MerlinKeepAlive

Keep a Citrix or RDP session from disconnecting

MerlinKeepAlive stops your Windows PC, and a remote desktop session you have open on it, from going idle, locking or disconnecting while you aren't touching the mouse. You pick a monitor, and it gently moves the real mouse cursor around that monitor every so often. It never clicks.

If that monitor shows a remote session, such as Microsoft Remote Desktop, Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows App, Citrix Workspace or VMware Horizon, your remote client passes the cursor movement through, so the remote session stays awake too. Nothing is installed inside the remote session.

The moment you move your mouse yourself, it stops and stays stopped until you start it again.

Is it for you?

It's a good fit if you:

• keep losing a Remote Desktop, Citrix, AVD or Horizon session to an idle timeout while you read, watch a long-running job or step away briefly;
• want your screen to stay on during a presentation, a download or a long build, without changing power settings;
• can't install anything in the remote environment, or don't have administrator rights on your PC;
• want something that never gets in your way: no clicks, no stolen keystrokes.

It's probably not for you if you use a Mac or Linux PC, or need it to work over windows running as administrator or on the lock screen, which Windows doesn't allow normal apps to do. Your organization's acceptable-use policy may also have something to say about idle-prevention tools, so check it first.

Features

Movement that stays out of your way

• Pick the monitor the cursor moves on, so the remote session window gets the movement. An Identify button shows each screen's number.
• Stops the instant you move the mouse. It tells its own movement from yours, even over a full-screen session. Pressing a key or locking the PC stops it too.
• Never clicks. An optional harmless keystroke (F15, a key no keyboard has) helps with sessions that only count keyboard activity.
• Natural movement: a random mix of small jiggles and smooth glides, every 20 to 60 seconds by default.

Control

• Keeps the PC and display awake while it runs, and releases that when it stops.
• Scheduled stop at a time of day or after a set duration.
• A small floating toolbar that stays on top of full-screen sessions and collapses to a tab at the screen edge, plus a tray icon and a global hotkey (Ctrl+Alt+K).
• Optional start with Windows. It opens stopped and never starts moving by itself.

Price and license

Free beta until January 31, 2027. After that, a license is $39, one time, covering every 1.x version. Licenses go on sale January 1, 2027. It's one payment, not a subscription.

• The key arrives by email. Paste it into the About window and click Activate. It's checked on your PC, with nothing sent anywhere.
• Licensed to you by name and not tied to one PC.
• After January 31, a copy without a license still opens but won't start moving the cursor until you enter a key.

Privacy

MerlinKeepAlive works entirely on your PC. It doesn't phone home, check for updates, collect usage data or send anything anywhere. It watches mouse and keyboard activity only to notice that you've come back, and it never records what you type.

Requirements

Install

1. Download the zip, extract it, and run the setup file inside. If Windows shows "Windows protected your PC", click More info, then Run anyway. The app isn't code-signed yet.
2. Choose whether to add a desktop shortcut and start it when you sign in. Both are off by default.
3. The floating toolbar appears. Pick your monitor and click the green Start button.

SHA-256 of the setup file inside the zip:

AD3D50366BCA6BE9F3C5768532B5981E8928FA6D1BD710B124C509A16C7E2811

Known limitations

• Can't send input to windows running as administrator, or to the lock screen.
• In a full-screen session the remote client usually takes key combinations, including the hotkey. Use the toolbar or tray icon there. Moving the mouse always stops it.
• Not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen shows a warning the first time.