Screen saver won't exit after installing Creators Update

Updated: 12/31/2020 by Computer Hope

If you have the Microsoft Windows 10 Creators Update or later installed, the Photo Gallery screen saver (part of Windows Live Essentials) will no longer exit when the mouse pointer is moved. Usually, the only way to stop the screen saver is by pressing Windows key, or by pressing Ctrl+Alt+Del, and then Esc. Unfortunately, the Photo Gallery screen saver is not compatible with Windows 10 using the Creators Update. However, you can follow any of the steps below as workarounds to this problem.

Change screen saver to Photos and not Photo Gallery

If you are using the Photo Gallery to only show photos, then switch to the Photos screen saver by following the steps below.

  1. Click Start and Settings (the gear icon) on the far left side of the Start menu.
  2. In Settings click Personalization.
  3. Click Lock screen.
  4. Scroll down to and click Screen saver settings.
  5. In the Screen Saver Settings window, change the Screen Saver from "Photo Gallery" to "Photos."
  6. Click Settings and browse to the location of the photos you want to use as your screen saver.

Use the Windows key to get out of the screen saver

If you use the Photo Gallery screen saver, the only solution at this time is to press Ctrl+Alt+Del and then Esc to get out of the screen saver. The Photo Gallery screen saver is not compatible with Windows 10, and we've found no other work around or fix for this problem. It is possible that in the future Microsoft may release an update or another work around that fixes this problem.