How to Prevent Your Lock Screen From Timing Out (Screen Sleep and Screen Lock Timeout)

To stop your lock screen from timing out, you need to adjust your device's screen timeout or sleep settings, which dictate how long your screen stays active before turning off and engaging the lock screen. This setting is typically found within your device's display or power management options.

Understanding Screen Timeout

The screen timeout feature is designed to conserve battery life and enhance security by automatically turning off your device's display and locking it after a period of inactivity. While useful, there are situations where you might prefer your screen to stay on longer, such as when reading, following a recipe, or monitoring an application.

Below are instructions for adjusting this setting on common operating systems.

Adjusting Screen Timeout on Android Devices

On Android, you can control how long your phone remains inactive before the screen turns off. This is often referred to as "Screen timeout" or "Screen sleep."

Steps for Android:

Open Settings: Tap the Settings icon on your home screen or in your app drawer.
Navigate to Display: Scroll down and tap on Display or Display & Brightness.
Find Screen Timeout: Tap on Screen timeout or Screen sleep.
Select Duration: Choose how long you want your phone to wait inactive before the screen turns off. You'll typically find options like 15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 2 minutes, 5 minutes, 10 minutes, or even "Never" on some devices. Select a longer duration or "Never" to prevent it from timing out.

Example: If you choose 2 minutes, your screen will turn off after two minutes of inactivity.
Consider Screen Attention (If Available): Some Android devices also offer a feature called Screen attention (or similar, like "Keep screen on while viewing"). If enabled, this uses your device's front camera to detect when you are looking at the screen, keeping it on as long as you are actively viewing it, even if the timeout period has been reached.

Quick Reference Table for Android

Setting Name	Typical Location	Purpose
Screen timeout	`Settings` > `Display`	Sets duration before screen turns off and locks.
Screen attention	`Settings` > `Display`	Keeps screen on while you're looking at it.

Adjusting Screen Timeout on iOS (iPhone/iPad)

On iOS devices, this setting is called "Auto-Lock."

Steps for iOS:

Open Settings: Tap the Settings app.
Go to Display & Brightness: Scroll down and tap on Display & Brightness.
Tap Auto-Lock: Select Auto-Lock.
Choose Duration: You can choose durations like 30 Seconds, 1 Minute, 2 Minutes, 3 Minutes, 4 Minutes, 5 Minutes, or Never.
- To prevent your screen from timing out, select Never.

Adjusting Screen Timeout on Windows Computers

On Windows, you control when your screen turns off and when your computer goes to sleep.

Steps for Windows 10/11:

Open Settings: Click the Start button, then select Settings (the gear icon).
Go to Power & Sleep: Click on System, then select Power & Sleep (Windows 10) or Power & Battery (Windows 11).
Adjust Screen Settings:
- Under the Screen section, you'll see options like "When plugged in, turn off after" and "On battery power, turn off after."
- Click the dropdown menu for each and select a longer duration or Never.
Adjust Sleep Settings (Optional): If you also want to prevent your computer from going into a sleep state, adjust the "When plugged in, PC goes to sleep after" and "On battery power, PC goes to sleep after" settings to Never.

Adjusting Screen Timeout on macOS Computers

On macOS, you can manage display sleep settings and enable a "Never" option for preventing the screen from turning off.

Steps for macOS:

Open System Settings: Click the Apple menu in the top-left corner, then choose System Settings.
Go to Lock Screen or Battery:
- For display sleep when on AC power: Select Lock Screen. Adjust Turn display off on battery when inactive and Turn display off on power adapter when inactive to a longer time or Never.
- For laptops, you might also find these options under Battery settings, under Power Adapter and Battery tabs respectively.
Prevent Automatic Sleep: In the Battery section, you can also adjust settings to prevent your Mac from automatically sleeping. You might find a slider or checkbox for Prevent computer from sleeping automatically when the display is off.

Important Considerations

Battery Drain: Setting your screen timeout to a very long duration or "Never" can significantly drain your device's battery life, especially on mobile devices.
Security Risk: A longer screen timeout means your device will remain unlocked for a longer period, potentially posing a security risk if it's left unattended in a public place.
Screen Burn-in: While less common with modern screens, keeping a static image on for extremely long periods might, in rare cases, contribute to screen burn-in on certain display types.