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Prevent Screen Saver is a minimal Windows system tray app that keeps the screen saver at bay while you are reading, monitoring, or reviewing content — without touching your keyboard or mouse. It uses the Windows SetThreadExecutionState API to request an active display state, so there is no simulated input, no cursor movement, and no interference with your workflow.

Installation

Download the installer or portable ZIP and get the app running in minutes.

Quickstart

Learn how to toggle protection, use the tray menu, and configure startup behavior.

Tray Controls

Explore every tray menu action — Activate, Deactivate, Help, About, and more.

Global Hotkeys

Toggle protection with a keyboard shortcut — no tray menu required.

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Why Prevent Screen Saver?

When you are watching a long video, reviewing a document, or monitoring a dashboard, Windows does not know you are still present. After the idle timeout, the screen saver kicks in and breaks your flow. Common workarounds — like moving the mouse or pressing a key — either disrupt precision work or risk unintended side effects. Prevent Screen Saver solves this cleanly by calling the Windows power-management API directly. There is no input simulation, no cursor jitter, and no hidden background activity beyond a single API call.

How It Works

Understand the SetThreadExecutionState API and how protection lifecycle is managed.

Startup Settings

Configure the app to launch with Windows and remember its last protection state.

Diagnostics

Locate and read the diagnostics log to troubleshoot hotkey or activation issues.

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Key Features

1

Active / Idle toggle

Left-click the tray icon or press your configured hotkey to switch between Active (screen saver blocked) and Idle (normal Windows behavior) states instantly.
2

Global hotkey presets

Choose from five built-in keyboard shortcuts — default is Ctrl+Alt+P — to toggle protection without opening the tray menu.
3

Start with Windows

Enable the Start with Windows tray option and the app registers itself in the current-user Run registry key so it launches automatically at login.
4

Zero input simulation

Protection is enforced entirely through the Windows SetThreadExecutionState API. No fake keystrokes, no mouse movement — nothing that could interfere with your open applications.

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Build from Source

Prefer to build it yourself? The project requires .NET SDK 10+ and runs on Windows only. 
dotnet build Prevent-Screen-Saver.slnx
dotnet run --project src/PreventScreenSaver/PreventScreenSaver.csproj
See the full build guide for publish and installer instructions.

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