{"id":9009,"date":"2019-05-04T14:46:47","date_gmt":"2019-05-04T09:16:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/198.58.113.91\/blog\/?p=9009"},"modified":"2023-08-02T20:36:21","modified_gmt":"2023-08-02T15:06:21","slug":"auto-turn-off-monitor-when-lock-computer-workstation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/auto-turn-off-monitor-when-lock-computer-workstation\/","title":{"rendered":"Automatically Turn off Monitor when you Lock your Computer"},"content":{"rendered":"

We saw how to turn off your monitor<\/a> or put your computer to sleep mode<\/a> using shortcuts. Also, we explained how to automatically lock the workstation<\/a> immediately after automatic login to your account.<\/p>\n

By default, after you lock your workstation (computer), the display turns off automatically in 1 minute, and the lock screen display off timeout can only be increased<\/a>. For some users, the 1-minute interval is not sufficient, and they need a mechanism to automatically turn off the monitor immediately after the computer is locked.<\/p>\n

In this article, we’ll see how to automatically turn off the monitor automatically when you lock your computer (Win<\/kbd> + L<\/kbd>). <\/p>\n

Automatically Turn off Monitor when you Lock your Computer<\/h2>\n

Turning off monitor & locking the workstation can be automated using a Windows Batch<\/a> file. But it won’t help if the computer locks automatically after the screensaver or Sleep timeout. So, we’ll see how to use Task Scheduler Trigger to accomplish the task.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/strong> Before proceeding, we’ll need NirCmd<\/strong> or Wizmo<\/strong> utility that can turn off the monitor. Check out the article How to Turn Off Monitor Using Shortcut or Command-line in Windows<\/a> for a brief overview of these tools and their download<\/strong> links.<\/em><\/p>\n

Method 1: Using Task Scheduler<\/h3>\n

This is the preferred method.<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Launch Task Scheduler and click on the Create Task<\/strong> option.<\/li>\n
  2. Assign a name and description for the task.<\/li>\n
  3. Click on the Triggers tab, and click New…<\/li>\n
  4. From the dropdown, select On workstation lock<\/strong>, and click OK.
    \n\"turn<\/p>\n

    \"turn\n<\/li>\n

  5. Click on the Actions tab, and click New…<\/li>\n
  6. In the Program\/script: box, type in the path to nircmd.exe<\/code>
    \n\"turn<\/li>\n
  7. In the arguments box, type monitor off<\/strong><\/code> as the arguments and click OK, OK.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    A new scheduled task is now created, which triggers nircmd.exe monitor off<\/code> command automatically when you lock the computer.<\/p>\n

    \n

    Method 2: Using Audit & Task Scheduler<\/h3>\n

    Here is another way to turn off the monitor automatically, but this is not the preferred method. Windows Pro versions have the Local Security Policy Editor which allows you to audit logon events. First, enable auditing of successful account logon events via Security Policy console. After you enable auditing, every login, logoff, lock and unlock workstation events are recorded in the Windows Event log. In Step 2, we’ll attach a scheduled task for the “lock workstation” event.<\/p>\n

    Step 1: Enable audit of logon events<\/h4>\n
      \n
    1. Open the Local Security Policy (secpol.msc<\/code>) console.<\/li>\n
    2. Expand Security Settings \u2192 Local Policies \u2192 Audit Policy<\/li>\n
    3. Double-click Audit logon events
      \n<\/strong>\"automatically<\/li>\n
    4. Enable the checkbox for Success<\/strong>, and click OK.
      \n\"automatically<\/li>\n
    5. Exit Local Security Policy console.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      Step 2: Create an Event Trigger for “Lock Workstation” event<\/h4>\n

      After you enable auditing as in Step 1, workstation lock events are recorded in the Security event log as Event ID: 4800<\/code>. (Unlock workstation event has ID 4801<\/code>)<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. Lock the workstation once using Winkey<\/kbd> + L<\/kbd> and then unlock it.<\/li>\n
      2. Open Event Viewer (eventvwr.msc<\/code>)<\/li>\n
      3. Expand Windows logs<\/strong> \u2192 Security<\/strong><\/li>\n
      4. In the middle pane, locate the recent event having the ID 4800<\/strong>.
        \n\"automatically<\/li>\n
      5. Right-click on the event, and click Attach Task To This Event<\/strong>
        \n\"automatically<\/li>\n
      6. In the next screen, assign a name for the scheduled task and click Next.
        \n\"automatically<\/li>\n
      7. In the next screen, the Event ID and source are automatically filled up. Click Next.
        \n\"automatically<\/li>\n
      8. In the Action window, click Start a program<\/strong>, and click Next.
        \n\"automatically<\/li>\n
      9. In the Program\/script: box, type in the path to nircmd.exe<\/code>
        \n\"automatically<\/li>\n
      10. In the arguments box, type monitor off<\/strong><\/code> as the parameters and click Next.
        \n\"automatically
        \n\"automatically<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        A new scheduled task is now created, which will be automatically triggered when you lock the workstation using any method.\u00a0The new task is stored under Task Scheduler Library<\/strong> \u2192 Event Viewer Tasks<\/strong> in Task Scheduler. This is because the above task was created via Event Viewer Attach Task To This Event<\/strong> (a.k.a. Event Trigger<\/em>) option.<\/p>\n

        Editor’s note:<\/strong> After some time, if you think you no longer want to turn off the monitor when locking the computer, reverse the steps listed under “Step 1” so that your Security<\/strong> event log is not flooded with login\/logoff\/lock\/unlock workstation events. Then, manually delete the scheduled task using Task Scheduler.<\/em><\/p>\n

        \n
        \n

        <\/a>Lock Workstation & Turn off Display using Windows Batch file<\/h4>\n

        You can also use a Windows Batch file to lock your workstation & turn off the monitor in a single click. Again, you’ll need NirCmd or Wizmo.<\/p>\n

        Create a Batch file (say, lock-and-turn-off-monitor.bat<\/code>) using Notepad with the following contents:<\/p>\n

        RunDll32.exe user32.dll,LockWorkStation\r\nC:\\Windows\\nircmd.exe monitor off<\/pre>\n
        Running the Batch file will accomplish the task!<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
        That’s it! Press Winkey<\/kbd> + L<\/kbd> to lock the workstation now. It will automatically trigger your “Turn off monitor” scheduled task, and your monitor(s) will now turn off automatically!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
        We saw how to turn off your monitor or put your computer to sleep mode using shortcuts. Also, we explained how to automatically lock the workstation immediately after automatic login to your account. By default, after you lock your workstation (computer), the display turns off automatically in 1 minute, and the lock screen display off … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[335,581],"class_list":["post-9009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-windows","tag-nircmd","tag-task-scheduler"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":179,"url":"https:\/\/www.winhelponline.com\/blog\/how-to-automatically-login-to-windows-and-then-lock-the-workstation\/","url_meta":{"origin":9009,"position":0},"title":"How to Automatically Login and Auto-Lock Workstation After Login","author":"Ramesh","date":"April 13, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Setting up an automatic login in Windows also comes with a great responsibility to safeguard the user account from unauthorized use. After configuring automatic login to your user account, you may also want to set it to lock the workstation immediately at login. 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