Windows 10: Specify Default Active Power Plan in Windows 10

How to: Specify Default Active Power Plan in Windows 10


Information A create custom power plans that are optimized for specific computers.

By default, all users (standard and administrator) can make changes to any chosen the same power plan as their default active power scheme.

This tutorial will show you how to specify a default active power plan for all users that cannot be changed in Windows 10.

You must be signed in as an administrator to specify a default active power plan.

CONTENTS:

• Option One: To Select a Default Active Power Plan in Local Group Policy Editor
• Option Two: To Specify a Default Active Power Plan in Local Group Policy Editor
• Option Three: To Specify a Default Active Power Plan using a REG file
• Option Four: To Specify a Default Active Power Plan in Registry Editor

EXAMPLE: Power Options grayed out when specified a power plan














OPTION ONE [/i] To Select a Default Active Power Plan in Local Group Policy Editor


Note Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option Three or Option Four below.

1. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

2. Navigate to the folder below in the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Power Management




3. In the right pane of Power Management, double click/tap on the Select an active power plan policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

4. Do step 5 (default) or step 6 (select) below for what you would like to do.


5. To Not Select a Default Active Power Plan
A) Select (dot) Not Configured or Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below. (see screenshot below)

NOTE: Not Configured is the default setting.

6. To Select a Default Active Power Plan
A) Select (dot) Enabled. (see screenshot below)

B) Select Automatic (aka: Balanced), High Performance, or Power Saver in the "Active Power Plan" drop menu for which power plan you want to specify.

C) Click/tap on OK, and go to step 7 below.




7. When finished, you can close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.





OPTION TWO [/i] To Specify a Default Active Power Plan in Local Group Policy Editor


Note Local Group Policy Editor is only available in the Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education editions.

All editions can use Option Three or Option Four below.

1. Open a command prompt.

2. Type powercfg /list into the command prompt, and press Enter. Make note of the GUID number (ex: "a5af2826-04c0-4305-8603-3e867c70e501") for the power plan (ex: "My Custom Plan") you want to specify. (see screenshot below)



3. Open the Local Group Policy Editor.

4. Navigate to the folder below in the left pane of the Local Group Policy Editor. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow Computer Configuration\Administrative Templates\System\Power Management




5. In the right pane of Power Management, double click/tap on the Specify a custom active power plan policy to edit it. (see screenshot above)

6. Do step 7 (default) or step 8 (specify) below for what you would like to do.


7. To Not Specify a Default Active Power Plan
A) Select (dot) Not Configured or Disabled, click/tap on OK, and go to step 9 below. (see screenshot below)

NOTE: Not Configured is the default setting.

8. To Specify a Default Active Power Plan
A) Select (dot) Enabled. (see screenshot below)

B) Enter the GUID number (ex: "a5af2826-04c0-4305-8603-3e867c70e501") from step 2 above into the "Custom Active Power Plan (GUID)" field.

C) Click/tap on OK, and go to step 9 below.




9. When finished, you can close the Local Group Policy Editor if you like.





OPTION THREE [/i] To Specify a Default Active Power Plan using a REG file


Note The .reg files below will add and modify the string value in the registry key below.

HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Power\PowerSettings

NoLockScreen String Value (REG_SZ)

<delete> = Default, no specified active power plan
381b4222-f694-41f0-9685-ff5bb260df2e = Automatic (aka: Balanced)
8c5e7fda-e8bf-4a96-9a85-a6e23a8c635c = High Performance
a1841308-3541-4fab-bc81-f71556f20b4a = Power Saver
e9a42b02-d5df-448d-aa00-03f14749eb61 = Ultimate Performance (starting with Windows 10 build 17083)

1. Do step 2 (Default), step 3 (Automatic), step 4 (High Performance), step 5 (Power Saver), or step 5 (Ultimate Performance) below for what you would like to do.


2. To Not Specify a Default Active Power Plan
NOTE: This is the default setting.
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 7 below.

Default_no_specified_power_plan.reg

Download

3. To Specify "Automatic" as Default Active Power Plan
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 7 below.

Specify_Automatic_power_plan.reg

Download

4. To Specify "High Performance" as Default Active Power Plan
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 7 below.

Specify_High_Performance_power_plan.reg

Download

5. To Specify "Power Saver" as Default Active Power Plan
A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 7 below.

Specify_Power_Saver_power_plan.reg

Download

6. To Specify "Ultimate Performance" as Default Active Power Plan


Note The "Ultimate Performance" power plan is only available starting with Windows 10 build 17083.

A) Click/tap on the Download button below to download the file below, and go to step 7 below.

Specify_Ultimate_Performance_power_plan.reg

Download
7. Save the .reg file to your desktop.

8. Double click/tap on the downloaded .reg file to merge it.

9. When prompted, click/tap on Run, Yes (UAC), Yes, and OK to approve the merge.

10. Restart the computer to apply.

111. If you like, you can now delete the downloaded .reg file.





OPTION FOUR [/i] To Specify a Default Active Power Plan in Registry Editor
1. Open a command prompt.

2. Type powercfg /list into the command prompt, and press Enter. Make note of the GUID number (ex: "a5af2826-04c0-4305-8603-3e867c70e501") for the power plan (ex: "My Custom Plan") you want to specify. (see screenshot below)



3. Press the Win+R keys to open Run, type regedit into Run, and click/tap on OK to open Registry Editor.

4. Navigate to the key below in the left pane of Registry Editor. (see screenshot below)
*Arrow HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Power\PowerSettings



Note If you do not have the Power key, then right click on the Microsoft key, click/tap on New, click/tap on Key, type Power for the name, and press Enter.

