How to disable preliminary lock screen background on Windows Server 2016

In this post, I want to show you how to disable the preliminary lock screen background on Windows Server 2016 using Group Policy Management Console and Registry Editor.

GPO Workaround #

1. Open Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc).
2. Navigate to the following branch: Local Computer Policy » Administrative Templates » Control Panel » Personalization. On the right, double click or double tap on Force a specific default lock screen image.
3. Select Enabled.
4. Type the fully qualified path and the name of the file that stores the default lock screen image.
5. Click OK when done.
6. Exit from Local Group Policy Editor.

You may need to restart the computer for the change to take effect.

Registry Workaround #

1. Run Registry Editor (RegEdit).
2. Go to the following Registry key: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESOFTWAREPoliciesMicrosoftWindowsPersonalization
3. If “Personalization” registry key is not found, create it.
4. Create a new String value named LockScreenImage.
5. Set its value data to the full path and name of the file that stores the default lock screen image.
6. Exit from Registry Editor.

You may need to restart the computer for the change to take effect.

I hope you find this helpful, and send your feedback if you like it!