How to Change Screen Saver Grace Period to Require Sign-in in Windows 11

Why Change the Screen Saver Grace Period?

The screen saver grace period is a short delay Windows uses after your screen saver starts before it asks for your password. You might want to change this if you feel the default five-second wait isn’t secure enough for your computer.

However, there’s a built-in delay. By default, Windows waits 5 seconds after the screen saver locks your computer before it requires a password. This is called the grace period. During these 5 seconds, you can move your mouse, touch the screen, or press a key to unlock your computer without signing in.

This grace period exists to prevent annoyance. For example, you might be reading something on your screen without typing. The screen saver kicks in because you haven’t been active. But you want to continue working right away without entering your password.

What Happens When You Change It?

You can change the grace period to any number of seconds you want. Setting it to 0 seconds means your computer requires a password immediately when the screen saver starts. This increases security. Setting it higher gives you more time to resume work without signing in.

How to Change the Screen Saver Grace Period

Changing the screen saver grace period involves editing a special Windows file called the Registry, so you’ll need to be an administrator. First, open the Registry Editor by typing ‘regedit’ in your Windows search bar and pressing Enter.

1. Open Registry Editor by typing regedit.exe in your 🔍 search bar and pressing Enter.
2. In the left pane, navigate to this location:
   

   HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Winlogon

3. In the right pane, look for an entry called ScreenSaverGracePeriod. If it doesn’t exist, you need to create it:

   • 🖱️ Right-click on an empty area in the right pane.
   • Select New, then DWORD (32-bit) Value.
   • Type ScreenSaverGracePeriod as the name.
   • Press Enter to create it.
4. ⚠️ Admin privileges required: Double-click the ScreenSaverGracePeriod entry to open it.
   

   
   
   • Make sure Decimal is selected at the bottom.
   
   
   • Enter a number between 0 and 2147483. This is how many seconds the grace period will last.
   
   
   • Use 0 for immediate password protection with no delay.
   
   
   • Click OK to save.

   
   

5. Close Registry Editor. You’re done!

Summary

The screen saver grace period is the short time Windows waits after your screen saver locks before asking for your password, with the default being five seconds. You can adjust this security setting by editing the Windows Registry, specifically the ‘ScreenSaverGracePeriod’ value.