PowerToys Awake vs Caffeine vs a mouse jiggler
PowerToys Awake keeps a PC awake but presses no keys, Caffeine taps a key every 59 seconds, and a jiggler moves the mouse. What each does for Teams and Slack.
By the Stayaway team4 min read
PowerToys Awake, Caffeine and a mouse jiggler all stop a Windows PC from going to sleep, but they work in three different ways, and only two of them reset the idle timer that Microsoft Teams and Slack watch. Here is what each one actually does, taken from each maker's own documentation.
The short answer
| PowerToys Awake | Caffeine for Windows | A mouse jiggler | Stayaway | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| How it keeps the PC awake | Asks Windows to hold a power state | Simulates a keypress every 59 seconds | Moves the mouse pointer | Natural mouse, keyboard and scroll activity |
| Counts as input | No | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Keeps Teams or Slack from going Away | No | Generally, yes | Yes | Yes |
| Starts when you step away, stops when you return | No | No | Rarely | Yes |
| Cost | Free | Free | Mostly free | Free for mouse activity |
The row that matters most is the second one. Teams and Slack decide you are Away by how long it has been since the computer last saw input. A tool that only keeps the screen on doesn't change that number.
PowerToys Awake: keeps the screen on, isn't activity
PowerToys Awake is part of Microsoft's free PowerToys. It can keep the computer awake indefinitely, for a set time, or until a date and time you choose, and optionally keep the screen on too.
Microsoft describes how it works: it doesn't touch your power plan, and instead runs background threads that tell Windows the machine needs to stay in a certain state. That is a power request, not input. It presses no keys and moves no mouse, so the idle timer keeps counting, and Teams and Slack still switch you to Away after a few minutes.
Use it for: a long download, a render or a backup, a presentation or a wall dashboard. Anything where you want the screen on and don't care about a status.
Caffeine for Windows: one key, every 59 seconds
Caffeine, from Zhorn Software, is free and tiny. Its own page says it works by simulating a keypress once every 59 seconds, the F15 key by default, which almost no program uses. Because that is real simulated input, it resets the idle timer, so the PC doesn't lock and a presence status generally stays Available.
Caffeine also has an option to stay awake without simulating a key, and its page notes that in that mode, apps that track input won't see any. That is the clearest statement you will find of the difference between the two approaches.
It is configurable from the command line: the interval, which key it presses, active hours, schedules, staying active only while a particular window is open, or only on mains power. What it doesn't do is notice you: it doesn't start when you step away or stop when you come back. It presses the same key on its timer until you switch it off.
Use it for: stopping a PC locking or sleeping with no setup at all.
A mouse jiggler: moves the pointer
A mouse jiggler, such as Mouse Jiggler or Move Mouse, moves the pointer at intervals. Mouse movement is input, so it resets the idle timer and keeps a status green. Most free jigglers move the pointer on a fixed interval until you stop them; some have schedules. A USB jiggler does the same thing in hardware (software vs hardware jigglers covers the trade-off).
Use it for: keeping a status from going Away when mouse movement alone is enough.
Which one to use
- You're at your desk and want the screen on: PowerToys Awake. It's free and from Microsoft, and you don't need anything else.
- You want the PC never to lock, with zero setup: Caffeine.
- You want a status to stay Available while you step away, and want it to start and stop on its own: an activity app. That is what Stayaway does. Auto Detect starts a run once you've been idle for a threshold you set, and Smart Resume stops it the moment you move the mouse or type.
None of these changes what monitoring software records. Screenshots, the apps and websites you use, and the activity a tracker reports are all unaffected. If that matters for your computer, read can mouse jigglers be detected first. For the presence side in detail, see keeping your Teams and Slack status from going away.