[Fix] Lock Screen Slide Show Feature Not Working in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1

When Microsoft released Windows 8.1, the company added a new feature “Slide Show” on Lock Screen which allows users to select desired images and then those images are shown on Lock Screen in form of a slide show. The background image on Lock Screen automatically changes to the selected images after certain time interval when this Slide Show feature is enabled.

How to Enable Image Slide Show Feature on Windows 8.1 Lock Screen?

The same Slide Show feature is also available in Windows 10 operating system which works the same way as in Windows 8.1.

Advertisement

Windows_10_Lock_Screen.png

But there is a small bug or glitch in this feature in Windows 10 and Windows 8.1. Sometimes this Slide Show feature doesn’t work for many Windows users. Recently I got a comment from an AskVG reader “Paolo“:

Please I need help with lock screen slideshow on Windows 10 64-bit. It doesn’t works on my PC. I put images on a folder, all pics are jpg and I select folder for slide show, but nothing happens. Some solution(s)? Thank you so much.

I don’t use Slide Show feature on Lock Screen but to help the reader, I enabled the feature in my Windows 10 PC by going to “Settings  -> Personalization -> Lock Screen” and then selected “Slideshow” option from the drop-down box. I also added a folder containing several wallpapers to provide the album for slide show.

But surprisingly the slide show feature didn’t work for me as well. When I locked the computer using WIN+L key combination, Lock Screen was showing only the current background image. It didn’t start any slide show of images.

After doing some research and changing settings and options at several places, finally I was able to enable Slide Show feature on Windows 10 Lock Screen.

If you are also using Windows 10 or Windows 8.1 and the Slide Show feature is not working on Lock Screen, following methods should help you in fixing this annoying problem:

Advertisement

UPDATE 1: New Working Solution to Fix the Slideshow Problem

Following method has worked for many readers, so first try it:

1. Open Settings app from Start Menu or press WIN+I keys together to directly launch Settings app.

2. Now go to “Personalization -> Lock Screen” section.

PS: Alternatively, You can directly launch this page using “ms-settings:lockscreen” command in RUN dialog box as mentioned here.

3. Now set “Background” to “Picture“, click on Browse button and choose any image from the wallpaper folder which contains all the wallpapers you want to use as slideshow.

4. Now close Settings app and press WIN+L keys together to lock computer.

5. After unlocking, again to “Personalization -> Lock Screen” section in Settings app and change “Background” type to “Slideshow” and select the folder.

That’s it. It’ll work now.

UPDATE 2: Another Solution to Fix Slideshow Problem

You can also try following solution suggested by our reader “Hadasah“:

1. Open Settings app from Start Menu or press WIN+I keys together to directly launch Settings app.

2. Now go to “Cortana -> Lock Screen” section.

PS: Alternatively, You can directly launch this page using “ms-settings:cortana” command in RUN dialog box.

3. Now set “Use Cortana even when my device is locked” toggle to OFF.

It should fix the issue.

If above mentioned steps don’t fix the issue, try following methods:

METHOD 1: Remove and Re-add Images Folder

1. Go to “Settings -> Personalization -> Lock Screen” page and click on the existing folder containing the images for slide show feature.

2. Now click on Remove button to remove the folder from the list.

Do the same thing for all existing folders present in album list.

Add_Album_Folders_Lock_Screen_Slide_Show_Windows.png

3. Now re-add desired folder by clicking on “Add a folder” button.

Now check if the slide show feature has started working by locking your computer using WIN+L keys together. You can also try to restart your computer to take effects.

METHOD 2: Change Lock Screen Slide Show Advanced Settings

If the above mentioned method doesn’t work for you, try following:

1. When you are on “Settings  -> Personalization -> Lock Screen” page, click on “Advanced slideshow settings” link.

2. Now set “Only use pictures that fit my screen” option to Off and set “Play a slideshow when using battery power” and “When my PC is inactive, show lock screen instead of turning off the screen” options to On.

