How to Password Protect Screensaver in Windows

Screensavers performed a crucial role in the past - they protected the old CRT monitors from screen burn-in. Due to the prolonged display of non-moving images, these old monitors could start suffering from permanent ghost-like images of objects or overall degradation of image quality. Nowadays, monitors use totally different technologies and no longer need to fear this particular issue. As such, screensavers have become more of an aesthetic choice and a way to demonstrate your personal style.

However, one screensaver feature has remained as relevant as ever. If you wish to protect your computer from unauthorized access while you are away from it, you can password protect your screensaver. In practice, this means that after the screensaver is active, you will need to go through a log-in screen before gaining access.

To activate the feature on Windows 11, follow these steps:

1. Start by right-clicking a space on your desktop.
2. From the available choices, pick 'Show more options.'
3. Now, click on 'Personalize.'
4. Here, select 'Screen saver' to open the 'Screen saver settings window.
5. Locate the 'On resume, display log-on screen box' and enable the feature.
6. Set the timer for the screensaver and click Apply to save all the changes.

On Windows 10, the process to password-protect the screensaver is slightly different:

1. Right-click a space on your desktop and choose 'Personalize' from the available options.
2. Select 'Lock screen' from the left pane of the window.
3. Click on the 'Screen saver settings' option.
4. Once the 'Screen saver settings' window shows up, look for the 'On resume, display log-on screen' option and enable it by checking the corresponding box.
5. Set the preferred time after which the screen saver will be activated.

Finally, click on 'Apply' and then 'OK' to save the changes.