Change the login screen on Windows 10
You have a PC with it installed Windows 10 and are you interested in understanding how to change the system login screen and the lock screen? The procedure to do to do it is really simple, much more than you might think. You ask me what needs to be done? I'll point it out to you right away. First, click the Start button (I cheer with the windows flag) that you find at the bottom left of the taskbar and presses the icon of Settings (Quella with l 'gear) in the menu that opens.
In the window that has now appeared on the desktop, click on the item Customization and then presses on the wording Lock screen that you find on the left. Then press on the menu that you find under the item Background and select Image to select a background image for the lock screen by choosing from those available "standard" under the heading Choose your image that appeared.
If, on the other hand, you prefer to set an image other than those listed (e.g. a photo of you, a wallpaper downloaded from the Internet, etc.), click on the button Shop by Department and select the reference file saved on your PC. Simple, right?
If you want, you can also choose to view a slideshow of images. To do this, select the item Presentazione from the menu you find under the item Background always on the same Windows 10 settings screen and choose whether to take photos from your OneDrive account or from the folder Images Windows. Alternatively, you can select a folder of your choice that contains the photos to view by first clicking on the entry Add a folder.
If you then have to think again and want to set the default background again, click again on the menu below the item Background and choose Windows Featured Content. In this way, the image used for the lock screen of your PC will be modified daily and automatically by the system itself, by default.
In all cases, make sure the switch at the item Show the lock screen background image on the login screen is set to On (and if not, you provide), otherwise the changes will only affect the computer lock screen and not the one for accessing your account.
Apart from the background, I would like to point out that you can customize the lock screen on Windows 10 also by choosing the applications for which to view details and status, you can choose whether or not to view various info and suggestions from Windows and Cortana etc. To do this, just click on the additional items always attached to the same PC settings screen and then intervene on the options available on the screen. The changes will take effect practically immediately.
Change the login screen on Windows 8 / 8.x
If on your computer you have installed Windows 8 / 8.x, you can change the system login and lock screen by first clicking the Start button (I cheer with the windows flag) that you find at the bottom left of the taskbar and then clicking on the icon Settings (the one with the gear) that you find in the Start Screen.
In the screen that you see appear at this point, click on the item Lock screen, then if you want to use one of the Windows 8 / 8.x stock images to customize the login screen and lock screen, click on the one you prefer under the preview. The changes will be applied to the system immediately.
If, on the other hand, you want to use a personalized image (eg a photo of yourself, a background downloaded from the Internet, etc.), press the button Shop by Department and select the reference file from your computer.
If you want, you can also choose to view a slideshow of photos instead of a single image. To do this, carry on On the switch that you find under the wording Play a slideshow on the lock screen by clicking on it then choose whether to take the images from your OndeDrive account or from the folder Images Windows by clicking the corresponding button.
And if the images you want to use for the presentation are in a different position, click on Add a folder and select the reference folder from the window that appears.
I also point out the possibility of making further customizations by choosing to display only images suitable for the size of the screen, whether to disable the screen after playing the presentation, which apps to display on the lock screen etc. intervention on further options below.
Change the login screen on Windows 7, Vista and XP
If, on the other hand, the operating system in use is older, that is, if you are using Windows 7, Windows Vista or Windows XP, to change the login screen and the lock screen you cannot intervene from the system settings as there are no specific options available. You must therefore use third-party software as in the case of LognStudio, free, easy to use and compatible with all three OS just mentioned. In short, try it now and you will see that you will no longer be able to do without it.
To use it, first download it to your computer by going to the reference Internet page and clicking on the button Download attached to it. When the download is complete, open the .exe file obtained, click on Si, Then Next three times in a row and finally press on Finish.
Then start the program by recalling it from Start menu (the one you can access by pressing the button with the windows flag on the taskbar) and press on Si in the window that appears. Now, select the image you want to use to replace the default one in the login screen and in the block ldi one in the list you see on the screen and press the button Apply to apply the changes. Here it is!
If you want, you can download additional images to use to customize the background of the system access screen by taking them directly from the program's website by clicking on the item Download that you find in the left part of the window of the same. As easy as drinking a glass of water!
If, on the other hand, you want to use an image already in your possession saved on your computer, click on the wording Create always placed on the left, assign a name to the image, press the button Browse ... and select the reference file saved on your PC then click on Save. Then select the image from the main section of the program as I indicated a few lines above in order to apply it.
Change the login screen on Mac
As anticipated at the beginning, although this is a guide focused primarily on Windows, it seems right to tell you about the side as well MacOS. Even in this case, it is in fact possible to change the login screen as well as the unlock screen by customizing it with an image different from the one that is set automatically by macOS and which is practically the same image applied as a wallpaper for the desktop. So let's see how to proceed.
First, find the image you want to use as the background for the login screen and make sure it is in PNG format. If you don't know how to find out the format of the image you want to use, you can read my tutorial on how to view file extension to clear your ideas on what to do. If the format is different than required, you can easily remedy this by reading my guide on how to convert images.
Now, you need to worry about making a copy of the chosen image on your desktop. To do this, select the latter, right click on it, choose Copy "file name" then right-click anywhere on the screen without icons and, from the menu that opens, select Paste element. Alternatively, select the source image, use the key combination cmd + C to copy it to the macOS clipboard, then click anywhere on the desktop and press the key combination cmd + V to glue it.
Proceed by renaming the copy of the newly created image on the desktop to com.apple.desktop.admin.png, right click on the Finder (Quella with il smile) that is on Dock bar and select the wording Go to folder ... from the menu that opens. Then enter /library/Caches/ in the pop-up window on the screen and press the button vai.
Then drag the previously copied image to the desktop and renamed to the position you have just reached in the Finder and press the button Replace in the notice that appears. Here it is!
Please note: The system in question does not work if you have enabled the fast user switching feature to allow multiple users to stay logged in at the same time. Also, when you go to change your desktop background, it will automatically change its image on the login screen as well.
Change Windows logon screen