Lock Screen Slide Show - Turn On or Off in Windows 8.1

How to Turn On or Off the Lock Screen Slide Show in Windows 8.1​

   Information

Windows 8.1 introduces a new feature to be able to set your lock screen to play a dynamic slide show of shuffled images from your selected SkyDrive, local (This PC), library, homegroup, or network folders.

This tutorial will show you how to turn on and setup or turn off playing a slide show on your lock screen in Windows 8.1 and Windows RT 8.1.

   Note

In Windows 8 and 8.1 there are two "Lock" screens. One is set by the user that is displayed only when they are signed in. The other is the default Lock screen image that is displayed when there are no users signed in.

The lock screen slide show will not play when there are no users signed in. For example, at startup.

Each user has their own specific lock screen. The lock screen that shows depends on the user the is signed in and locked the PC.

   Warning

Be sure to have the Windows Search service enabled and running.

EXAMPLE: Lock Screen

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OPTION ONE

Turn On or Off Your Lock Screen Slide Show in PC settings

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1. Open PC settings, and either click/tap on Lock screen on the right side or click/tap on PC & devices on the left side. (see screenshot below)​

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2. Click/tap on Lock screen on the left side of PC & devices, and do step 3 or 4 below for what you would like to do. (see screenshot below step 3A or 5A)​

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3. To Turn Off Your Lock Screen Slide Show​

NOTE: This is the default setting.​

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A) On the right side under Slide show, move the Play a slide show on the lock screen slider to the left, and go to step 12 below. (see screenshot below)​

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4. To Turn On Your Lock Screen Slide Show​

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A) On the right side under Slide show, move the Play a slide show on the lock screen slider to the right.. (see screenshot below)​

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B) Continue on to do any one or all of steps 5 to 12 below.​

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5. To Add a Folder to Use Pictures from to Display in Slide Show​

NOTE: This setting will only be available if you did step 4.​

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A) Under Use pictures from, click/tap on + Add a folder. (see screenshot below)​

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B) Navigate to and open a SkyDrive, local (This PC), library, homegroup, or network folder (ex: Wallpapers) that you want to use pictures (images) from to select it, and click/tap on Choose this folder. (see screenshot below)​

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   Note

SkyDrive folders must be set to "Make offline" to be available (synced and copied) on your PC to be able to use with the lock screen slide show.

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   Tip

How to Navigate:

   Tip

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A) Click/tap on This PC/Libraries to open a root folder to have it's subfolders open in the main window.​

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B) Click/tap on a folder in the main window to open it's subfolders in the main window.​

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C) During this, you can click/tap on Go up to go up one folder level in the main window.​

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C) Click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​

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6. To Remove Folders to No Longer Use Pictures from in Slide Show​

NOTE: This setting will only be available if you did step 4.​

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A) Under Use pictures from, click/tap on an added folder (step 5), and click/tap on Remove. (see screenshot below)​

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7. To Turn On or Off to Include "Camera Roll" Folders from this PC and SkyDrive​

NOTE: This setting will only be available if you did step 4.​

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A) On the right side under Include Camera Roll folders from this PC and SkyDrive, move the slider to turn on or off. (see screenshot below)​

NOTE: This is turned off by default.​

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8. To Turn On or Off Your Lock Screen Slide Show when on Battery Power​

NOTE: This setting will only be available if you did step 4, and if your PC runs on a battery.​

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A) On the right side, move the Play a slide show when using battery power slider to turn on or off. (see screenshot below)​

NOTE: This is turned off by default.​

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9. To Turn On or Off to Only Use Pictures that Fit Best on Your Screen​

NOTE: This setting will only be available if you did step 4. This setting will optimize photo selection by having Windows only use pictures that best fit on your screen from within the added folders (step 5 in the slide show.​

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A) Under Only use the pictures that will fit best on my screen, move the slider to turn on or off. (see screenshot below)​

NOTE: This is turned on by default.​

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10. Turn On or Off to Show Lock Screen Instead of Turning Off Screen when PC is Inactive​

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   Note

This setting will only be available if you did step 4.

   Note

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The amount of inactive time before turning off screen or showing lock screen can be set in the tutorial below.​

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How to Set to Turn Off the Display after Specified Time in Windows​

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A) Under When my PC is inactive, show the lock screen instead of turning off the screen, move the slider to turn on or off. (see screenshot below)​

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11. To Set When to Turn Off Screen(s) after Slide Show has Played​

NOTE: This setting will only be available if you did step 4.​

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A) Under Turn off screen after slide show has played for, click/tap on the drop down menu, and click/tap on how long you want until your display screen(s) automatically turn off after the lock screen slide show has started playing. (see screenshot below)​

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12. When finished, you can close PC settings if you like.​

OPTION TWO

Turn On or Off Your Lock Screen Slide Show in Registry Editor

   Note

You will only be able to add or remove folders to use pictures from to play in the lock screen slide show in OPTION ONE in PC settings, and not from the registry.

