Mac OS Monterey - Screen Saver does not work for photos

Give this a try: boot into Safe Mode according to How to use safe mode on your Mac and test to see which screensavers work or not. Reboot normally and test again.

NOTE: Safe Mode boot can take up to 3 - 5 minutes as it's doing the following; 

• Verifies your startup disk and attempts to repair directory issues, if needed

• Loads only required kernel extensions (prevents 3rd party kernel/extensions from loading)

• Prevents Startup Items and Login Items from opening automatically

• Disables user-installed fonts 

• Deletes font caches, kernel cache, and other system cache files

It's fixed! macOS Monterrey 12.1 update is out today!

It's a well known bug with Monterey and Apple has been notified and, probably working on it for the next Monterey update. This thread is when it was first noted. All we can do is use a screensaver theme that does not use image files until the fix is released.

fredfrommccormick wrote:

Nothing works from my Photos Library

FWIW, many people have reported the same problem on non-M1 Macs. You should send Apple a bug report from the feedback page.

Feedback - macOS - Apple

To protect the screen you can use one of the non-photo using screensavers until a fix is released by Apple.

All of these work for me except Apple Watch.

Good news! Here, the screen saver function continues the Monterey bug of no collections loading — 12.1 on iMac

and M1 16/512 Mini.

I seem to be experiencing the same problem with my 2017 Intel Retina Macbook Pro.

What I noticed though, is when the screensaver activates, it shows the first picture very (very! almost black) dimly. When I then clicked the trackpad/moved the mouse, my profile login picture appears and the picture screensaver does initiate after that...

Hope this helps anyone tech-savvy enough :)

Patience is a virtue. It'll probably come in the next update but we have no idea when that will be. In the meantime use one of the other themes.

I have this same problem. Bought a Mac in May of 2020, shortly before the new M1 chip came out. Since the update to Monterey my screen saver doesn’t work. My kids and I love seeing our pictures on there, so this is a major bummer. At least it doesn’t adversely effect the functionality of my Mac. Hope they come up with an update that fixes it soon.

This is crackers! Surely Apple would not release such a major upgrade without field testing first? Screen savers are necessary but also nice things to have with photos that soften the hard IT edge of all things digital! Come on Apple.. Solution please and make it snappy!

Only partially fixed on my iMac (Retina 4K, 21.5-inch, 2017) with an external AOC 2790B 4K display. Pix appear on the main iMac screen after a 5-10 second delay, but the AOC screen indicates "No Pictures". Will play around with a safe boot and see what happens.

Sorry, but nope! Still the same geometric blocks for anything but the Monterey graphic and a few graphics past that (drift, flurry, arabesque, and flurry). Same problem that has continued from 12.0 onward.

My snapshots works but not my scrapbook.