Automatic screen locking

[jmt356]

Is it possible in Windows 10 Home to set the screen to automatically lock after 10 min. of inactivity?

[HansV]

Yes:

- Click the Start button or press the Windows key.
- Type screen saver, then press Enter.
- Select a screen saver (I have set it to Blank, which results in a black screen, but you can choose whatever you like except 'None').
- Set the Wait time to 10 minutes.
- Tick the check box 'On resume, display logon screen'.
- Click OK.

The effect will be immediate, a reboot is not required.

[jmt356]

I have tried this, but it just results in my screen going blank. When I move the mouse, the screen resumes without displaying the logon screen. I ticked "On resume, display logon screen."

[HansV]

Do you need to enter a password (or pin code) when you start your computer?

[jmt356]

Yes, I do.

Something very odd has happened. When I leave my screen for about a few minutes, it goes to the lock screen, not the screensaver. Yesterday, when I tested this, it went to the screensaver, but moving the mouse took me to my workspace without taking me to the logon screen.

[HansV]

If you set Screen Saver to (None), you'll just go to the lock screen after n minutes of inactivity
If you set Screen Saver to something else, the screen saver will be activated after n minutes of inactivity, and moving the mouse or pressing a key should activate the lock screen.

S2297.png

[jmt356]

I set my screen saver to ribbons, but ribbons are not showing up. Only the lock screen shows up. I am fine with that.

[jmt356]

I have set up my screensaver to display

I have selected the Photo Gallery option under screen saver. Photos from my Photo Gallery display in the tiny preview that shows up automatically in the Screen Saver Settings dialogue, but when I click preview or when the screensaver launches on its own, it displays as a black screen with tiny white writing that states, “There are no photos in C:/Users//Photos.” But that is untrue. There are photos in C:/Users/[User Name]/Photos.

[John Gray]

Have you tried using backslash \ instead of the Unix forward slash / ?
Are there any blanks in the file path?
What extension do the files have: JPG? JPEG? PNG?

[JoeP]

In the past the Photo Galley has had problems if there are files in the designated folder which are not pictures such as videos.

[DaveA]

How much time is stet for the screen saver to kick in?

It needs to less than 10, as the lock screen will kick in before that.

[jmt356]

I have a wait period of 5 minutes before the screen saver is launched.

Have you tried using backslash \ instead of the Unix forward slash / ?
Are there any blanks in the file path?
What extension do the files have: JPG? JPEG? PNG?

The address I reported above is an error; the address that is being using uses backslashes (\) rather than forward slashes (/). When I browse fro the folder in the Browse For Folder dialogue and select Pictures, the address that displays is C:\Users\\Pictures.

There are no blanks in the file path.

That folder contains files with a .JPG extension.

[HansV]

Try the following:

- Create a new folder, for example under your Documents folder.
- Copy a few pictures into the folder, but no other files.
- In the Screen Saver dialog, click Settings...
- Click Browse...
- Navigate to the new folder and select it, then click OK.
- Click Save in the Settings dialog.
- Click OK in the Screen Saver dialog.

Does the screen saver work now?

[jmt356]

Try the following:

- Create a new folder, for example under your Documents folder.
- Copy a few pictures into the folder, but no other files.
- In the Screen Saver dialog, click Settings...
- Click Browse...
- Navigate to the new folder and select it, then click OK.
- Click Save in the Settings dialog.
- Click OK in the Screen Saver dialog.

Does the screen saver work now?

The screen saver randomly started working yesterday on its own. I am not sure what happened or what changed to get it going. I did not try Hans' suggestion above as the screen saver spontaneously started working without further intervention.

[HansV]

Let's hope it keep on working