macOS Sierra: Screen Saver pane of Desktop & Screen Saver System Preferences

Screen Saver pane of Desktop & Screen Saver System Preferences

Use the Screen Saver pane of Desktop & Screen Saver System Preferences to make images appear on the screen when you aren’t using your Mac. You may want to do this to hide the items on your desktop while you’re away.

To open this pane, choose Apple menu > System Preferences, click Desktop & Screen Saver, then click Screen Saver.

List of screen savers

Select a screen saver on the left, then do one of the following on the right, depending on your choice:

  • Click the Source pop-up menu, then choose a folder to use for slideshow pictures. To have the pictures appear in a random order, select the “Shuffle slide order” checkbox.

  • Click Screen Saver Options to customize the screen saver.

    The iTunes Artwork screen saver is most effective when your iTunes library contains artwork.

Start after

Click the “Start after” pop-up menu, then choose how long your Mac needs to be inactive before the screen saver starts. If you don’t want a screen saver to start, choose Never.

Show with clock

Display the time with the screen saver.

Hot Corners

Start or stop the screen saver when you move the pointer to a screen corner.

Click the pop-up menu for a corner, then choose Start Screen Saver or Disable Screen Saver.

To use a modifier with the hot corner, press and hold the Command, Shift, Option, or Control key, or a combination of these keys, while viewing the pop-up menus.

Preview a screen saver in full screen

Hold the pointer over the preview on the right, then click Preview when it appears. Move the pointer to stop the preview and return to Screen Saver preferences.

Last Modified: Sep 26, 2016
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