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Microsoft to Make Windows 10 Lock Screen Fully Customizable

Windows 10 will get another feature from Windows Phone 8.1

Oct 22, 2014 13:23 GMT  ·  By
This is what the new lock screen looks like in alpha stage
   This is what the new lock screen looks like in alpha stage

If you’re running Windows 10 Technical Preview 9860 already, you most likely noticed that there are a few really important additions, including a new Action Center that displays all notifications in a single place.

What Microsoft didn’t say, however, is that more exciting changes are prepared for the next few builds, including what could be customizable lock screens for PCs.

Such a lock screen would basically allow users running Windows 10 on their computers to change their looks completely, modifying not only the background, but also fonts and the notifications showing up before unlocking the device.

The very same behavior is already available on Windows Phone 8.1, so this could be just another feature that Microsoft brings from the smartphone platform to its desktop operating system.

Testing version spotted in build 9860

Living proof that Microsoft is working to make Windows 10 lock screens fully customizable is an application found in Windows 10 Technical Preview build 9860.

First spotted by Twitter user @h0x0d and reported by WinBeta, this application can be easily tested by any Windows 10 build 9860 adopter by simply launching a command prompt with administrator privileges and pasting in the following command:

code
explorer.exe "shell:AppsFolder\Microsoft.WindowsDefaultLockScreen_8wekyb3d8bbwe!LockApp"
As you can see for yourselves, if you follow this small trick, the lock screen comes with a Comic Sans font and boasts a slightly different behavior as compared to what we have right now in Windows 8.1 and Windows 10 TP.

The lock screen also displays notifications, such as emails and Skype notifications, but more configuration options should be added at a later time.

At this point, the lock screen is only available as a Modern app, so you can’t use it yet, but it’s very likely to show up in a future Windows 10 Preview build if development goes according to the plan.

Most of these lock screen customization options that could soon arrive on desktops too are already available on Windows Phone 8.1, and what’s more, Microsoft is also giving third-party developers the power to make their apps capable of changing the lock screen appearance as well.

For example, weather apps can change the looks of the lock screen almost entirely on Windows Phone 8.1 and display the current or the next weather forecast, along with other details, all by itself.

The same behavior is very likely to also be included in Windows 10, but a testing version should be released to users in the coming months.