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1. Press the :winkey: + R keys to open the Run dialog, type regedit, and press Enter.​

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2. If administrator, click/tap on Yes if prompted by UAC.​

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3. In Registry Editor, navigate to the location below.​

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

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4. In the right pane of Lock Screen, double click/tap on the DWORD name listed in the table below that you want to modify it's data value setting for.​

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   Note

If a DWORD name you want to set is not listed in the right pane of Lock Screen, then right click on an empty area in the right pane, click on New and DWORD (32-bit) Value, type in the DWORD name listed in the table below that you want to set, and press Enter.

   Note

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   Tip

The amount of inactive time before turning off screen or showing lock screen for the When my PC is inactive, show the lock screen instead of turning off the screen setting can be set in the tutorial below.

   Tip

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How to Set to Turn Off the Display after Specified Time in Windows​

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Setting	DWORD Name	Data Values
Play a slide show on the lock screen	SlideshowEnabled	0 = Off 1 = On
Include Camera Roll folders from this PC and SkyDrive	SlideshowIncludeCameraRoll	0 = Off 1 = On
Only use the pictures that will fit best on my screen	SlideshowOptimizePhotoSelection	0 = Off 1 = On
Play a slide show when using battery power	SlideshowEnabledOnBattery	0 = Off 1 = On
When my PC is inactive, show the lock screen instead of turning off the screen	SlideshowAutoLock	0 = Off 1 = On
Turn off screen after slide show has played for	SlideshowDuration	1800000 = 30 minutes 3600000 = 1 hour 10800000 = 3 hours 0 = Don't turn off

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5. Select (dot) Decimal, type in a data value from the table above (step 4) for what you want to set it with, and click/tap on OK. (see screenshot below)​

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   Warning

If you wanted to enable the lock screen slide show, then be sure to set the SlideshowEnabled DWORD to 1 to turn on the lock screen slide show for the other settings to work.

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6. When finished, you can close Registry Editor if you like.​

That's it,
Shawn

Related Tutorials

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• How to Set to Turn Off the Display after Specified Time in Windows
• How to Change Your Desktop Background and Slide Show in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Change Your Lock Screen Background Image in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Set a Default Lock Screen Background Image for All Users in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Enable or Disable Lock Screen in Windows 8 and 8.1
• Enable or Disable Changing Lock Screen Background Image in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Change Lock Screen Timeout Period in Windows 8 and 8.1
• Require Users to Sign in with User Name and Password on Lock Screen in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add "Lock Computer" to the Desktop Context Menu in Windows 8
• How to Add a "Power" Cascading Desktop Context Menu in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add or Remove "Lock" from User Tile Menu on Start in Windows 8 and 8.1
• How to Add or Remove Lock Computer from CTRL+ALT+DEL Screen
• How to Enable or Disable Using Camera on Your Lock Screen in Windows 8.1
• How to Create a "Lock Screen" PC Settings Shortcut in Windows 8.1

 

[Brink]

How do the paths look when you view them in File Explorer instead?

 

[Dick Jagger]

Through file explorer, paths are working as expected. Its just the metro file browser interface that seems to not recognize anything other than Onedrive.

 

[Brink]

If this just recently happened, then you could do a system restore using a restore point dated before this started to hopefully undo and fix it.

 

[Dick Jagger]

Hey there Brink... I ended up re-indexing and rebuilding my libraries, so that now when I select This PC, everything is there as it should be!

Bu now there is some peculiar behavior with the lock screen slideshow displaying my, ahem, hidden files. I have a folder or two on my external drive that have been marked as hidden under the folder properties, but I was very surprised to see a couple of the images from these folders come up during a slideshow.

The folders, sub-folders and contents within these hidden folders are properly shown as hidden through other apps, for example, from the mail app, when selecting attach file, then browsing to the external drive and looking for these hidden folders, they are not displayed or otherwise presented. Only during the lock screen slideshow have I seen them come up. Under PC and devices >lock screen > play a slide show from the lock screen > use pictures from... the only items listed are the OneDrive pictures and the desktop pictures libraries. The hidden folders on the external drive are definitely not there! Any suggestions as to what is going on?

 

[Brink]

Oops, that could be embarrassing if it displays at the wrong time.

