In Windows 10, many familiar things are changed once again. The classic Control Panel is going to be replaced with the Settings app and many settings are going to be reduced and eliminated. Many users who installed Windows 10 for the first time are getting confused by the new location of some settings in Windows 10. Users are often asking me via email how to access screensaver options in Windows 10. Here is the answer.
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There are several ways to access screensaver options in Windows 10. Let's review the most common ways.
Access screensaver options in Windows 10 using search
Before you continue, you might be interested in reading the following article: How to search in Windows 10 Start menu with search box disabled.
To access screensaver options in Windows 10 using search, type the following and then press Enter
ch sc
This will show you Change Screensaver Settings directly in search results.
You can read how it works in this article: Search apps faster in the Start menu in Windows 10.
By default, Windows 10 uses web search results combined with local search results. If you have no use for web searches via the taskbar search box and want to speed up local searches, you can disable web search completely. See how it is done here: How to disable web search in the Windows 10 taskbar.
Access screensaver options in Windows 10 with a command
Press Win + R shortcut keys together on the keyboard to open the Run dialog. In the Run box, type the following:
control desk.cpl,,1
Tip: See the ultimate list of all Windows keyboard shortcuts with Win keys.
Using the Settings app
- Open Settings.
- Go to Personalization - Lock Screen.
- On the right, click on the link Screen saver settings.
Access screensaver options in Windows 10 via the classic Personalization dialog
If you are running some recent Windows 10 build for Windows Insiders, you are able to access the classic Personalization options. You might be already knowing that themes and Personalization have made a return in Windows 10 build 10547. At the moment of this writing, the most recent release, Windows 10 build 10565, still comes with these options:
However, if you are running the RTM build, Windows 10 build 10240, the Personalization window looks empty! Here is an alternative solution for you:
Access screensaver options with Personalization Panel for Windows 10
Winaero's Personalization Panel for Windows 10 restores the options which were removed from the desktop context menu and replaced with the Settings app. Personalization Panel for Windows 10 has an authentic look like the original. It is a portable free app which supports all editions of Windows 10 and works with 64-bit (x64) and 32-bit (x86) versions. The application can be integrated directly into the Desktop context menu from the app's options so you can use personalization options like previous versions of Windows. There you can change screensaver settings:
That's it. As you can see, it is not hard to change screensaver settings in Windows 10 if you know how to access them.
Now you can change hidden settings of default screensavers in Windows 10. Screensavers shipped with Windows 10 by default have lots of settings. All of them are inaccessible because the configuration dialogs are missing for unknown reasons. Winaero Screensavers Tweaker allows you to change all the hidden settings of Windows Screensavers easily!
Click HERE to download Screensavers Tweaker and read more details about it.
A quick note: the Bubbles screensaver can no longer use desktop‘s screenshot as a background since Windows 8. Instead it uses solid black color. In order to get transparent background, Bubbles screensaver must be run from Bubbles.scr fround in “%windir%/system32”. This can be done via Task Scheduler. //thanks to MDJ who reminded me this fact,
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You can acces it via Settings: Personalization —> Lock Screen, there it the right pane is located a link to the Screen Saver dialog.
You shall add a note that Bubbles screensaver can no longer use desktop‘s screenshot as a background since Windows 8. Instead it uses solid black color. In order to get transparent background, Bubbles screensaver must be run from Bubbles.scr fround in “%windir%/system32”. This can be done via Task Scheduler.
Adding..
Thanks for mentioning it.
Have any of you noticed your screensaver won’t start when your computer is locked? I had no such issue in windows 7, any screensaver was able to start, but in windows 10 it’s impossible and instead of starting screensaver while computer is locked, it will turn your display off. That’s a way to go, Microsoft! :D
I solved my own problem. It was caused by screen power off timer in windows. Timer was set to minutes, but for some reason it always activated instead of screensaver while computer was locked (on login screen). Setting of screen power off to never fixed that issue.