Windows 11 Can't Change Lockscreen

Question

Answer 1

First, can you please go to Settings > Accounts > Access Work or School (it is the briefcase icon, not the little person icon), and make sure there's no work/school email address listed there, or no mentioning of Azure AD. If there is, please click on it and then click on disconnect. Then restart the computer and see if it is resolved.

If not, or if nothing is listed there, please type cmd in the search on the taskbar and make sure you select "Run As Administrator" to launch Command Prompt.

Then run the following command and hit enter:

gpupdate /force /boot

Restart the computer and see if it helps. If not, launch Command Prompt in Admin mode again and run the following commands, one at a time. Not all of them will go through completely or value can be found, and that's ok. Once finished, restart the computer again and see if it works.

reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies" /f
reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost" /f
reg delete "HKLM\Software\Policies" /f
reg delete "HKLM\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Policies" /f
reg delete "HKLM\Software\WOW6432Node\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies" /f
reg delete "HKLM\SOFTWARE\Policies\Microsoft\Windows Defender" /v DisableAntiSpyware
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Microsoft\WindowsSelfHost" /f
reg delete "HKCU\Software\Policies" /f
reg delete "HKLM\Software\Microsoft\Policies" /f

Answer 2

The message “Some of these settings are managed by your organization” on the Lock screen page indicates that one or more lock-screen policies are enforced by Group Policy or MDM, so the lock screen background cannot be changed from Settings.

In Windows 11 this is typically controlled by these policies:

1. Force a specific default lock screen and logon image
   • Group Policy path: Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Control Panel → Personalization → Force a specific default lock screen and logon image
   • When configured, it sets a specific image for the lock screen and sign‑in screen for all users.
2. Prevent changing lock screen and logon image
   • Group Policy path: Computer Configuration → Administrative Templates → Control Panel → Personalization → Prevent changing lock screen and logon image
   • When enabled, users cannot change the lock screen image and will always see the default or the image forced by policy.

On devices managed by MDM (for example, Intune), the same behavior can be enforced through the ADMX-backed CSP policies:

• CPL_Personalization_ForceDefaultLockScreen – forces a specific lock screen and logon image by path (local or UNC).
• CPL_Personalization_NoChangingLockScreen – prevents users from changing the lock screen and logon image.

If the device is joined to a work or school organization or managed by an admin, only that admin can change or remove these policies. To regain the ability to change the lock screen:

1. Contact the organization’s IT administrator and ask them to:
   • Clear or adjust the Force a specific default lock screen and logon image policy, and/or
   • Disable Prevent changing lock screen and logon image, or the equivalent MDM policies (CPL_Personalization_ForceDefaultLockScreen and CPL_Personalization_NoChangingLockScreen).
2. After the policy is changed on the management side, restart the device or run a policy refresh so that the Lock screen options in Settings → Personalization → Lock screen become editable again.

On unmanaged, personal devices, this message usually means the PC was previously joined to an organization or had local Group Policy configured. In that case, an administrator on the machine would need to remove or change the same policies via the Local Group Policy Editor or by clearing the corresponding registry values.

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References:

• Configure the desktop and lock screen backgrounds (windows-11)
• Policy CSP - ADMX_ControlPanelDisplay
• Customize the Lock Screen in Windows