I'm looking to create a Group Policy Object (GPO) that forces a specific lock screen on all domain machines. We've been trying to figure this out for about a week now but haven't had any luck. If anyone has experience with this or can offer any tips, I'd really appreciate it!
6 Answers
I set this up last year, and if you’re on the Enterprise version, there’s a straightforward GPO you can use. For Pro, you might need to tweak a couple of registry keys. Let me review our setup and I can provide more details if you want!
Could you share what you’ve tried so far? It might help get to the bottom of what isn’t working for you.
From what I understand, using a GPO for this can be tricky due to inconsistent behavior across versions. I ended up using a GPO to run a PowerShell script that copies the image locally and sets the registry to use that local file for the lock screen instead.
What’s the specific issue you're facing? Setting this up is usually pretty straightforward, but some more details on your challenges would help me assist you better!
Traditionally, if you're using GPOs, you'll want to check your screensaver timeout settings to autolock when inactive. You can set inactivity levels like five minutes or even shorter. I set this up years ago and it still works well! But there might be newer methods now.
To set the lock screen GPO, go to Computer Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization, and enable 'Force a specific default lock screen and logon image.' Make sure you host the image on a network share, or use the file GPO to copy it locally. It should work seamlessly on Windows 10 and 11 across various editions like Education, Enterprise, and Pro.
It sounds like they might be trying to set the Lock Screen background instead of just starting a screensaver.