How to change the lock screen background in Windows 10

The lock screen is the screen you see when you start it up and when you lock your PC. You will need to remove the lock screen so that you can see the login screen and go into Windows.

You can use Windows Spotlight, an image or photo slideshow from folders added as a background for the lock screen.

This tutorial will show you how to change the lock screen background in Windows 10.

Change the lock screen background to Windows Spotlight, picture or slideshow in Settings

1. Open Settings and click on the Personalization icon .

2. Perform step 3 (Windows Spotlight), step 4 (image) or step 5 (slideshow) below, depending on what you want to do with the lock screen background.

3. To use Windows Spotlight as a lock screen background :

Starting in Windows 10 build 10547, Windows Spotlight is available in all versions.

Windows Spotlight is a feature that provides personalized information flow by service on the lock screen.

For example, Windows spotlight will display different backgrounds from Bing that you can choose to like or dislike, helping the service capture the preferences and display the image you want. You can also preview other Windows features and experiences to learn more about them.

The images for Windows Spotlight are stored in the folder below.

%LocalAppData%PackagesMicrosoft.Windows.ContentDeliveryManager_cw5n1h2txyewyLocalStateAssets

The image will look like below. Copy them to the desktop and rename them to [whatever you choose] .jpg to view the images.

Click on Lock screen on the left, select Windows Spotlight on the Background drop-down menu and go to step 6 below.

Click on Lock screen on the left, select Windows Spotlight on the drop-down menu in Background

4. To use the photo as a lock screen background:

This option is to select a single image as the lock screen background.

A) Click the Lock screen on the left, select Picture on the drop-down menu in Background.

Choose Picture

B) Turn on or off Get fun facts, tips, and more from Windows and Cortana on your lock screen .

Turn on or off Get fun facts, tips, and more from Windows and Cortana on your lock screen

C) If you like, you can choose one of the 5 recently displayed or default images.

D) If you like, you can click Browse , then navigate to the appropriate location and select an image.

You can click Browse to select an image

E) When done, go to step 6 below.

5. To use slideshow as a lock screen background:

This option uses a slideshow as a lock screen background to play images from within the folders you choose.

Service Windows Search must be running and set to Automatic for the lock screen slideshow to work.

A) Click the Lock screen on the left side, select Slideshow on the drop-down menu in Background.

Select Slideshow

B) Turn on or off Get fun facts, tips, and more from Windows and Cortana on your lock screen .

C) If you want to add the folder containing the images to use for the slideshow, click Add a folder , navigate to and select the folder (e.g. OneDrive Pictures ), then click Choose this folder .

Click Add a folder

D) If you want to delete and add a folder, click the folder ( OneDrive Pictures ) and click Remove.

E) Click the Advanced slideshow settings link .

F) Turn on or off the settings you like, select the time to turn off the screen after the slideshow has played ( SlideshowDuration ) and go to step 6 below.

Note:

These are the default settings in the screenshot below.

Settings Turn off screen after a slide show has played for are stored as seconds (decimal) for the DWORD value in the registry keys below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USERSoftwareMicrosoftWindowsCurrentVersionLock Screen

SlideshowDuration DWORD

1. 1800000 = 30 minutes
2. 3600000 = 1 hour
3. 10800000 = 3 hours
4. 0 = Don't turn off

default setting

6. When done, you can close the Settings if desired.

Change the lock screen wallpaper to an image in the Photos app

1. Open an image you want as a background for the lock screen with the Photos application .

2. Press the Ctrl+ keys L.

OR

3. Click the More button (3 dots) in the upper right corner, click Set as and select Set as lock screen .

Change the lock screen wallpaper to an image in the Photos app