StayAwake is a simple, lightweight plugin for Notepad++ that enables you to maintain an Active status on Microsoft Teams (and perhaps other messaging applications such as Slack and Zoom). StayAwake also prevents screen saver activation, screen blanking, and Windows session lockouts.
If you are using Microsoft Teams, you may have noticed that Teams automatically sets your status to Away after a few minutes of inactivity. This can be frustrating if you are still at your desk but perhaps on a business phone call OR outlining a plan on paper OR consulting some reference material.
StayAwake does its job by simulating key presses of unused or low side-effect buttons at specified time intervals. This is a safe and non-intrusive way to keep your Microsoft Teams status Active.
- StayAwake will continue to run in the background even after its panel is closed.
- StayAwake will autostart with every Notepad++ session. There is no need to leave the panel open to have StayAwake autostart with Notepad++. For more info on this feature, see: Stealth Mode
For most users, the default choice of Scroll Lock cycling will work just fine. See the Key Simulation Options section below for more info.
This field allows you to specify the interval between key simulations. The initial default value for this is 240 seconds (i.e., 4 minutes). However, you can change this to any value between 10 and 9990 seconds. Your new value will be saved and used the next time you run the plugin.
After changing the value for Seconds between Awakes, click this button to apply the new setting. Clicking this button will also immediately run a StayAwake Key simulation.
The clock times of when the StayAwake event was last run, and when it will do so next are displayed and continually refreshed on the plugin panel.
Click this button to pause StayAwake Key simulations.
As seen in the clip above, clicking the Pause button will also have these effects:
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The PAUSED state will be indicated in the Next StayAwake event time slot.
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The Pause button will change to Resume mode. To exit the PAUSED state, click the Resume button.
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If Notepad++ is closed while StayAwake is in paused mode, StayAwake will reopen in paused mode when Notepad++ is launched the next time. To exit the PAUSED state, click the Resume button.
Click this button to close the plugin panel and continue to run StayAwake in the background.
This is the default option, and it will work just fine for most users.
However, some users using Remote Desktop alongside have reported spurious keystrokes being transmitted between the connected Windows devices. Users in such situations should explore other key simulation options.
With this option, StayAwake will simulate a Volume Down key press, immediately followed by a Volume Up key press, thereby resulting in no net change in volume level.
A minor benefit with this option is the visual feedback. Each StayAwake key simulation event will cause the Windows Volume Slider bar to display for a few seconds above the Windows Taskbar.
However, if a user has muted the audio, then this option will unmute it. Users wishing to avoid this side effect should explore other key simulation options.
With these options, StayWake will simulate key press of an unassigned keycode.
These unassigned keycodes have been obtained from this Microsoft article on Virtual-Key Codes.
Microsoft may start utilizing any of these unassigned codes in the future -- but not all of them in one go. Hence all 10 of the currently unassigned codes have been included in the StayAwake Key Simulation list so that users can switch to another still available unassigned keycode.
Beginning with the v1.1.0.0 release, StayAwake will autostart with every Notepad++ session. This means that there is no need to leave the panel open to have StayAwake autostart with Notepad++.
After its autostart, StayAwake will keep simulating the selected Awake keycode at specified intervals unless it had been paused in a previous Notepad++ session.
The stealth mode can be turned ON/OFF via the Notepad++ menu option: Plugins » StayAwake » Stealth Mode. When stealth mode is active, the Stealth Mode menu option will have a checkmark indicator.
When stealth mode is NOT active:
- StayAwake will suspend its activity. i.e., StayAwake will stop simulating the Awake keycodes.
- As of the v1.1.0.0 release, StayAwake's suspended state will be indicated only by the absence of checkmark in the menu option; it is not being indicated anywhere else on the plugin panel.
- StayAwake's suspended state will not carry over to future Notepad++ sessions -- a distinction to note during the choice of using the Stealth Mode menu option vs. the Pause button on the panel.
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You can verify the stealth mode feature in action by temporarily setting the StayAwake Key simulation selection to Volume Up & Down and the Seconds between Awakes to 10 seconds in the StayAwake plugin panel.
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You can add the Stealth Mode menu option to Notepad++'s right click menu by editing the contextMenu.xml file of Notepad++.
For example, add the following line of text to the contextMenu.xml file:
<Item PluginEntryName="StayAwake" PluginCommandItemName="Stealth Mode" ItemNameAs="StayAwake Stealth Mode" />At the location indicated in this clip:
Save changes to the xml file and restart Notepad++. StayAwake Stealth Mode menu option will start displaying in Notepad++'s right click menu, as seen in this clip:
StayAwake is also available as a standalone application. This version can be useful if you are not a Notepad++ user.
If you are only looking for a way to block screen saver activation and session lockouts, you do not actually need the StayAwake plugin. Instead, you can simply open a PDF document in full screen mode in Adobe Acrobat (Reader | Professional), and leave it open in the background. This will prevent your screen saver from activating, and also prevent your Windows session from locking out.
Note: Full screen mode is different than maximized window state. To view a PDF document in full screen mode in Adobe Acrobat (Reader | Professional), either use:
- The menu option: View » Full screen mode
- Or the much quicker keyboard shortcut: Ctrl + L.
However, if you are looking for a way to keep your Microsoft Teams status Active, then StayAwake is the right tool for you.
Within Notepad++, you can install the StayAwake plugin using the Notepad++ Plugin Manager (Plugins » Plugins Admin menu option => Available tab).
After installing the StayAwake plugin, click on Plugins » StayAwake » Show StayAwake Panel menu option to start the utility.
