Personalization Change Lock Screen Background to Spotlight, Picture, or Slideshow in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you different ways to change the lock screen background to Windows Spotlight, a picture, or slideshow for your account in Windows 11.

The lock screen (aka: welcome screen) is the screen you see at startup and when you lock (Win+L) the PC. You will need to dismiss the lock screen to to see the sign-in screen and sign in to Windows.

You can customize your lock screen. You can change your lock screen background to Windows Spotlight, a picture, or a slideshow. You can also choose an app to show detailed status on the lock screen.

References:

If you have more than one display, the lock screen will only show on the main display.

EXAMPLE: Lock screen background







1 Open Settings (Win+I).

2 Click/tap on Personalization on the left side, and click/tap on Lock screen on the right side. (see screenshot below)



3 Do step 4 (Windows Spotlight), step 5 (picture), or step 6 (slideshow) below for what you want as the lock screen background.

When you select to use Windows Spotlight as your lock screen background, it sets the registry keys and values below:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"LockScreenAutoLockActive"="0"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager]
"RotatingLockScreenEnabled"=dword:00000001

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lock Screen]
"SlideshowEnabled"=dword:00000000

Lock screen pictures are cached in the hidden protected system folder location below.

C:\ProgramData\Microsoft\Windows\SystemData\<Account SID>\ReadOnly

When you select to use Picture as your lock screen background, it sets the registry keys and values below:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"LockScreenAutoLockActive"="0"

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager]
"RotatingLockScreenEnabled"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lock Screen]
"SlideshowEnabled"=dword:00000000

When you select to use Slideshow as your lock screen background, it sets the registry keys and values below:

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop]
"LockScreenAutoLockActive"="1"
"DelayLockInterval"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\ContentDeliveryManager]
"RotatingLockScreenEnabled"=dword:00000000

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lock Screen]
"SlideshowEnabled"=dword:00000001

This setting above is saved to the SlideshowIncludeCameraRoll DWORD in the registry key below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lock Screen

1 = On (checked)
0 = Off (unchecked)

This setting above is saved to the SlideshowOptimizePhotoSelection DWORD in the registry key below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lock Screen

1 = On (checked)
0 = Off (unchecked)

This setting above is saved to the SlideshowEnabledOnBattery DWORD in the registry key below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lock Screen

1 = On (checked)
0 = Off (unchecked)

This setting above is saved to the LockScreenAutoLockActive string value in the registry key below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Control Panel\Desktop

1 = On (checked)
0 = Off (unchecked)

This setting above is saved to the SlideshowDuration DWORD in the registry key below.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Lock Screen

1800000 (decimal) = 30 minutes
3600000 (decimal) = 1 hour
10800000 (decimal) = 3 hours
0 = Don't turn off

1 Open the image you want to set as the lock screen background in the Photos app. (see screenshot below)

2 Perform one of the following actions:

• Click/tap on the See more (3 dots) button.
• Right click or press and hold on the image.

3 Click/tap on Set as.

4 Click/tap on Lock screen (Ctrl+L).




That's it,
Shawn Brink