Windows 8 includes a few new features that were first introduced with Microsoft’s mobile operating system Windows Phone. The Start screen, Metro-style apps, and Lock screen were first introduced with Windows Phone and are now part of Windows 8.
The Lock screen appears when you boot your PC or resume your PC from hibernation. The main purpose of the Lock screen is to provide some basic and useful information such as battery percentage, date and time, network connectivity, and notification from apps.
To unlock the lock screen and to proceed to the logon screen where you enter the account password, either press a key on the keyboard or swipe the screen up using the mouse or with your finger if you are on a touch-screen device. Note that the Lock screen doesn’t provide any shut down options and you need to proceed to the logon screen to for these options.
Windows 8 offers more customization options than previous Windows versions. The lock screen can be customized in a number of ways and one can even disable the same under Group Policy Settings.
Customization options for Lock Screen can be found under PC settings (aka Metro Control Panel). Under PC settings one can change the background picture of the lock screen, choose apps to show quick status and notifications. Additionally, you can also choose an app to display detailed status on the lock screen. This option comes in handy if you are the kind of person who prefers to see detailed information from calendar or weather app on the lock screen.
In this guide, we will show you how to customize the lock screen by changing the default background picture and adding more information on the screen.
How to change the lock screen background:
Step 1: Move the mouse cursor to the upper or lower right-corner of the screen to see the charms bar. You can also bring up the charms bar by pressing Windows + C keys. If you are on touch screen, swipe from the right-edge of the screen to bring up the charms bar.
Step 2: Click Settings on charms bar and then click Change PC settings to open PC settings.
Step 3: Here, click Personalize in the navigation pane to see all available customization options.
Step 4: To change the default background, click on a background picture provided below the Lock screen picture, or click on Browse button to browse to your favorite picture that you wish to see as lock screen background.
To Show quick status and notifications on Lock screen:
The lock screen can show quick status and notifications from apps, even when the screen is locked.
Step 1: Press Windows + C keys to see the charms bar (swipe from right-edge on touch screen), click or tap settings, and then click or tap Change PC settings to open PC settings. In the left-pane of PC settings, click or tap on Personalization.
Step 2: Under Lock screen apps, click or tap plus button to choose a new app to show quick status and notifications. Windows 8 lets you add up to eight apps to the lock screen notification list.
To show detailed information from an app:
Step 1: Under PC settings, click or tap on Personalization, and then click (or tap) Lock screen on the right-side to view its settings.
Step 2: Here, under Choose an app to display detailed status, click on the plus button to add the app that you wish to see display on Lock screen.
Mark Hunsaker says
Have you discovered a way to change the time until the lock screen goes to sleep on RTM? I’ve searched for a way and tried several different settings (such as power settings and screensaver) and I’m not finding anything. By default it always goes dark in 60 seconds. I would love to set that to five minutes or something like that.