Customize_Lock_Screen_Slide_Show_Settings_Windows.png

NOTE: Second option “Play a slideshow when using battery power” will only be available on laptops and tablets.

Now the slide show feature should start working on Lock Screen.

METHOD 3: Enable Slide Show Feature on Battery in Power Options

Although this option is related to Slide Show feature of Desktop background but you can try the same method to fix Lock Screen slide show issue:

1. Type powercfg.cpl in RUN dialog box or Search box and press Enter. It’ll open “Power Options” window. You can also open it from Control Panel or WIN+X menu.

2. Now click on “Change plan settings” link present near your current power plan.

3. Again click on “Change advanced power settings” link present in next page. It’ll open a new dialog box which allows you to change various advanced settings of power plan.

BONUS TIP: You can directly open “Advanced power settings” dialog box using control powercfg.cpl,,1 command in RUN dialog box as mentioned here.

4. Now expand “Desktop background settings -> Slide show” and set “On battery” option to “Available” from the drop down box.

Enable_Desktop_Slide_Show_Battery_Power_Options.png

Apply changes and it may also fix the issue.

METHOD 4: Disable Ctrl+Alt+Del Requirement on User Login

If the option “Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete to unlock” is enabled on your Windows 10 computer, the slide show feature of Lock Screen will not work.

So you’ll need to disable this option to be able to enjoy slide show on Lock Screen:

1. Type control userpasswords2 in RUN dialog box or Search box and press Enter. It’ll open classic “User Accounts” window.

2. Now go to “Advanced” tab and disable “Require users to press Ctrl+Alt+Delete” option.

Disable_Ctrl_Alt_Delete_Requirement_Login_Screen.png

Apply the changes and now slide show should work on Lock Screen.

Related: How to Automatic Log into Windows without Username and Password?

METHOD 5: Enable Windows Search Service Using Services Manager

That’s the solution which actually worked for me. The slide show feature on Lock Screen is dependent on Windows Search service because the images folder which you select for slide show feature needs to be first indexed by Windows Search service and if the Windows Search service is not running in background, the slide show feature doesn’t work as the folder is not indexed. It seems a bug to me.

Related: Windows 10 Bug Breaks Lock Screen Slide Show Feature

Since I don’t use Search feature in Windows frequently, I always disable Windows Search service to improve performance as no indexing is performed in the background. But if we disable this service, the slide show feature stops working on Lock Screen.

So re-enable Windows Search service using following steps:

1. First of all open Services Manager using services.msc command in RUN dialog box or by using other methods as mentioned in STEP 1 of following tutorial:

[Guide] Which Windows 10 Services are Safe to Disable?

2. Now scroll down and look for Windows Search service. Double-click on the entry and make sure “Automatic” is selected in Startup type drop-down box.

Enable_Windows_Search_Service.png

3. Apply changes and click on Start button to immediately start Windows Search service.

That’s it. Now slide show feature should start working again on Windows 10 Lock Screen.

NOTE: Just check “Indexing Options” in Control Panel and you’ll notice the same folder present under “Index these locations” which you selected as album for slide show in Lock Screen settings page. This thing proves that Lock Screen slide show feature has some dependency on Windows Search service.

Indexing_Options_Windows_Search.png

PS: If you uninstalled default built-in modern (metro) apps in Windows 10 using this tutorial, you can try to reinstall the apps which may also help in this issue:

[Guide] How to Reinstall All Default Built-in Apps in Windows 10

Published in: Troubleshooting Guides, Windows 10, Windows 8

About the author: Vishal Gupta (also known as VG) has been awarded with Microsoft MVP (Most Valuable Professional) award. He holds Masters degree in Computer Applications (MCA). He has written several tech articles for popular newspapers and magazines and has also appeared in tech shows on various TV channels.

Comments

NOTE: Older comments have been removed to reduce database overhead.

  1. Diana’s solution is what worked for me as well. Set one image from the slideshow folder as background for lock screen. Lock the screen. Unlock the screen. Now switch to slideshow and select the folder. Lock screen. Voila! Slideshow is working.

