PowerToys Awake alternative · Mac & Windows

A simpler alternative to PowerToys Awake

No PowerToys installation required. Just download, pick a spot or an area, and go.

Official Green Dotter download

Green Dotter is available two official ways: install from the Microsoft Store, or download it directly from green-dotter.com. No account, email address or subscription is required.

~3.5 MB standalone appMac and WindowsFree. No account required.
Green Dotter’s compact bar on a desktop. It clicks at random points inside one safe area you chose, or wiggles the mouse. Touch the mouse and it pauses, waiting for you. Leave it and it carries on.

Set up in a minute.

Pick a mode and press Start. Nothing to configure first.

Click

Choose one exact spot, or draw a box and it clicks somewhere inside it. Clicks land at random intervals inside the range you set, so the rhythm isn't mechanical.

Wiggle

Nothing to pick. The mouse drifts a little, the way yours does while you read. Choose how long, press Start, and leave it.

Green Dotter's main screen set to Wiggle only. A row of options offers 15 min, 30 min, 1 hour, 2 hours, 3 hours, Until stopped and Every, with 1 hour chosen, and a green Start button.

It steps aside when you take over.

Touch the mouse and it pauses, then carries on once you stop. While it runs it folds down to a small bar you can park in a corner.

Green Dotter's compact bar while clicking: 1 hour 17 minutes left, stops at 3:45 pm, 842 clicks so far, with pause and stop buttons. The same bar in amber after the mouse was touched: Paused, waiting for you to leave the mouse, with resume and stop buttons.
Beta · new in 2.10

Set the week once.

Pick your days and hours, add a lunch break. Start and stop times shift by a few minutes each day, so it isn't clocking in at 9:00 sharp.

Green Dotter's Scheduler tab. Status Waiting, next run today 8:53 am to 5:08 pm. A Timetable for Monday to Friday, 9:00 am to 5:00 pm with random starts up to 10 minutes before and stops up to 10 minutes after, lunch 1 to 2. Below, a week strip with green bars on each weekday and a gap at lunch.

Green Dotter has to be open, the tray is fine, and your computer on and signed in. It can't wake a sleeping computer. It's new, so if something looks off, tell us.

The same job, without the toolkit

PowerToys Awake keeps your computer from sleeping, but it's buried inside a 50MB developer toolkit you probably don't need. Green Dotter does the same job and more, as a standalone 3.5 MB app with nothing else bundled in.

Green Dotter vs PowerToys Awake

 Green DotterPowerToys Awake
Human-style wiggle mode✓✗
File size~3.5 MB~50MB (full PowerToys)
Standalone app✓✗ Bundled with PowerToys
Keeps computer awake✓✓
Simulates mouse activity✓✗
Helps keep Slack/Teams status active✓✗
Mac support✓✗ Windows only
Free✓✓

Both keep your machine awake and both are free. The difference is everything around it: Green Dotter is one small app that also helps keep your Teams status active and helps stop Slack going idle, on Mac as well as Windows.

Why people switch to Green Dotter

You don't need the rest of PowerToys. PowerToys is a great toolkit for developers. If all you want is to keep your computer awake, it's overkill. Green Dotter is just the one tool, nothing else.

It helps keep your status active too. PowerToys Awake prevents sleep but doesn't simulate mouse movement. Green Dotter clicks in areas you define, which can help keep your status from going idle in apps like Slack and Teams. The full story is in the PowerToys Awake explainer.

Works on Mac and Windows. PowerToys is Windows only. Green Dotter works on both. If you just need sleep prevention, see the broader guide to keeping your computer awake. On a Mac, start with the auto clicker for Mac page.

Official Green Dotter download

Official Green Dotter download

Green Dotter is available two official ways: install from the Microsoft Store, or download it directly from green-dotter.com. No account, email address or subscription is required.

Get Green DotterControlled clicks, simple setup. Green Dotter clicks where you tell it to, on a natural schedule, and gets out of your way when you're back. Free.