How To Enable Screen Saver In Windows 11

With default settings, the screen saver is turned off in Windows 11 as screen savers are not required on modern PCs. Screen savers were initially introduced to avoid screen burn-in (in Cathode Ray Tube displays) due to cumulative non-uniform use of display pixels.

Since screen savers are technically not required for modern displays, Microsoft has stopped adding new screen savers to Windows operating system. All the screen savers in Windows 11 were initially introduced with Windows 7. That said, you can add third-party screen savers by downloading and installing them from the internet.

You might want your system to display a screen saver when your PC is idle for a long time. Here is how to do that.

Enable or disable screen saver in Windows 11

Tip: If you are looking for a good clock screen saver, use the Fliqlo clock screen saver.

Step 1: Type “change screen saver” in the search and press the Enter key to open the Screen Saver Settings dialog. The other way to access screen saver settings is to navigate to Settings > Personalization > Lock screen page and click the Screen saver link.

Step 2: In the Screen saver section, select a screen saver from the drop-down list.

Step 3: Next, click on the Settings button to customize the selected screen saver.

Note that only the 3D Text screen saver offers personalization options. When you click the settings button after selecting any other screen saver in the list, you will get a “The screen saver has no options that you can set” message. That said, there are third-party tools out there to customize all built-in screen savers.

You can click the Preview button to have a glimpse of the screen saver before applying it. When a screen saver is being previewed, hit the Esc key or any other key on the keyboard to end the preview.

Step 4: Next, you need to set the number of inactive minutes Windows 11 waits before displaying the screen saver. The default value is set to 1 minute, but you can change this waiting time by clicking the up and down arrow buttons or manually entering a value between 1 and 9999.

We also suggest you select the On resume, display logon screen option, particularly if you have password protected your account. When this option is enabled, Windows 11 display the lock screen when you stop the screen saver by moving the mouse or pressing a key on the keyboard. You will have to enter the password or other methods to sign in.

Step 5: Finally, click on the Apply button.

Create a screen saver settings shortcut on Windows 11 desktop

If you frequently change screen savers, you might like the idea of having a screen saver settings shortcut on your desktop. Here is how to do that.

Step 1: Right-click on desktop, select New and then click Shortcut.

Step 2: In the Location field, copy and paste the following location:

control desk.cpl,,@screensaver

Click on the Next button.

Step 3: Here, type Screen saver before clicking the Finish button. That’s it! You now have the screen saver settings dialog on your Windows 11 desktop.

How to set screen saver as Windows desktop background guide might also interest you.