Neither Windows power plans nor Windows power modes have a setting that switches back after a set time. Say you want High performance for one game or one meeting, or Power saver while your laptop is out with you, and then Balanced again. You have two options. One is to create a one-time task in Task Scheduler that switches the plan back at the time you pick. The other is PowerDoze's Apply temporarily: choose how long, and let it end on its own.
Is there a "switch back in an hour" option anywhere in Windows?
No. You pick a power plan in Control Panel > Power Options, and on Windows 11 you pick a power mode from the Power mode dropdown in Settings. Neither place has a field for "how long" or "until when". Whatever you pick stays in use until you or another program changes it.
A power plan and a power mode aren't the same setting, either — here's how they differ. This post is about switching the power plan. One thing to know: once you switch to the High performance plan, Settings tells you the power mode is set automatically, and you can't adjust it separately. Only Balanced, or a plan copied from Balanced, lets you adjust the Windows power mode.
Do it yourself: switch now, then schedule a task to switch back
All you need is Command Prompt. Type cmd into the search box on the taskbar, open Command Prompt, and then:
- Switch to High performance:
powercfg /setactive SCHEME_MIN. For Power saver, replaceSCHEME_MINwithSCHEME_MAX. - Schedule a task that switches back to Balanced at 23:30 today:
schtasks /create /tn "Back to Balanced" /tr "powercfg /setactive SCHEME_BALANCED" /sc once /st 23:30 /f - When you no longer need the task, delete it:
schtasks /delete /tn "Back to Balanced" /f.
These names are easy to read backwards: SCHEME_MIN is High performance, SCHEME_MAX is Power saver, and SCHEME_BALANCED is Balanced. MIN and MAX describe how much power saving you get, not how much performance. These aliases stand in for a plan's GUID (the string of letters and numbers that identifies each power plan). If the plan you normally use is one you created yourself, run powercfg /list. Each line in the list is one plan, and the one marked with * is the one in use. Copy the GUID of the plan you want and put it in place of SCHEME_BALANCED.
Here's what each part of the second command does:
/sc once: run one time only. Withonce, you must also give/st./st 23:30: the time to run, in 24-hour format. Use a time that hasn't passed yet today. A date for tomorrow needs/sd, and how you write that date depends on your system's region settings, so this post doesn't cover it — this command only works within today./f: if a task with the same name already exists, overwrite it. Next time, just change the time and reuse the same line./tn "Back to Balanced": the task's name. Pick any name, and use the same one when you delete it.
If creating the task fails, try again from Command Prompt running as administrator: type cmd into the search box, right-click Command Prompt, and choose Run as administrator. The task stays in Task Scheduler after it runs, so delete it when you're done. When the time comes, a black command window may flash on screen.
On a work or school PC, your administrator may block switching power plans with Group Policy. By default, Windows lets standard users switch.
What we can't confirm yet: we did not run the plan-switching command (powercfg /setactive) on our test PC, because the author's PC can't have its power settings changed. We did run powercfg /list and powercfg /aliases, which lists the aliases. For the schtasks command, we created a one-time task on this PC with a harmless program that doesn't open a window, checked that the scheduled time was right, and deleted it. That command window had administrator rights, so we haven't tested whether a standard account can create the task. We also haven't tested what happens to the task if the PC is asleep or shut down when the time comes.
PowerDoze's Apply temporarily: pick how long, and it ends on its own
This feature is free, in the Microsoft Store version of PowerDoze (2.4.0 and later). Open PowerDoze's power modes page. Every mode card has an Apply temporarily button (the card you're already using doesn't show it). Click it and a window titled like Switch to "High performance" for a while opens, where you choose the time:
- 15, 30, 60 or 120 minutes: click one.
- Custom: type a number into Minutes (1–1440), up to 24 hours.
- Until a time: pick a time in 24-hour format, and the button shows something like Until 15:00. If that time has already passed today (the current minute counts as passed), it means that time tomorrow, and the button reads Until 15:00 (tomorrow).
Then click Start. PowerDoze remembers the number of minutes you used last time; the first time, it's 30. After that you can skip the PowerDoze window: point to Switch for 30 min in the system tray menu, then pick a mode. The number is the minutes you chose last time. A switch started from the tray doesn't open a window, and when the time is up it goes back to your schedule.
Once the switch starts, the home screen shows a Temporary switch banner with a countdown like 29:59 left. When the countdown ends, PowerDoze goes back to your automatic rules. Past an hour, the countdown looks like 1:05:00. To finish early, click End now on the banner.
