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Can't enable screensaver, "Start after" box greyed out

The screen saver "start after:" box is greyed out and I can't figure out how to make it active. I've reset energy settings to default, deleted the preference file, rebooted the Mac mini, and I can't still get it.


I'm running macOS Big Sur Version 11.2.3. Is there something I'm missing to get this working?


Mac mini, macOS 11.2

Posted on May 12, 2021 3:01 AM

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Posted on May 13, 2021 6:20 AM

Hey Vubui, Thanks for posting about not being able to change your screensaver activation time. Could you provide some additional information about your device? Is the Mac owned by an educational institution or business? Usually if that setting is greyed out then there may be a device management profile installed on the Mac which allows the controlling party to restrict access to certain settings on the Mac. You can check if there are profiles installed by going to System Preferences > Profiles. You can find more information about management profiles using the article: Use configuration profiles to standardize settings on Mac computers. Best wishes.

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Question marked as Best reply

May 13, 2021 6:20 AM in response to vubui

Hey Vubui, Thanks for posting about not being able to change your screensaver activation time. Could you provide some additional information about your device? Is the Mac owned by an educational institution or business? Usually if that setting is greyed out then there may be a device management profile installed on the Mac which allows the controlling party to restrict access to certain settings on the Mac. You can check if there are profiles installed by going to System Preferences > Profiles. You can find more information about management profiles using the article: Use configuration profiles to standardize settings on Mac computers. Best wishes.

May 15, 2021 5:05 AM in response to MoonJ.

Thanks! I guess it's probably that. It's a personal device but I do work on it so I do have management software installed, and after looking just now I see there are like 20 profiles for various settings installed through the company portal. Doesn't make sense that they would set the screensaver at 20 minutes, I'd like it to be shorter, but oh well!


Thanks for the help!

Can't enable screensaver, "Start after" box greyed out

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