Fix: Screen Saver Settings Greyed out in Windows 10 / 8 / 7

October 17, 2016 updated by Admin Leave a reply »

Unable to change screen saver settings? All screen saver options are greyed out or disabled? This problem is caused by a group policy setting that got screen saver disabled. In this tutorial we’ll show you 2 simple ways to fix this problem in Windows 10, 8 and 7.

screen-saver-greyed-out

Method 1: Fix Screen Saver Settings Greyed out Using Group Policy

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type gpedit.msc and press Enter.

    gpedit

  2. In the left pane of Local Group Policy Editor, navigate to:
    User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization
  3. In the right pane, locate the following two policies:
    • Enable screen saver
    • Password protect the screen saver

    screen-saver-group-policy

  4. Double-click on each policy to modify, set both of them to Not Configured. Click Apply and then OK.

    enable-screen-saver

  5. Reboot your computer and you should be able to change the screen saver settings.

Method 2: Fix Screen Saver Settings Greyed out Using Registry Hack

  1. Press the Windows key + R to open the Run box. Type regedit and press Enter.

    regedit-via-run

  2. In the left pane of Registry Editor, navigate to the following key:
    HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop

    ScreenSaveActive

  3. Delete both ScreenSaveActive and ScreenSaverIsSecure in the right pane. Reboot your computer and the screen saver settings should be editable from now on.