    FYI, I tried all 5 solutions before this and none of them worked. I suspect this is due to updates since the article was first published…

  2. I have been stuck with this issue for months now, and no one on Microsoft’s website, Reddit, or any other forum had a working solution for me.
    Your first listed method under “UPDATE: New Working Solution to Fix the Slideshow Problem” of essentially resetting the lock screen worked instantly, and I thank you for giving me my lock screen slideshow back.

  3. Great step-by-step tutorials and for those, I thank you.

    However, for me none of those methods worked to resolve a certain issue. I will try to explain my issue briefly:

    My desired effect is to have the slideshow begin immediately after booting up the PC (Windows10 Desktop computer) without doing anything other than pressing the Power-button of my PC. However, for the hell of me, I am unable to get it to work.

    Now the slideshow works fine after I log on to my computer, and then Lock the user out, but who wants to do that every time?

    Also, amazingly enough, the slideshow does work after booting up your PC, but ONLY after you press the arrowkey/mouse in order to log-in, but instead you wait and make it go back, then the slideshow will begin eventhough you just booted the PC and didn’t even log in yet.

    Catch the idea?

    So, it’s o close, yet so far.. It’s quite frustrating how this feature just doesn’t do it right for me.

    IF there is a fix to this – which I doubt – it is buried deeper but I have not been able to find it. Help?

    I’ve read one thread about a user with the same problem, but none of the responses from some Microsoft-tagged people could offer a solution. They eventually said that Personalized Settings are not loaded yet when you first boot-up the computer/lock screen, which seems to be the case indeed. Yet a simple arrowkey/mouseclick and waiting for the Login-screen to go back to Lockscreen will do the trick. Ugh.

  4. Hey VG thank YOU for the response,

    I checked out the comments and additional links, but none of them really suited my needs unfortunately.

    What I desire is to have the Slideshow begin immediately after booting up the PC, as in pressing the Power Button.

    However, the slideshow won’t begin until I hit the arrowkey/mouse and wait for it to go back to Lockscreen. (Or logging in and locking out, but it requires slightly more effort than just hitting an arrow key after the power button.)

    Now, do you think it’s possible to have a script or a trick which enters the Login-screen automatically upon booting up, BUT also going back to the lockscreen automatically after some seconds (thus, beginning the slideshow) if no action is taken? (as in, not logging in)

    ^I believe this would be the only way to achieve the slideshow after booting up the PC with power button, if anything.

    Any ideas? Are you able to catch the idea where I’m getting at?

  5. Brilliant! Method 1 worked for me. I was one step away from figuring it out for myself, before I searched the net.

  6. Thanks! I changed to a picture from the folder than switched back to slideshow and it works now!
    Have a nice day! 🙂

  7. FINALLY FIXED IT

    I went through every method and nothing worked. Eventually I changed all the permissions to the folder C:\Windows\Web\Screen to administrator instead of TrustedInstaller and replaced the original files with my own. Could be because the folder I wanted to use for my slideshow was on my D: drive, while my OS is on C: drive. Even though I redirected the system folders to D: drive. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

    Hope this helps.

  8. I think I tried every combination of methods listed above. Eventually the one posted by ‘Diana’ worked. But why?
    I’d never had a problem showing a slideshow in Lock Screen until a few days ago I tried changing to a different folder. Then the problem started and I got a red message above ‘Choose Albums for your slide show’ saying that I needed to chose more than one image (sorry, exact words forgotten now). I had of course chosen a folder with about 1000 images in it (the one I had originally).
    Following advice elsewhere I checked on Windows Search service, and found it was on ‘Automatic (delayed)’, so I set it to plain ‘Automatic. No immediate result, but then when I followed Diana’s advice (see above) it worked again.
    Let’s hope it doesn’t equally mysteriously cease working.

  9. I used the first solution and it fixed the problem. But, after shutting down Windows and booting the next day, it’s broken again. So,I fix it once more and follow the other solutions to double check everything is set correctly. But, the next day its broken again. Windows is broken.

