You can make a difference in the Apple Support Community!

When you sign up with your Apple Account, you can provide valuable feedback to other community members by upvoting helpful replies and User Tips.

Looks like no one’s replied in a while. To start the conversation again, simply ask a new question.

Screen saver broken in Monterey

When selecting the Photos library or a folder of photos, they do not render. Have tried various options (e.g., Classic, Ken Burns, etc.). No luck.

iMac Line (2012 and Later)

Posted on Oct 26, 2021 8:27 AM

Reply
Question marked as Top-ranking reply

Posted on Oct 26, 2021 3:18 PM

I wanted to edit this to add to it, but can't do that, so here we go. I did notice on the iMac that if I pick any other screen saver, Monterey, Hello etc. they work, it is just with photos that they do not work.

223 replies

Jan 15, 2022 2:34 PM in response to Jdub_3d

Mac user since 1988, but Apple seems to have become a worshipper of "change for the sake of change," something as simple as changing the desktop picture, if a new customer were asking me if I should go Mac or Windows, I would seek to avoid answering the question, ease of use is dropping with every new "operating" system. disrespect intended !

Jan 15, 2022 2:39 PM in response to Old Toad

" That problem was fixed with the release of Monterey 12.1 update". NO, NOT TRUE, I HAVE GIVEN UP TRYING TO GET MY IMAC DESKTOP PICTURE BACK. I believe that Apple has fallen into the "change fore the sake of change" trap. If something works, LEAVE IT ALONE. Changing desktop pictures has never been a problem until Monterey!! Last trouble free system was Catalina.

Jan 15, 2022 10:14 PM in response to Old Toad

Monterey 12.1 fixed the problem of the screensaver not working at all. It has not, however, fixed the problem that if your photos are edited, they show up in the screensaver in their unedited form. This issue was first seen in Big Sur, and has not yet been fixed. The only other software involved is Photos, which last I checked, was, errr, an Apple programme.


Please don't patronise people who have genuine OS issues in your efforts to protect the aggrandising monster that Apple has become. The fact that Apple are trying to offload systems checks onto individual customers via a third party app says quite a lot about how much they care about these issues. If they had pride in their software, they would do these things themselves.

Jan 16, 2022 8:50 AM in response to nls65sz

The fact that it's not working for you doesn't mean the basic, underlying reason it didn't work hasn't been fixed. It works for me with edited or unedited photos. It didn't before the last update.


So if you'll get that chip off your shoulder and provide the info requested we can see if we can determine why your setup isn't working as it should.

Jan 25, 2022 6:29 AM in response to Jdub_3d

I want to add a few extra details. I have a brand new Macbook Air M1 running Monterey 12.1, and every time I try to set my screensaver to any of the Photo options, my computer becomes unresponsive and Force Quit pops up saying "Your system has run out of application memory. Switching back to one of the non-Photo options eliminates this problem. If I leave my screensaver set to Photos and select Preview my Mac it will crash and return a panic watchdog timeout error upon rebooting.

Jan 25, 2022 7:24 AM in response to Blindranger

Blindranger wrote:

I have nearly 100k photos, I LOVE how the screensaver randomly brings back memories from my life, journeys, and adventures.


I have no trouble using my photos with the screensaver, but

a) I have a lot less of them; and

b) they are stored locally, and not in iCloud.


I wonder if one or both of the things above are contributing the problems that some are experiencing.

Jan 25, 2022 8:31 AM in response to Luis Sequeira1

I have over 100 gb of photos as well and love to watch my life pass before my eyes without being near death. When I purchased my new Mac mini I opted for external storage of the photos folder. Obviously now spending $200 more for additional storage on the Mac would have made this go away at least for awhile. I think it works fine if there is pictures folder.

Jan 31, 2022 9:49 AM in response to Dimeglio77

Unfortunately, my screensaver folder is already in My Albums. My photos do appear now (fixed by 12.1), but anything I've edited still appears in its original unedited form. This has been happening since Big Sur.


There are so many ways in which screensaver+Photos is broken (see this thread) - it works for some people, and of those with problems, it's as if no two people have exactly the same issue(s).


Why they mess with this bit of the system is a mystery, but they seem to break it with pretty much every new OS, in my (quite long) experience.

Apr 14, 2022 3:13 PM in response to Jdub_3d

I noticed that my screen saver pictures were not available after upgrading to Monterey I checked the pictures were not available in the desktop pictures folder in the system Library the extensions for the pictures were corrupted so It didn’t see them as pictures I did find the desktop pictures folder in the applications folder elsewhere on the hard drive I was able to copy that it wouldn’t let me copy it into the systems folder or change the system folder but I was able to paste it into another location and then direct the screen saver to that location and all the pictures are there

Screen saver broken in Monterey

Welcome to Apple Support Community
A forum where Apple customers help each other with their products. Get started with your Apple Account.