Force specific screen saver: registry value SCRNSAVE.EXEUserHKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop

Policy ID: CPL_Personalization_SetScreenSaver
Scope: User Configuration
Supported on: At least Windows 2000 Service Pack 1
Source: Administrative Templates (.admx) for Windows 11 2026 Update (26H2) (version 1.0)
Category: Control Panel › Personalization

Registry

SCRNSAVE.EXE

REG_SZUser

HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop Current key

Enabled value: Depends on the option value
Element: Screen saver executable name
Value type: REG_SZ

Apply with .reg · CMD · PowerShell

.reg

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop]

; Value names and types follow the ADMX. Replace <enter value> below with your own data
"SCRNSAVE.EXE"="<enter value>"

CMD

:: Value names and types follow the ADMX. Replace <enter value> below with your own data

reg add "HKCU\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop" /v "SCRNSAVE.EXE" /t REG_SZ /d "<enter value>" /f

PowerShell

# Value names and types follow the ADMX. Replace <enter value> below with your own data

New-Item -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop' -Force | Out-Null
New-ItemProperty -Path 'HKCU:\Software\Policies\Microsoft\Windows\Control Panel\Desktop' -Name 'SCRNSAVE.EXE' -PropertyType String -Value '<enter value>' -Force | Out-Null