Staylit help

Getting started

Staylit lives in the notification area (the tray) at the right of the taskbar. The first time it starts, a short setup asks what a left-click should do, picks a default duration and suggests apps to stay awake for.

• Left-click the icon to turn keep-awake on or off. You can change this to open the flyout instead.
• Right-click opens the flyout, with durations, the display toggle, active triggers, Stop and Add 1 hour.
• The icon shows a grey ring when off and a sun when awake, with a badge for the time left.

If the icon is hidden under the ^ arrow, drag it onto the taskbar so it is always visible.

Triggers

Triggers keep the PC awake automatically, and stop when the reason ends. Set them up in Settings › Triggers.

• While an app runs or is in front: pick a running app or browse for its .exe.
• While a download or copy is going: network or disk activity above a threshold. It starts after 15 seconds of activity and ends after 2 minutes below the threshold, so short pauses don't end it.
• Until the processor is idle: useful for renders and builds.
• While plugged in.

Several triggers can be active at once. Pressing Stop while a trigger is active quiets that trigger until its reason ends and starts again, so Stop always lets the PC sleep.

End actions and battery

In Settings › End action, choose what happens when a timer runs out on its own: nothing (the PC sleeps normally), sleep, or shut down. Sleep and shut-down show a 60-second warning with Cancel focused. Shut-down lets apps with unsaved work stop it.

An end action is skipped if a trigger still needs the PC awake, or if the PC was asleep when the timer ended, so it never shuts down right after waking.

In Settings › Battery, set the level at which keep-awake stops (20% by default), and optionally turn all triggers off while on battery.

Things Windows decides

• Closing the lid follows your Windows lid setting. Staylit can't keep a closed laptop awake if Windows is set to sleep on lid close.
• Choosing Sleep yourself from the Start menu always works.
• Work or school PCs may have policies that lock the screen or sleep after a set time. Staylit doesn't override them.
• A restart ends keep-awake. Staylit doesn't resume a session after Windows or the app restarts.

Keyboard shortcuts

These work from anywhere in Windows while Staylit is running.

Trial and license

Staylit is free to try for 14 days, with everything turned on. After that: "Until I stop it", 1 hour and Add 1 hour keep working. The other timers, triggers and end actions need a license.

Entering your license key

1. Buy a license. Your key appears on screen as soon as the payment goes through, and arrives by email.
2. In Staylit, open the License page in Settings.
3. Paste the key and choose Activate. The PC needs to be online for this step.

Using it on more than one PC

One key works on up to 3 PCs. To move it to a new PC, deactivate it on the old one from the License page first. If the old PC is gone, free up its place at Manage devices, using the email address you bought with or the key itself.

Once activated, Staylit works offline. When it's online it checks the license about once a week, so a refunded or revoked key stops working on its next check.

Bought Staylit in the Microsoft Store? The Store edition is licensed through your Microsoft account instead, and doesn't use a key.

Updates

To get the latest version, choose Check for updates in Staylit. It asks before installing anything.

Each update is checked against a fingerprint (SHA-256) before it runs, and installs over the current version without touching your data. Updates for the Microsoft Store edition come through the Store.

See what’s new in each version.

Your data and uninstalling

Staylit keeps its settings and data on your PC, in this folder (paste it into File Explorer’s address bar to open it):

%LOCALAPPDATA%\Hedgerow\Staylit

To back it up, quit Staylit and copy that folder.

To uninstall, open Windows Settings › Apps › Installed apps, find Staylit and choose Uninstall. The uninstaller asks whether to remove your data too.

Still stuck?

Email support@hedgerowapps.com and we’ll get back to you. Mention your Staylit version (shown in Settings › About) and your Windows version. More answers are on the support page.