How to Change the Screensaver on a Mac

Changing your screensaver on a Mac is one of those small personalizations that can make your computer feel genuinely yours. Whether you want a calming nature scene to kick in after a few idle minutes or prefer something minimal that won't distract you mid-thought, macOS gives you meaningful control over what happens when your screen sits idle — and it takes less than two minutes to configure.

Where to Find Screensaver Settings on a Mac

The screensaver settings on a Mac live inside System Settings (called System Preferences on older macOS versions). Here's how to get there:

1. Click the Apple menu (🍎) in the top-left corner of your screen
2. Select System Settings (macOS Ventura and later) or System Preferences (macOS Monterey and earlier)
3. Click Screen Saver — on newer macOS versions, this is nested under Lock Screen

That's it. You're now looking at the screensaver panel.

How to Choose a Different Screensaver

In the screensaver panel, you'll see a list of available screensavers on the left side and a preview window on the right. Click any screensaver name to see it animate in the preview pane.

macOS ships with several built-in screensaver categories:

• Shuffling slideshows — cycles through photos from your Photos library or a chosen folder
• Floating displays — abstract animations like Drift, Bubbles, or Flurry
• Aerial-style screensavers — on macOS Sonoma and later, Apple introduced landscape and cityscape screensavers that double as wallpapers, featuring sweeping footage similar to Apple TV's Aerial screensaver
• Message screensavers — displays scrolling text

To set a screensaver, simply select it from the list. On some screensavers, you'll see an Options or Settings button that lets you customize further — choosing which photo album to display, adjusting the style, or toggling shuffle settings.

Setting the Idle Time Before the Screensaver Activates

Choosing a screensaver is only half the equation. You also control how long your Mac needs to be idle before the screensaver kicks in.

This setting is handled slightly differently depending on your macOS version:

You can set idle time anywhere from 1 minute to Never. Setting it to "Never" effectively disables the screensaver while keeping it selected.

The Difference Between Screen Saver and Sleep 🖥️

A common source of confusion: screensavers and display sleep are not the same thing, and macOS manages them independently.

• Screensaver activates after idle time and plays an animation — your display stays fully on
• Display sleep actually powers down the display to save energy — it typically activates after the screensaver has been running for a set period

If your Mac seems to skip the screensaver and go straight to sleep, check your Battery or Energy Saver settings. If display sleep is set to activate sooner than your screensaver idle time, the screen will sleep before the screensaver ever appears.

Using Your Own Photos as a Screensaver

macOS lets you use images from your Photos library or any folder on your Mac as a screensaver slideshow. To do this:

1. In the screensaver panel, select a slideshow-style screensaver such as Shifting Tiles, Reflections, or Classic
2. Click the Source dropdown or the Options button
3. Choose Photos, a specific album, or navigate to a custom folder using Choose Folder

This is particularly useful if you want your screensaver to rotate through travel photos, artwork, or a curated collection rather than generic animations.

Third-Party and Downloaded Screensavers

macOS supports installing screensavers beyond what Apple includes. Third-party screensavers typically come as .saver files. To install one:

1. Download the .saver file from a trusted source
2. Double-click the file — macOS will prompt you to install it for your user account only or for all users
3. Once installed, it appears in your screensaver list automatically

A note on security: macOS Gatekeeper may flag screensavers from unidentified developers. You may need to allow the installation through System Settings → Privacy & Security. Be selective about which third-party screensavers you install — they run with the same permissions as your user account.

Variables That Affect What You'll See

Not every Mac user will find the same screensaver options available. A few factors shape what you're working with:

macOS version — The newer landscape and cityscape screensavers introduced in macOS Sonoma aren't available on older systems. If your Mac can't run Sonoma, those options simply won't appear.

Mac hardware — Older Macs may render complex animated screensavers with more CPU overhead. For machines several years old, simpler screensavers reduce the chance of fan noise or battery drain if you're on a MacBook running on battery.

Display configuration — If you run multiple monitors, screensaver behavior across displays can vary. Some screensavers extend across screens; others run independently on each display.

Photos library size and location — If you use a slideshow screensaver tied to iCloud Photos, the screensaver may load slowly or skip images when your library isn't fully downloaded locally.

User account type — On shared or managed Macs, IT administrators or parental controls can restrict screensaver changes. If the settings appear grayed out, that's likely why.

The right screensaver configuration depends entirely on which of these variables apply to your specific Mac, how you use it, and what you're actually trying to get out of the feature.