If you do not have the PowerSettings key, then right click on the Power key, click/tap on New, click/tap on Key, type PowerSettings for the name, and press Enter.



5. Do step 6 (specify) or step 7 (default) below for what you would like to do.


6. To Specify a Default Active Power Plan
A) In the right pane of the PowerSettings key, double click/tap on the ActivePowerScheme string value (REG_SZ). (see screenshot below step 4)


Note If you do not have the ActivePowerScheme string value, then right click on an empty area in the right pane of the PowerSettings key, click/tap on New, click/tap on String Value, type ActivePowerScheme for the name, and press Enter.

B) Enter the GUID number (ex: "a5af2826-04c0-4305-8603-3e867c70e501") from step 2 above. (see screenshot below)

C) Click/tap on OK, and go to step 8 below.





7. To Not Specify a Default Active Power Plan
NOTE: This is the default setting.
A) In the right pane of the PowerSettings key, right click on the ActivePowerScheme string value (REG_SZ), and click/tap on Delete. (see screenshot below step 4)

B) Click/tap on Yes to confirm, and go to step 8 below. (see screenshot below)




8. When finished, close Registry Editor.

9. Restart the computer to apply.

That's it,
Shawn


Related Tutorials

• How to Add or Remove Power Options Context Menu in Windows 10
• How to See Your Current Active Power Plan Scheme in Windows 10
• How to Choose a Power Plan in Windows 10
• How to Add or Remove 'Choose Power Plan' context menu in Windows 10
• How to Change Power Plan Settings in Windows 10
• How to Change Power Mode Level in Windows 10
• How to Create a Custom Power Plan in Windows 10
• How to Rename a Power Plan in Windows 10
• How to Export and Import a Power Plan in Windows 10
• How to Delete a Power Plan in Windows 10
• How to Reset and Restore Power Plans to Default Settings in Windows 10
• How to Restore Missing Default Power Plans in Windows 10

:)

 

Power Plan Automatically Changes

Hello Briemann,

If this is an OEM PC, it could be their power management software overriding what you set in Windows Power Options.

If you like, you could try to specify a default active power plan that can't be changed to see if that may have it stick.

Specify Default Active Power Plan in Windows 10

 

Power plans automatically changing

Hi Jonah,

Thank you for contacting Microsoft Community. I understand that you have an issue with power plans.
I will surely help you to fix this issue.

This issue could have occurred due to incorrect Power settings. Try the steps listed here:

Method 1:

Let’s run the power troubleshooter and check if that helps.

a. Press Windows key on the keyboard.

b. In the search box, type Troubleshooting and press
Enter.

c. Click on ‘System and Security’ and click on ‘Power’ click on next to run the troubleshooter.

Method 2:

If the issue persists, I suggest you to
restore the power plans to default and check if it helps.

Step 1: Reset and restore the power plans to default:

• 
  Right-click on
  Start button and click on Command Prompt (Admin).
  
• 
  In the command prompt, type powercfg –restoredefaultschemes
  and hit Enter.
  
• 
  Exit command prompt.
  

Note: This would reset the power plan settings to default. Any customized power plans are would be removed.



Step 2:

Once the power plan is reset to default, you may create a
new power plan and customize the same according to your needs.



Refer to the link:

Power plans: Frequently asked questions

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-8/power-plans-faq





Note: Applies to Windows 10.



Hope this information helps. Reply to the post with an updated status of the issue so that we can assist you further.

 

Power plan?

Upon checking, it seems that there's nothing wrong with your system. It is usual that you have to double-click your mouse before your monitor wakes up.

For the meantime, we suggest changing the power plan by following the steps below:

• Press Windows key + S.
• Type in Power Settings.
• On the pop-up window, choose Additional power settings.
• Select High performance.

After changing the power plan, we suggest that you monitor the changes made and check if that will work for you.

Get back to us if you need further help.

 

Power Options Plan


Hello PressF5, and welcome to Ten Forums.

Basically, all the default power plans have the same settings. They are just each preset to be optimized for the namesake of the power plan.

You can set your active power plan however you want for your needs.

If you like, here's a list of options to help improve the performance of Windows 10.

*Arrow Optimize Performance of Windows 10 Performance Maintenance Tutorials

 

How do I disable a Microsoft Power Plan?

Hello Tyler,

Usually, your computer changes your power plan if you don't have the correct system settings. For us to better isolate this issue, we recommend performing the Power troubleshooter.

1. Click on the Windows icon on your computer, then type in Troubleshoot.
2. At the left pane, choose Troubleshoot.
3. Under Find and fix other problem, select Power and then click
   Run the troubleshooter.
4. After performing it, check if you still experience the automatic switches of your power options.

In case you want to restore the power plans to its default settings, you can try the steps below:

Step 1: Reset and restore the power plans to default:

1. Right-click on Start button and click on Command Prompt (Admin).
   
2. In the command prompt, type powercfg –restoredefaultschemes and hit Enter.
   
3. Exit command prompt.
   

Note: This would reset the power plan settings to default. Any customized power plans will be remove.

Step 2:

Once the power plan is reset to default, you may create a new power plan and customize the same according to your needs.

If you continue to have this issue even after performing the above steps, please reply to this thread. The system will notify me so I can get back to you and provide you with further assistance.