Five minutes. That is apparently how long some machines think you can be trusted alone with an unlocked screen. You stop typing to read something, or you sit on a call actually listening for once, and the screen goes dark and demands your password like you'd left the building.
The reason this is so annoying to fix is that "my computer keeps locking" is really three separate timers wearing one trench coat. People adjust one, nothing changes, and they conclude the machine is haunted. It isn't. You just fixed the wrong timer.
Three timers, not one
Display sleep. The screen turns off to save power. The computer underneath is still running. On its own this locks nothing, but most systems are set to want a password when the display wakes, so it feels identical to a lock.
System sleep. The whole machine naps. Slower to wake, and waking almost always lands you on the login screen.
The lock itself. The actual security timeout. On Windows this is historically the screensaver with "On resume, display logon screen" ticked, plus the modern sign-in rules. On a Mac it is the "require password after" setting. This is the one that genuinely demands your password.
They run independently, which is why setting your display to never sleep can still leave you locked out five minutes later. A lurking screensaver rule doesn't care what your power settings say. You have to line all three up.
Side effect worth knowing: the moment the machine locks, Microsoft Teams flips you to Away too. More on that in how long before Teams shows you as away.
Fixing it on Windows (unmanaged PC)
Three stops. Do all of them, not just the first.
The screen timeout. Settings, then System, then Power and battery, then Screen and sleep. Raise "Turn off my screen after" to something civilised. There are separate values for battery and plugged in, and the battery one is usually the culprit.
The screensaver lock. Settings, then Personalisation, then Lock screen, then Screen saver. This dialog looks like it escaped from 2003 because it did. If "On resume, display logon screen" is ticked with a five minute wait, you've found your lock. Untick it, or lengthen the wait to something sane.
The sign-in rule. Settings, then Accounts, then Sign-in options. Find "If you've been away, when should Windows require you to sign in again" and relax it. This decides whether a merely sleeping screen turns into a full lock.
Fixing it on a Mac
Apple keeps everything in one pane, which is generous of them. System Settings, then Lock Screen.
Three settings matter there: "Start Screen Saver when inactive", "Turn display off when inactive" (separate values for battery and power adapter), and "Require password after screen saver begins or display is turned off". Raise the first two, and set the third to a delay rather than "Immediately". With a short grace period, a screen that briefly dozed off no longer costs you a password.
That's it for an unmanaged Mac. Two minutes of clicking.
The work laptop problem
Now the version of this article half of you actually need. You've followed the steps above and the options are greyed out, or they reset themselves overnight. That means your machine is managed: Group Policy on a Windows domain, an MDM profile on a Mac. The lock timeout was set deliberately by IT, usually as a security control with a compliance audit behind it, and your local settings lose every argument with it.
Being straight with you: no app can override a domain lock policy. Anything claiming otherwise is selling something that doesn't work. The policy sits above anything you can install, and honestly, that's the correct design. You can ask IT for an exception, and for meeting-room or presentation machines they'll often say yes. For a standard laptop, expect a polite no.
What you can legitimately do instead
Here's the bit the greyed-out settings can't take away from you. Every one of these timers counts down from your last input. They don't fire at 2pm sharp, they fire after N minutes of nothing. Keep real input happening and the countdown keeps resetting, the same as if you'd nudged the mouse yourself. No policy is violated, because the policy's own rule is being followed: the machine isn't idle.
This matters when you're at the machine but not touching it. Reading a forty page document. Sitting on a call. Watching a build crawl through its stages. You are working, the computer just can't tell, and prodding the mouse every four minutes is a rubbish job for a human. The mechanics of how idle detection decides you've vanished are covered in why Windows keeps going idle, and there's a wider rundown in keeping your computer awake without changing every setting.
Where Green Dotter fits
Green Dotter is a free desktop app for Mac and Windows that does the prodding for you. It creates small real inputs, clicks in a safe screen area you choose or tiny mouse movements, on a schedule you set, and it has a keep-awake toggle on top. To the idle timer, that is indistinguishable from your own hand, because it is genuine input on the machine. The timer never reaches zero, the screen stays on, the lock never fires. There's a fuller picture on the keep computer awake page.
And to be plain about the limits: this keeps the machine awake while you are at it. It is not a way around IT policy when you're not there. When you walk away from a work machine, lock it yourself. That's Windows key + L, and it takes less time than reading this sentence did.
FAQ
Why does my computer lock after 5 minutes?
Usually a lock or screensaver timeout is set to five minutes, either by you long ago or by your IT department through policy. Display sleep can also be set that low, and most machines ask for a password when the screen wakes, so it feels like a lock either way. Check both timers, because fixing one without the other changes nothing.
How do I stop Windows locking automatically?
On an unmanaged PC, raise the screen timeout under Settings, System, Power and battery. Then open the old screen saver dialog via Settings, Personalisation, Lock screen and untick On resume, display logon screen, or lengthen the wait. Finally, relax the sign-in rule under Settings, Accounts, Sign-in options. If any of these are greyed out, the machine is managed and policy decides, not you.
How do I stop my Mac locking so quickly?
Open System Settings, then Lock Screen. Raise the times for starting the screen saver and turning the display off, and set Require password after screen saver begins or display is turned off to a longer delay than Immediately. On a work Mac under MDM some of these options may be fixed by your administrator and will not budge.
Why can't I change my lock screen timeout at work?
Because it is enforced by Group Policy or MDM rather than your local settings. Short lock timeouts are a deliberate security control, often tied to compliance requirements, and no app can override a domain lock policy. What you can do is keep real input happening while you are genuinely at the machine, which stops the idle countdown starting in the first place.
Can an app stop a work laptop from locking?
Not by overriding the policy, no. What an app can legitimately do is create small real inputs while you are present, which resets the idle countdown exactly the way your own hand on the mouse does. That keeps the machine unlocked while you are actually there. It is not a way to keep a machine unlocked while you are away from it, and it should not be used as one.
A note on workplace policies: how you handle idle timers and automation depends on your role, your tools, and your employer's policies. Before relying on any keep-awake or automation tool, make sure you understand what is allowed on your work device.
Related: download the Mac auto clicker or the Windows auto clicker.