How to Keep Your Screen On Dell?

To keep your screen on your Dell laptop from turning off automatically, you need to adjust the power settings in Windows.

Here's how you can change the screen timeout duration:

Adjusting Screen Timeout Settings in Windows

You can prevent your screen from turning off or going to sleep by changing the power plan settings in Windows. This process is done through the Power Options control panel.

The provided reference illustrates the steps for Windows 11:

Open Power Options: Navigate to the Windows Control Panel.
Set View: Set your view in the Control Panel to Large icons.
Select Power Options: Go ahead and left click on Power Options.
Choose Display Settings: Select where it says on the left side, choose when to turn off the display.

Once you are in the "Edit Plan Settings" window, you will see options to adjust how long the screen stays on when the computer is running on battery and when it is plugged in.

Detailed Steps to Adjust Timeout

You can follow these steps on most recent Windows versions (including Windows 10 and 11) to find and change the screen timeout settings:

Via Search: Click the Start button, type "Power Options" in the search bar, and select Power Options from the results.
Via Control Panel:
1. Open the Control Panel.
2. If viewing by Category, select Hardware and Sound, then Power Options.
3. If viewing by Large or Small icons (as shown in the reference), simply click Power Options.
From the Power Options window, click on Choose when to turn off the display on the left-hand side.
In the "Edit Plan Settings" window, you will find drop-down menus for:
- Turn off the display: Choose the desired time duration for both "On battery" and "Plugged in." To keep the screen always on, select Never.
- Put the computer to sleep: You can also adjust the sleep timer here. Set it to Never if you don't want the computer to go to sleep automatically.
Click Save changes to apply your new settings.

By setting the "Turn off the display" option to "Never," your screen will remain on until you manually turn it off or shut down the laptop.

Important Considerations

Battery Drain: Setting the screen to stay on for a long time, or always on, will consume more battery power when unplugged.
Screen Burn-in: While modern screens are less susceptible, leaving static images on the screen for extremely long periods can still potentially lead to issues. Using a screen saver or allowing the display to turn off after a reasonable time is generally recommended for longevity and power saving.

Adjusting these power plan settings allows you to control exactly how long your Dell laptop screen stays active before dimming or turning off.