  10. METHOD 5: Enable Windows Search Service Using Services Manager
    Worked for me.
    Thx a lot

  11. What worked for me was the folder with the pictures I was using in slideshow where in my pictures. So if you navigated there using explorer you would just select pictures on the left and the folder was there. Where the path is actually c:\user\”username”\pictures\”Folder for slideshow”.
    So, what I did that worked was I moved that folder to the public area and voilà it worked. So the new Path is C:\Users\Public\Pictures\”Folder for slideshow”. I removed the old folder from slideshow in lock screen options and added the new folder in the public path and that did it. I guess it has to do with permissions for the OS to use those pictures in a public folder instead of user folder. Hope this help someone.

  12. Thanks! worked for me the top method named

    “UPDATE: New Working Solution to Fix the Slideshow Problem”

  13. Thank you so much! I had been messing with the settings trying to get this to work for close to an hour before googling for help and stumbling upon your article. After trying the original method plus method 1 (I needed to remove the other folders as the slideshow finally started working but was getting photos from all folders that were there), it finally worked! Much appreciated as I was started to get frustrated at something seemingly so simple not working 🙂

  14. THANKS FOR YOUR USEFUL EXCELENT EXPERTIZE INFORMATION
    ABOUT LOCKSCREEN SLIDESHOW IN WINDOWS 10
    MUCH OBLIGED
    YOU ARE AN I.T. EXPERT
    CONGRATUATIONS

  15. Also u can go to the lock screen scroll down and turn off show lock screen background picture on the sign in screen

  16. Just thought I would add my findings – automatic color in theme breaks the lock screen slideshow for me.

  17. Tried multiple fixes from above. this is the one that worked for me.

    “I fixed it by going to Cortana Lock Screen Settings and turning off option: Use Cortana even when my screen is locked.”

  18. of a sudden locked Slideshow screen on Win10 Home
    I tried so many things – I worked thru all the recommendations – nothing worked

    here my solution and very simple
    right click on blank desktop screen
    left click personalize
    e.g. change pics to slideshow
    browse
    choose folder

    DONE – it’s working again

  19. Tried all of these fixes and none of them worked. For me the screensaver and slideshow functions stopped working after the last windows 10 update. Seem Microsoft continues the practice of reducing functionality whilst claiming everything is an improvement to the user experience.

  20. Tried all of this & not a single thing fixed it. The weird thing is, when I click to bring up my login screen to enter my password, I can see the slideshow for a split second, but only for that split second when it brings up my user account. Otherwise it just shows the background image I had picked, it doesn’t even display the time & date.

  21. Update: I found a temporary fix / culprit. As I mentioned above, I tried all the suggested actions and nothing worked. I was opening a folder and Windows Explorer (explorer.exe) crashed & reset (as it often does on Windows 10). I immediately used Win+L to lock my screen, and the slideshow is now working, the time & date are also displaying properly again. Explorer clearly has some issues in Win10, and apparently the slideshow & time disappearing is related to whatever is going on with it. So restarting it may fix the issue temporarily as it did for me. This would also explain why it works when I first turn my computer on before I have logged in or ran anything.

  22. I’ve tried everything here and it didn’t solve the problem.
    I tried everything after this and it did not work if UAC is disabled.
    This is due to the fact that LockApp is a UWP app.
    UWP apps do not work if UAC is disabled.

  23. It would be best to tell *WHAT* is it supposed to do?
    Does it pick a random picture?
    Cycle through a list of pictures… in order?
    Pick a different picture each time you lock… until you unlock.. then it picks a different one?

  24. Thank you!! I couldn’t for the life of me get the lock screen background, but now all my pictures are showing as a slideshow when my laptop is locked😎

  25. THANK YOU!! I finally figured out how to get the slideshow to work, only to realize it was showing the wrong pictures. After reading these steps I was able to fix the problem and it’s working so well now.

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

NOTE: Your comment may not appear immediately. It'll become visible once we approve it.