When PowerDoze switches one of its own power modes, it changes the Windows power plan and leaves the Windows power mode alone. PowerDoze's built-in High performance mode uses the Windows High performance plan.
When the time is up, it goes back to your schedule, not to the mode you had before
The same window has a When the time is up choice, and it's the part people most often get wrong:
- Back to my schedule (the default): when the time is up, your automatic rules decide again — schedule, foreground app, Wi-Fi, away rules and so on.
- Switch to another mode: when the time is up, PowerDoze switches to the mode you pick here. The list has your other modes, not the one you're applying temporarily.
Neither option means "go back to the mode I had before." For example: you had manually picked Power saver, then applied High performance temporarily for 60 minutes. If you chose Back to my schedule, PowerDoze follows your automatic rules when the time is up. It won't switch to Power saver just because that's what you had before. If you want Power saver for sure when the time is up, choose Switch to another mode and pick Power saver.
While the temporary switch runs, other rules work like this: low battery overrides the temporary switch. Other rules hold off: the ones that switch by foreground app, Wi-Fi, being away or a busy CPU. If a rule's condition is still true when the time is up, that rule takes over.
What happens to a temporary switch after a restart or sleep?
A temporary switch isn't saved to disk. It only lives in the background program that PowerDoze runs. When that background program restarts (for example, when you restart the PC or choose Exit in PowerDoze's tray menu), the temporary switch ends and your automatic rules take over again.
If the PC sleeps, PowerDoze checks the clock when it wakes. If the time ran out during sleep, the temporary switch ends within about a second of waking.
How is Apply temporarily different from Return to the schedule after a manual switch?
PowerDoze's settings page has a Return to the schedule after a manual switch card with a switch on the right, and it's on by default. Its description says: "A mode you switch to by hand ends when the next time slot in your schedule starts, and the schedule takes over again." Here's how to set up schedule rules.
That switch covers ordinary manual switches: Apply on the power modes page, picking a mode from the system tray, or a keyboard shortcut. After a manual switch, the home screen shows Manual override, with the time it will return to the schedule and a Back to schedule now button. If you have no schedule, the mode you picked stays. If you turn the switch off, the mode you picked also stays until you change it.
The difference is who decides when it ends: with Apply temporarily, you set how long; with Return to the schedule after a manual switch, the next time slot in your schedule decides. This switch doesn't change when a temporary switch ends.
| Your situation | What fits |
|---|---|
| One game, about an hour | PowerDoze Apply temporarily, 60 minutes |
| A meeting until 3 p.m. | PowerDoze Apply temporarily, Until a time 15:00 |
| Switching back at the next schedule slot is fine | PowerDoze Apply, with Return to the schedule after a manual switch left on |
| Just today, no new software | Command Prompt plus Task Scheduler (powercfg /setactive plus schtasks /create) |
| Now and then, and you remember to switch back | Switch by hand in Control Panel or the Windows power mode |
Frequently asked questions
Can a temporary switch last longer than a day?
In PowerDoze, Custom accepts up to 1440 minutes, which is 24 hours, and Until a time can go as far as the same time tomorrow. The schtasks command in this post only works within today.
Does a scheduled task delete itself after it runs?
No. The task stays in Task Scheduler after it runs. When you don't need it, run schtasks /delete /tn "Back to Balanced" /f to remove it.
How do I end it early?
In PowerDoze, click End now on the Temporary switch banner on the home screen. With your own task, switch the plan back in Control Panel first, then delete the task so it doesn't switch again when the time comes.
Do I have to pay for PowerDoze's temporary switch?
No. Apply temporarily and Return to the schedule after a manual switch are both free.
Limits of this post
If you only switch now and then and remember to switch back, doing it by hand in Control Panel or the Windows power mode is enough. If you need it just once today, the powercfg /setactive and schtasks /create commands do the job. In either case, you don't need us.
PowerDoze's temporary switch isn't saved, so restarting the PC or quitting PowerDoze ends it. For the do-it-yourself part, we didn't run powercfg /setactive, didn't test whether a standard account can create the task, and didn't test what happens if the PC is asleep or off when the time comes. What this post says about PowerDoze comes from reading its code. We haven't checked every item by hand in the app.
Tired of remembering to switch your power plan back after every game or meeting? Click Apply temporarily on a PowerDoze mode card, pick a time, and when it's up PowerDoze hands control back to your schedule.
