I’m struggling with a persistent issue on Windows 11 23H2 where my monitor randomly wakes up from screen-sleep mode without user interaction. This is specifically about the display turning off, not the entire PC entering sleep mode.
Historically, on Windows XP and 7, once the screen went to sleep, it would stay off until a key was pressed or the mouse was moved. Background processes rarely interfered. Starting with Windows 10, this feature seems broken, yet few people appear to notice.
Important Distinction: I am NOT referring to full PC sleep mode. This is exclusively about the Screen Sleep Mode.
Here is what I have already tried and verified:
powercfg -lastwake – Returns no relevant information, as it pertains to system sleep, not display sleep.
powercfg -waketimers – Confirmed there are no active wake timers.
PS C:Usersuser> powercfg -waketimers
There are no active wake timers in the system.
Device Manager – I have disabled the “Allow this device to wake the computer” option for all relevant USB devices (USB mic, mouse, usb hosts).
Scheduled Tasks – Checked for tasks configured to wake the system. All waketorun tasks are disabled.
Get-ScheduledTask | where {$_.settings.waketorun}
TaskPath TaskName State
-------- -------- -----
MicrosoftWindows.NET Framework .NET Framework NGEN v4.0.30319... Disabled
MicrosoftWindows.NET Framework .NET Framework NGEN v4.0.30319... Disabled
MicrosoftWindowsInstallService WakeUpAndContinueUpdates Disabled
MicrosoftWindowsInstallService WakeUpAndScanForUpdates Disabled
MicrosoftWindowsSharedPC Account Cleanup Disabled
MicrosoftWindowsUpdateOrchestrator Schedule Wake To Work Disabled
Power Requests – Ran powercfg /requests. The output shows some audio drivers but no display-related requests.
PS C:Usersuser> powercfg /requests
DISPLAY:
None.
SYSTEM:
[DRIVER] VB-Audio Virtual Cable (ROOTMEDIA 000)
An audio stream is currently in use.
[DRIVER] High Definition Audio Device (HDAUDIOFUNC_01&VEN_10EC&DEV_0897&SUBSYS_10EC0000&REV_10044&1eb83105&0&0201)
An audio stream is currently in use.
[DRIVER] USB Audio Device (USBVID_17A0&PID_0310&MI_006&14487dc1&0&0000)
An audio stream is currently in use.
AWAYMODE:
None.
EXECUTION:
None.
PERFBOOST:
None.
ACTIVELOCKSCREEN:
None.
Services – Non-essential update services (e.g., from Google, Adobe) that could be stopped are already disabled.
Screensaver – Confirmed that no screensaver is enabled.
Despite all this, the monitor continues to wake up on its own. The common troubleshooting steps for system sleep do not apply here and have yielded no results.
To the moderators: Please do not merge this with generic PC sleep issues. PC sleep mode is not Screen Sleep Mode. This is a distinct problem with the display power management.
What else can I check to pinpoint what is causing my monitor to wake up?
