microsoft/PowerToys

GPO to disable the "awake indefinitely" feature & screen on

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#40,546 opened on Jul 10, 2025

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 (18 comments) (2 reactions) (1 assignee)C# (133,154 stars) (7,978 forks)batch import
Area-EnterpriseHelp WantedIdea-EnhancementProduct-Awake

Description

Description of the new feature / enhancement

I am an IT administrator and I would like to be able to allow my users to use the app. However, I noticed there is not a clear cut way to disable this feature. We can set it up so that users can use the application with a set time interval but that's pointless when they can just run it for an indefinite amount of time. All features should have the ability to be disabled either in settings or by GPO.

Scenario when this would be used?

Enforce screensavers. Remote Workers Scam.

Supporting information

No response

Contributor guide

Tech stack
csharp
Domain
desktop
Issue type
feature
DifficultyEstimated implementation difficulty for a new contributor, from 1 for very small changes to 5 for expert-level work.
4
Estimated timeA rough time range for an experienced contributor to investigate, implement, test, and prepare a pull request.
over 1 week
Activity statusHow available the issue appears right now: fresh, active, stale, blocked, or waiting on maintainer input.
active
ClarityHow clearly the issue explains the expected change, acceptance criteria, and next step.
mostly clear
Prerequisites
C# programmingGroup Policy experiencePowerToys architecture knowledge
Newbie friendlinessA 1-100 score estimating how approachable this issue is for first-time contributors.
40
Research direction
Examine the PowerToys Awake module source code to understand the current indefinite awake feature. Review existing GPO implementations in PowerToys for patterns. Check the issue comments for any maintainer guidance or partial work. Discuss with the assignee to clarify scope and acceptance criteria.