Double check in File Explorer to make sure that the only folders included in the library contains the images you want for the slideshow, and non of the hidden folders or subfolders.

http://www.eightforums.com/tutorials/13048-library-remove-folder-windows-8-a.html

 

[avada]

Hi!

It seems like this doesn't work at all for me. I changed it to slideshow (with selecting a folder, etc) but I still have the old image that I used for the lockscreen.
Do I need a restart? It's not mentioned, and I don't see why shouldn't it be applied instantly.

 

[avada]

It seems like my reg keys are different though:


I don't have SlideshowAutoLock for one. (SlideshowDuration I custom set to 10 minutes, but it didn't work when I set 30 mins in the GUI)

Also:
What on earth is "AutoLockScreenTimeoutActive" which is only mentioned in a warning within this tutorial and never explained...

 

[Brink]

Hello avada,

Just to make sure, this will only apply to your lock screen while you are signed in to Windows and have locked (Win+L) the computer.

If a DWORD is missing in the registy, it means that it's setting has not been changed in Settings yet. You would just need to manually add the DWORD as per the blue note box under step 4 in Option 2 to be able to change it in the registry.

The red warning box in step 5 Option 2 is to make sure that is set to be able play a slide show on your lock screen.

 

[avada]

Hello avada,

Just to make sure, this will only apply to your lock screen while you are signed in to Windows and have locked (Win+L) the computer.

If a DWORD is missing in the registy, it means that it's setting has not been changed in Settings yet. You would just need to manually add the DWORD as per the blue note box under step 4 in Option 2 to be able to change it in the registry.

The red warning box in step 5 Option 2 is to make sure that is set to be able play a slide show on your lock screen.

-Indeed. That's what I was expecting. But the image just wouldn't change.

-Okay. I set everything I wanted then.

-But that key wasn't there at all, and isn't explained. What does AutoLockScreenTimeoutActive do? (I see you removed it from the warning) Should I create it manually since it's not there?

 

[avada]

I tried deleting the Lock Screen screen altogether. ...And the picture still remained... And the screen switched off after a minute. (it was set to 30 minutes). It's like the settings and values don't matter at all.

 

[Brink]

AutoLockScreenTimeoutActive was a left over from a previous update of the tutorial. It's removed now.

Let's see some screenshots of your lock screen slide show settings in Settings to see if anything may stand out.

Usually, it's best to select a folder that only contains the images you want to use for the slide show, and doesn't contain anything else.

 

[avada]

AutoLockScreenTimeoutActive was a left over from a previous update of the tutorial. It's removed now.

Let's see some screenshots of your lock screen slide show settings in Settings to see if anything may stand out.

I told you what I set, but here it is:
(The preview broke when I deleted the Lock Screen registry key. But it still won't work.)

AutoLockScreenTimeoutActive was a left over from a previous update of the tutorial. It's removed now.

Let's see some screenshots of your lock screen slide show settings in Settings to see if anything may stand out.

Usually, it's best to select a folder that only contains the images you want to use for the slide show, and doesn't contain anything else.

That's the case I use the default pictures folder, just as I do for wallpapers.

 

[Brink]

No offense to you, but I just like to see screenshots to verify to help rule out any possible misunderstandings about the settings, and see if anything stands out that might not have been thought about.

In your screenshot, you have a red "You need more than one for the slides" message. It looks like you need to add another folder to be able to play a slide show on the lock screen.

 

[avada]

In your screenshot, you have a red "You need more than one for the slides" message. It looks like you need to add another folder to be able to play a slide show on the lock screen.

(stupid windows can't even read it's own default pictures folder...)
That's of no significance. I had the folder added before and did it again. Still the same old lockscreen picture.

 

[Brink]

As a test, add a second folder, and put the images you want inside the second folder to see how that does for you.

 

[avada]

As a test, add a second folder, and put the images you want inside the second folder to see how that does for you.

Nothing. Though I noticed that I always get the idiotic "need more than one image for slideshow" message when I revisit the settings.

 

[Brink]

Odd. I take that both folders have more than one image in them?

 

[avada]

Odd. I take that both folders have more than one image in them?

Yes.

 

[Brink]

In that case, you could try doing a repair install if you like to fix it.

:ar: Repair Install Windows 8

 

[avada]

I think I found the issue. The "Windows Search" service apparently needs to be enabled. You can add it to the guide.

Also, apparently it disables the screensaver and vice versa, setting a screensaver disables the animated lockscreen. Can be super frustrating, when you unexpectedly disable one of them. Worth a mention in my opinion.

(Didn't find out why the default lockscreen broke though.)