In times of energy-efficient monitors, screensavers are no longer useful. Originally, the screen saver prevented an image that had been frozen for too long from burning into the CRT picture tube. Now screensavers make your PC look great even when you’re not working on it.
Install screensavers
Screensavers are exe or scr files. You install an exe file by double-clicking it and an scr file by right-clicking it. Activate the installed screensaver by right clicking on the desktop and choose Adjust to personal preference. Choose at Lock screen the Screen Saver Settings.
To remove a screensaver, go to Settings / Apps & Features. Sometimes you can also uninstall them from the Screen Saver Settings panel. If that doesn’t work, navigate in File Explorer to C:Windows and there you click on the column Type until you find the files by type Screensaver.
1 Hall 9000
Suitable for Windows and macOS
The generation that still adores Stanley Kubrick’s iconic film 2001: A Space Odyssey will recognize the console of the legendary HAL computer at a glance. The Heuristically-programmed ALgorithmic computer was a precursor to AI aboard the Discovery One spaceship. The sci-fi enthusiast will love the 28 animations on 8 different screens. This is a product of the HAL project, where some fans have been simulating the HAL screens for years.
2 Hyperspace
Suitable for Windows and macOS
On the website Really Slick get your abstract, yet graphically beautiful, open source screensavers. You can download everything as one package or you can be selective. By the way, the Downloads section is quite outdated, so we’ll stick to recent material where Hyperspace steals the show. It starts with a journey through the universe where you fly through the star fields, eventually this flows into nebulae and a liquid landscape of blue, pink and purple hues. Optionally, it is possible to adjust the speed, field of view, number and size of stars.
3 Underwater
Suitable for Windows
The sunlight gently pierces the surface of the water and you follow the swell from the depths. If your blood pressure from the previous title has risen considerably, this screensaver will form the greatest conceivable contrast. This is our favoritebecause it calms you down. In the settings you can show the date and the clock semi-transparent. A disadvantage of this beautiful and elegant screen saver is that it does not work on a multiscreen setup.
4 Plane 9
Suitable for Windows
Plane 9 has an impressive array of effects… You select one of 250 surreal scenes in the 3D visualizer. And you can even combine them and save them in a playlist, so that the different patterns flow smoothly into each other through 39 possible transitions – giving an endless array of variations. What’s really nice is that Plane 9 responds to the music you play – whether it’s Spotify or iTunes. So you can also use the sound-sensitive screensaver as a background visualizer for a party.
5 Helios
Suitable for Windows and macOS
Helios has a lot of fans. It’s a screensaver where “blobs” attract and repel multicolored particles. The bubbles react dynamically to each other. That means they spin and bounce, producing beautiful neon tones. In the settings you can specify the number of bubbles and control the motion blur and the frame limit. You do need a computer with a powerful graphics processor to fully enjoy Helios.
6 Shine 2
Suitable for Windows
Glance 2 is a maverick… It’s a austere one, but one of the better screensavers for Windows 10 and works as a replica of the original Lumia Glance. You get the app in the Microsoft Store and after installation you will find the control panel, the Action Center, in the system tray. You get a ton of options for flavoring the look of Glance. Just like with Lumia Glance, you can dim the contents of the screen and conjure up the date and time in all colors on the screen. The software supports multiple screens.
7 Electric Sheep
Suitable for Windows and macOS
Welcome to the collective abstract artwork founded by Scott Draves, an engineer now at Google. When the computer goes into sleep mode, Electric Sheep active and communicating over the Internet with thousands of computers to create abstract morphing animations we call sheep. If you have just installed the software, the cache folder will be empty. The program has yet to download its first sheep. So the idea is that you leave the screensaver on at night to make sheep. The software is designed in such a way that your privacy will not be violated in any way.
8 Another Matrix
Suitable for Windows
This screensaver is inspired by the 1999 film classic The Matrix. The screensaver mimics the green code seen in the film. You can customize the data stream by changing the speed, encoding density, and font. It is also nice that you can insert your own encrypted messages that are gradually decoded on the screen. Here, too, the support of multiple monitors is lacking.
9 System 47
Suitable for Windows and macOS
In close-up photos from the Star Trek programs and movies, you can read the word LCARS on the computer screens. LCARS is the acronym for Library Computer Access and Retrieval System, the computer system in the Star Treks Starfleet and Federation universe. With System 47 it seems like you are at the controls in the sci-fi series. So something for Trekkies. The screensaver has eight animation sequences, including a Sector Scan, Star System Analysis, Milky Way Galaxy Map and more…
10 Dream Aquarium
Suitable for Windows
Ha, there is of course the screensaver where your screen becomes an aquarium and where you can occasionally feed the fish. This is a classic, but a very beautiful one where the fish move hyper realistically across the screen. The screen saver was designed by an Oscar-winning effects artist for special effects in films. You can download the demo, because the full version costs $19.95 and 20 percent goes to charity. For that money you get 27 species of fish and a crab that cleans the bottom. There is also a macOS version, but it won’t work on Apple’s latest operating system.
11 Fliqlo
Suitable for Windows, macOS and iOS
Japanese developer Yuji Adachi designed fliqlo. The premise of the Fliqlo clock screensaver is simple. The screen turns into an old-fashioned clap clock that resembles the electromechanical alarm clocks invented in the mid-twentieth century. The settings are limited. You can choose between a 12 and 24 hour format and you can also set the dimensions and brightness of the clock. The bigger the screen, the bigger the clock.
12 Northern Lights
Suitable for Windows and macOS
Great long exposure photos of the Northern Lights. The high-resolution images are from the Norwegian Tourism Board: VisitNorway.com. There is also soft background music that you can turn off at the bottom of the screen. It is a slide show where you can actually control little in the settings. There is a Head-Up Display option, but its effect eludes us. The only button available is the Uninstall button.
13 Panerai Luminor
Suitable for Windows and iOS
A luxury watch maker is giving away a minimalistic screensaver, with the large hands pointing to the hours and minutes, while the small hand ticks away the seconds. It’s about a simple analog clock which is inspired by the historic Luminor Marina model. In addition, you also see the day of the month, as on a classic watch.
14 Midnight Beach
Suitable for Windows
Who doesn’t love a beach at midnight and a full moon, with the waves crashing against a fishing boat setting the rhythm? This viscous screensaver for romantic souls is free of advertising. In the settings you can specify how the images should alternate, but there is only one background. You can enter a playlist to make some mood music sound, and there are various options for fitting the image into your screen.
15 Galaxy Dance
Suitable for Windows
If the universe were made up of millions of colored balls, you would come close to the concept of galaxy dance. If you press F1 while the screensaver is running, all available functions will be displayed. For example, you can freeze the animation or adjust the camera angle so that it looks like you are racing through the galaxy. You can make the flying orbs move in different patterns, such as kaleidoscopic.
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