How to Enable or Disable Console Lock Display off Timeout in Windows 11

Prerequisites

If you are on a work computer, your IT department may have locked these settings via Group Policy. In that case the option may reappear after a restart or sign-in, or it may be greyed out. Ask your administrator before trying to work around it.

Both methods below work on Windows 11 Home and Pro. The Group Policy method in the last section needs Pro, Enterprise or Education, because Home doesn’t include the Local Group Policy Editor.

Method 1Using PowerCfg Command Line

Console Lock Display Timeout settings can be restored in Windows 11 by running a specific command in Command Prompt. This method unhides the missing screen timeout option in your power settings so you can change how long your monitor stays on before locking your PC.

This is the quickest method because it takes one command and needs no registry editing. You don’t need to restart afterward.

1. Press the Win, type cmd, right-click it, and select Run as administrator. If a User Account Control prompt appears, click Yes. A Command Prompt window opens with “Administrator” in its title bar.
2. Type the following command to unhide the setting:

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   powercfg /attributes SUB_VIDEO 8EC4B3A5-6868-48c2-BE75-4F3044BE88A7 -ATTRIB_HIDE

3. Press Enter. If the command worked, it returns to the prompt without an error message. An “Access is denied” message means the window isn’t running as administrator, so close it and repeat step 1.
4. Close Command Prompt. The setting is now visible in your power plan’s advanced settings (see the last section for where to find it).

Method 2Using the Registry Editor

Console Lock Display Timeout values are adjustable directly through the Windows Registry Editor when the standard settings menu lacks the option. This approach lets you manually set the exact number of seconds your display remains powered on after locking your computer.

Registry edits affect the whole system, so back up first: in Registry Editor, choose File › Export, select All as the export range, and save the file somewhere safe.

1. Press Win+R, type regedit, and press Enter. Click Yes if User Account Control asks for permission. Registry Editor opens.
2. Navigate to: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Power\PowerSettings\7516b95f-f776-4464-8c53-06167f40cc99\8ec4b3a5-6868-48c2-be75-4f3044be88a7. You can paste the path into the address bar at the top of Registry Editor and press Enter, which is faster than expanding each key. The right pane now shows the values stored in that key.
3. Double-click Attributes and change the value to 2 to make it visible in Power Options. Click OK. The value 1 hides the setting, so to undo this change later, set Attributes back to 1.
4. Close Registry Editor. You don’t normally need to restart. If Power Options was already open, close it and open it again so it picks up the change.

Method 3Group Policy (GPO) for IT Admins

For enterprise environments, use the Group Policy Management Console to enforce this setting across multiple machines. Navigate to Computer Configuration › Administrative Templates › System › Power Management › Video and Display Settings and enable the Specify the console lock display off timeout policy.

When you enable the policy, you enter the timeout value it should apply. Once a machine applies the policy, users can’t override the value in Power Options. To hand control back, set the policy to Not Configured. On a single Pro PC, you can make the same change in the Local Group Policy Editor.

Summary Table

Summary

You can manage your Console Lock Display Timeout by first making it visible using either the Command Prompt or Registry Editor, then adjusting it in your power settings.

To change the value once it is visible:

1. Open Control Panel › Hardware and Sound › Power Options.
2. Click Change plan settings next to your active power plan, then click Change advanced power settings. The Power Options dialog opens.
3. Expand Display, then expand Console lock display off timeout.
4. Enter the number of minutes you want. The default is 1 minute, which matches the 60 seconds mentioned earlier. A longer time keeps the lock screen on longer, and a shorter time turns it off sooner. On a laptop you will see separate On battery and Plugged in values, so set both.
5. Click Apply, then OK. Lock your PC with Win + L to test it.

If Console lock display off timeout still isn't listed, check that you changed the setting on the power plan you are actually using, and that no Group Policy is overriding it. To go back to the original behavior, set the value to 1 minute and, if you want the option hidden again, use the registry value described above.