Turn Off Monitor Using Shortcut or Command-line in Windows

My new Samsung Curved monitor has the power button on the rear end, perhaps for aesthetic purposes. I have been using monitors that have controls on the front or underneath the bezel all these years. Now, with the new monitor, I find it a little bit inconvenient to reach out to the button on the backside every time I need to turn off or turn on the display.

Moreover, the only button the Samsung C24F390 monitor has is a JOG Button, a multi-directional button that helps navigate. The JOG button is on the rear left side of the product. The switch can be used to power on, off, move up, down, left or right, and select options on the on-screen display menu.

To turn off this monitor, it takes three button presses: Press the center of the JOG button → (when the on-screen menu appears), press the JOG button downward → press the center.

So, I need a desktop shortcut or hotkey method to turn off the display, so that I no longer need to use the hardware buttons on the monitor. A mouse move or keyboard input should turn on the monitor.

Macbooks come with built-in keyboard shortcuts to turn off display — using Control+Shift+Power or Control+Shift+Media Eject. Windows doesn’t have any such preprogrammed keyboard shortcut to turn off the display.

Here are various programs using which you can turn off the monitor with a desktop shortcut or command-line in Windows.

Turn off Monitor Using Shortcut

Turn off monitor using NirCmd

NirCmd is a multi-purpose command-line automation tool that we have covered many times previously on this website.

To turn off the monitor(s) using NirCmd, use this command:

nircmd.exe monitor off

Create a desktop shortcut for the above command-line and assign a hotkey to the shortcut (e.g., Ctrl + Alt + M). You can also pick a neat-looking icon by browsing the shell32.dll or imageres.dll files located in the Windows\System32 folder.

See also: NirCmd Command Reference.

ControlMyMonitor.exe /SetValue "\\.\DISPLAY1\Monitor0" D6 2

Turn off monitors Using Wizmo

Wizmo from Gibson Research Corporation is another multi-purpose command-line tool similar to NirCmd.

To turn off the monitors using Wizmo, run this command:

wizmo.exe monoff

You can create a desktop shortcut to it and assign a hotkey. This tool also plays short music when turning off the display and turning it on (by mouse or keyboard activity.)

Turn off monitor using PowerShell

If you prefer a native solution to turn off the display rather than a third-party program, you can use a PowerShell command in a batch file.

Open Notepad and copy the following line precisely into Notepad.

powershell (Add-Type '[DllImport(\"user32.dll\")]^public static extern int SendMessage(int hWnd, int hMsg, int wParam, int lParam);' -Name a -Pas)::SendMessage(-1,0x0112,0xF170,2)

Save the file with a .bat extension.

Running the above batch file or command will turn off your monitors.

Turn off monitor using AutoHotKey script

If you prefer the AutoHotKey automation tool, you can create a .ahk file with the following contents:

#+m::
Sleep 1000
SendMessage, 0x112, 0xF170, 2,, Program Manager
Return

Place the file in your Startup folder.

Pressing Win + Shift + M turns off the monitor. Moving the mouse will turn it on again.

Do you know any other methods to turn off the display? Let’s know your comments.