Monterey screensaver not working

This is really just unbelievable…

a few years ago, we lost the ability to use the back arrow to see the pictures that had been previously displayed in the screensaver.

in the last one or two versions of OS I had a new bug where unmodified originals are displayed in the screensaver. The only work around is to periodically export the entire photo collection to a folder and use that as the source.

And now, I’ve foolishly upgraded yet again hoping these issues might be resolved, but instead we’ve hit a new low where the screensaver simply doesn’t work at all!

Hard to believe that Apple seems unable to get something so basic right. Might be time to invest in a 3rd party screen saver, or maybe get off of Apple entirely.

Since my update to Monterey, my screensaver (using a file of photos on my desktop as the source) goes to black.

I thought it was only me experiencing this issue and tried everything. Now I realize it's a universal problem.

Please update with a fix ASAP.

debdoe53 wrote:

Upgraded from Big Slur to Monterey, now photo screen saver is no longer working. Please send the fix so I can see my grandchildren photos on the screen saver again. Thank you!

You have to wait for the next version of Monterey to see if the photo screen savers are fixed.

Assuming this iLife Suite solution works for everyone in the discussion I applaud the solution. Well done! But it is still at best a work-around. Apple needs to fix the actual problem at the next MacOS official upgrade to fix the problem for everyone else.

When i try to install it using the link above, it tells me it cannot install because I already have a newer version of the program, however searching for ilife doesn't turn up anything. Any suggestions?

I was afraid this might happen. I guess the file I have was left over and never deleted years ago when iLife apps got updated or deleted. Not sure how to get this file unless it is copied from someone else's Mac.

Monterey not only turned my photo screensaver black with just a clock but duplicated files in my cloud and caused some PowerPoints files to lose photos embedded within the PowerPoint files and in addition, it duplicated the PP files with some extra naming convention. Has anyone seen this issue?

I feel all of the posters' disappointment and have very similar issues.

The albums I carefully - and painstakingly - created in the Photos app have mostly disappeared, along with my projects and slideshows. Most of my library photos, previously edited, have been duplicated, (and triplicated, and up to 5 times replicated!). Most have reverted back to the way I shot them. You know, originally taken upside down then color-corrected, framed, identified, etc. 

It’s very frustrating to have done all of that work over the years and see this happen. 

Calls to Apple get me nowhere in terms of finding a solution. They apologize, but can’t take me back to what was. I keep missing calls due to the fact they put me on hold and unexpectedly disconnect.

I miss seeing my favorite photos scroll on my computer screensaver. It, too, is blank.

ElleKay1 wrote:

I feel all of the posters' disappointment and have very similar issues.

The albums I carefully - and painstakingly - created in the Photos app have mostly disappeared, along with my projects and slideshows. Most of my library photos, previously edited, have been duplicated, (and triplicated, and up to 5 times replicated!). Most have reverted back to the way I shot them. You know, originally taken upside down then color-corrected, framed, identified, etc. 

What does that have to do with the problem of Monterey screensavers not being able to use any image files in it's themes, regardless of where they are located, i.e. Photos library or in a folder on the hard drive).

You should start your own topic and follow the guidelines in this user tip, Writing an Effective Apple Support Communities Question - Apple Community and give all of the details of what you're experiencing.

"What does that have to do with the problem of Monterey screensavers not being able to use any image files in it's themes, regardless of where they are located, i.e. Photos library or in a folder on the hard drive).

"You should start your own topic..."

Okay. Done!

I have the same problem with my 2017 iMac27". Only get a black screen with a slight shadow of the picture. No picture screen savers work and neither does "Monterey".

Drift, Flurry and those type are working but I hate those.

I agree, a relief that they’ve fixed the biggest issue, but still a major shortcoming that it uses unedited originals. I have over 25k pictures, so the workaround with exporting them is a big pain.

Another feature that disappeared a few OS versions ago was the ability to go back with the back arrow. This was a great feature that my family frequently used when a picture we liked came up, and I have no idea why they would have gotten rid of it.

Bottom line, Mac had a way better screensaver product a few years ago for showing your personal picture collection. Crazy that it’s been getting worse instead of better!

Monterey 12.1 has repaired screen saver, Yeh! trouble is it is back to where it was with Big Sur. Using a screen saver from a photo album in Photos results in the un-edited version of the photos being appearing so crops and rotations are not displayed :(

Agreed! I spend hours after ever vacation curating and editing my pictures - a lot of cropping - seeing the unedited originals is infuriating and makes me just select a non-photo screen saver which defeats the whole purpose of the purported fix

Agreed it is irritating.

However I have discovered:

1) On my macbook pro (13",2020) chip M1

The screensaver has the problem described :-(

Slideshow from photos is however ok

2) On an imac (21,5" 2015) with intel i5 chip

Screensaver and slideshows work ok!

Both are on Monterey 12.1