How can I trigger the screensaver on my Mac?

When I step away from my computer, I want to turn the screensaver on. Any suggestions for how I could do that?

Andrew Warner

Posted 2010-08-24T23:54:08.047

Reputation: 999

Do you have the screen saver set to automatically turn on after a couple minutes when you walk away? (Desktop and Screen Saver Preference Pane in System Preferences) – Chealion – 2010-08-26T23:56:47.337

Answers

If you don't want to use Expose, there's another option:

On Sierra or lower, the screensaver is actually an application located at:

/System/Library/Frameworks/ScreenSaver.framework/Versions/A/Resources/ScreenSaverEngine.app

On High Sierra it is located at:

/System/Library/CoreServices/ScreenSaverEngine.app/Contents/MacOS/ScreenSaverEngine

You can just make an alias/shortcut to this app, drag the shortcut into your dock or wherever you want it and when you want the screensaver you can just launch the app.

Vervious

Posted 2010-08-24T23:54:08.047

Reputation: 4 654

2It's not there anymore on Sierra. – Bastien – 2016-11-11T21:14:08.337

Settings -> Expose and Spaces -> Expose -> Acive Screen Corners -> Pick one of the corners and choose Start Screen Saver.

I chose top left and set a password for my mac so whenever someone is around and I need to step away I simply slide my mouse to the top left and bam..screensaver innocently starts hehe :D

Nick

Posted 2010-08-24T23:54:08.047

Reputation: 485

1that's what I do, too .. and I have the upper-right corner be the screen off option. – warren – 2010-08-25T03:34:10.240

1You can also access the active screen corners from Desktop and Screen Saver -> Hot Corners... in System Preferences. – Scott – 2010-08-25T11:42:08.143

You can just press ⌃⇧⏏ (Control-Shift-Eject) to turn off the display, or ⌥⌘⏏ (Option-Command-Eject) to sleep. Also, if you have a magic mouse you can use http://magicprefs.com/ to e.g. activate the screensaver by touching the apple stem.

– mk12 – 2010-08-31T18:22:42.970

Unintuitively, setting a password for the screensaver is not in the Screen Saver control panel, but in the "Security & Privacy" control panel. – MarkHu – 2013-03-08T19:04:48.310

You can also make an app in Automator.

Open a new workflow. Choose "Application"
Browse to "Utilities" in the "Actions" pane
Drag the "Start Screen Saver" action to the workflow window on the right
Choose "Save As", name it "start screensaver", file format is "Application"
Save it in your applications folder

The bonus to this is that you can launch it via Spotlight just by using the spotlight shortcut and typing "scree" for it to appear

Chris Gaunt

Posted 2010-08-24T23:54:08.047

Reputation: 231

This is definitely the way to do this so you can run it from Spotlight! – Ricky Nelson – 2020-02-21T18:33:01.070

This is my preferred method over an alias because, unlike an alias, an automator app can be dropped into "Applications" and run from Spotlight without receiving the "This application is used by Mac OS S and can't be opened" error. Win! – chuckg – 2011-12-20T20:14:21.933

You could consider combining ideas. Have a very short delay before your screen saver starts up (<5 mins) Use the 'hot corner' mentioned earlier. And for extra geeky fun - you can have your mac watch for a bluetooth signal (from your phone in your pocket) and when it goes out of range - start up your screensaver.

These links explain in more detail: http://www.macupdate.com/info.php/id/33239/proximity%2c-bluetooth%2c-screensaver-security
http://hints.macworld.com/article.php?story=20091221173111783&query=
http://code.google.com/p/reduxcomputing-proximity/

But then you have to make sure you keep your phone in your pocket and not sitting on the table next to your mac! :)