Customize it by choosing “LCD Display Named Laptop“
  • Then, you can then turn the monitor off by pressing the power button.

Method 2

To turn off the display, open a terminal window and enter the following code in the command prompt:

xset dpms force off

If you want to turn off the last screen again, type the code into the box below.

xset dpms force on

These commands will work for any computer running Linux operating system.

Does A Laptop Continue To Run While In Sleep Mode?

A laptop continues to run while in sleep mode. However, it does not store data in its RAM. All your applications are stored on the hard drive. Therefore, when you turn off your screen, your computer still functions.

You may think that your computer won’t work properly when you turn off your display. However, it actually works fine. You just might not notice anything happening until you turn your computer on.

So, if you want to save battery life, you should disable the sleep mode. Otherwise, your computer will continue to operate normally whether you turn off your display or not.

Aryan Benedict

Aryan Benedict

I'm Aryan, welcome to my profile and website TechLoved.com. My aim is to answer all your tech and gadget related questions in one, easy-to-navigate, website. I love technology and a lot of my interest lies in gadgets of today. There are many common questions I am constantly asked about various products - hence the birth of Tech Loved. My awesome team and I will answer all the questions you may have (well maybe not all, but hey, we try! :) )

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