Password protect the screen saver
Verified with Windows 11 25H2 — updated on July 30, 2026
Supported on: At least Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
Path in the GPO console
User Configuration\Administrative Templates\Control Panel\Personalization Description
Determines whether screen savers used on the computer are password protected. If you enable this setting, all screen savers are password protected. If you disable this setting, password protection cannot be set on any screen saver. This setting also disables the "Password protected" checkbox on the Screen Saver dialog in the Personalization or Display Control Panel, preventing users from changing the password protection setting. If you do not configure this setting, users can choose whether or not to set password protection on each screen saver. To ensure that a computer will be password protected, enable the "Enable Screen Saver" setting and specify a timeout via the "Screen Saver timeout" setting. Note: To remove the Screen Saver dialog, use the "Prevent changing Screen Saver" setting.
Registry
Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop Value name: ScreenSaverIsSecure
Enabled: ScreenSaverIsSecure = 1
Disabled: ScreenSaverIsSecure = 0
MDM / Intune (CSP)
./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_ControlPanelDisplay/CPL_Personalization_ScreenSaverIsSecure Microsoft Learn documentation Mapping data: Microsoft Learn (CC BY 4.0)
Export Builder
BETAConfigure the state, scope and options, then generate .reg, PowerShell, Intune and SCCM outputs — or add the setting to a multi-setting collection.
These exports write the registry — this is not a managed GPO. ⓘ
.reg file
Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
; Exported from gporais.com
; Policy: Password protect the screen saver
; State: Enabled
; Supported on: At least Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop]
"ScreenSaverIsSecure"="1"More formats (PowerShell, Intune, SCCM)
PowerShell
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Password protect the screen saver
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'ScreenSaverIsSecure' -Value '1' -Type StringIntune XML
OMA-URI: ./User/Vendor/MSFT/Policy/Config/ADMX_ControlPanelDisplay/CPL_Personalization_ScreenSaverIsSecure
Data type: String
Value:
<enabled/>Intune Remediation
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Password protect the screen saver
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'ScreenSaverIsSecure' -Expected '1' -Kind String)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Password protect the screen saver
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'ScreenSaverIsSecure' -Value '1' -Type StringSCCM scripts
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Password protect the screen saver
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
# SCCM Configuration Item guidance:
# Create a Configuration Item of type "Setting: Script".
# Discovery script: use the Detection script below.
# Remediation script: use the Remediation script below.
# Compliance rule: the Discovery script output equals 'Compliant'.
# === Detection script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Password protect the screen saver
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
function Test-RegistryValue {
param(
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Path,
[Parameter(Mandatory = $true)][string]$Name,
[object]$Expected,
[ValidateSet('String', 'DWord', 'MultiString')][string]$Kind = 'String',
[switch]$Absent
)
try {
$item = Get-ItemProperty -LiteralPath $Path -Name $Name -ErrorAction Stop
} catch {
return $Absent.IsPresent
}
if ($Absent.IsPresent) { return $false }
$actual = $item.$Name
if ($Kind -eq 'DWord') { return ([int64]$actual) -eq ([int64]$Expected) }
if ($Kind -eq 'MultiString') {
$actualValues = @($actual)
$expectedValues = @($Expected)
if ($actualValues.Count -ne $expectedValues.Count) { return $false }
for ($i = 0; $i -lt $expectedValues.Count; $i++) {
if ([string]$actualValues[$i] -ne [string]$expectedValues[$i]) { return $false }
}
return $true
}
return [string]$actual -eq [string]$Expected
}
$checks = @(
(Test-RegistryValue -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'ScreenSaverIsSecure' -Expected '1' -Kind String)
)
if ($checks -notcontains $false) {
Write-Output 'Compliant'
exit 0
}
Write-Output 'Non-compliant'
exit 1
# === Remediation script ===
# Exported from gporais.com
# Policy: Password protect the screen saver
# State: Enabled
# Supported on: At least Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
# Warning: In SYSTEM context (the Intune default), HKCU targets the SYSTEM profile. Run this script using the logged-on credentials.
$path = 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop'
New-Item -Path $path -Force | Out-Null
Set-ItemProperty -Path $path -Name 'ScreenSaverIsSecure' -Value '1' -Type StringBuilding a multi-setting collection? Add this setting and generate combined .reg / PowerShell / GPO scripts.