Cool screensavers are a bit of a forgotten art form. That’s a shame because they can make your PC look awesome when it’s not in use.
As such, it’s time to put the best screensavers back under the microscope. These are our picks for the best screensavers for Windows and they will have your screen looking incredible in no time.
Before You Download Windows 10 Screensavers
Most screensavers for Windows 10—both in this article and elsewhere on the web—are delivered as a ZIP file. You’ll need to extract the contents before you can use them on your system.
Sometimes, your extracted screensaver will be an EXE file; at other times, it will be in the SCR format. If it’s an EXE file, you can install the screensaver on your system by double-clicking on it in the usual way. If it’s an SCR file, you will need to right-click on the file and select Install.
In both cases, the custom screensaver will become available in the list of Windows screensaver options.
And remember, many custom screensavers also have various settings that you can tweak.
To choose the screensaver you want to use and to edit any of its available settings, open the Windows Settings app and go to Personalization > Lock Screen > Screensaver Settings.
The Best Free Windows 10 Screensavers
1. Fliqlo
We’re going to come to some cool “arty” screensavers shortly, but we’ll start our list with a clock screensaver called Fliqlo.
After all, how long do you actually spend staring at your computer screen when the screensaver is running? For most people, it’s probably not very long at all.
A clock, therefore, seems like a better use of the space. Having the current time immediately on hand is always useful.
Fliqlo has a couple of settings, including clock size and a 12/24-hour toggle.
Download: Fliqlo (Free)
2. Briblo
How do you fancy being able to make buildings out of virtual LEGO when you’re not using your screen? This free Windows 10 screensaver lets you do exactly that.
In truth, the screensaver is a bit like LEGO-meets-Tetris. It would be better if you had more control over the blocks that appeared.
The screensaver even comes with controls that won’t activate your screen while you’re building. The arrow keys let you move blocks; the space bar rotates them.
Download: Briblo (Free)
3. Electric Sheep
Best described as a collaborative art project, Electric Sheep is probably the ultimate custom screensaver in Windows 10.
Let’s take a moment to explain. When you’re running the screensaver and your computer is asleep, it communicates with other computers in the Electric Sheep network to create custom abstract animations (called “Sheep”).
Users can then vote for their favorite sheep. The more votes, the more likely the sheep will reproduce and live longer.
You should only use Electric Sheep if you have a high-bandwidth, always-on connection to the web.
Download: Electric Sheep (Free)
4. Pong Clock
Pong Clock is a cool screensaver that will both protect your screen and provide a bit of light entertainment.
We’re sure everyone is familiar with the classic 2D game, Pong. Created by Atari in 1972, it was of the earliest arcade video games. Gameplay was a simplified form of table tennis, in which the aim was to make the ball fly past your opponent’s paddle.
Pong Clock takes the game to your screensaver. Sadly, you can’t play yourself—it will terminate the screensaver—but you can watch the two computer players battle. There’s also a clock in the center of the screen.
Download: Pong Clock (Free)
5. Vehicle Screen Savers
Vehicle Screen Savers isn’t quite as fancy as some of the free screensavers we have looked at so far, but for anyone interested in vehicles (in the broadest sense), it’s a must-have.
It features beautiful, high-quality images of cars, motorbikes, planes, trains, and boats.
This free Windows 10 screensaver is available in the Windows 10 Store.
Download: Vehicle Screen Savers (Free)
6. Living Marine Aquarium 2
There’s something that’s timelessly classic about a virtual fish tank on your screen. Naturally, it’s calming and soothing, but it looks great too. And a virtual fish tank is also considerably cheaper than the real thing!
Living Marine Aquarium includes 18 species of sea creatures (including fish, seahorses, and crabs), coral, and plenty of bubbles.
This awesome screensaver is also surprisingly customizable. You can choose the number of fish on-screen and also select from three different reef views on offer.
Download: Living Marine Aquarium 2 (Free)
7. System 47
Here’s one of the best screensavers for geeks. System 47 is a replica of the Library Computer Access and Retrieval System (LCARS) computer interface seen in Star Trek: The Next Generation.
For those who don’t know, LCARS is the primary computer system in the universe of Star Trek’s Starfleet and the United Federation of Planets.
The free screensaver offers eight random animations in total, including the famous Sector Scan, Star System Analysis, and Milky Way Galaxy Map.
Download: System 47 (Free)
8. zz DVD
Ah, the bouncing DVD logo, we’ve all seen it, right? And now for the real question—who has ever seen the logo perfectly hit the corner of the screen? It’s a once-in-a-lifetime event!
If you’ve not yet been lucky enough to witness one of the most magnificent technological sights known to man play out in front of your eyes, you can give yourself a fighting chance by downloading this awesome screensaver.
The color of the logo changes with every bounce.
Download: zz DVD (Free)
9. YoWindow
A screensaver that displays the weather forecast is cool enough, but YoWindow goes one step further. It has a “live landscape” that reflects the real-time weather, sunlight, and season.
If you’re stuck staring at a wall all day in your office, this custom screensaver is a great way to know what’s happening on the outside.
Five days of the forecast are shown on the screen, and you can set your location to anywhere in the world.
Download: YoWindow (Free)
10. Another Matrix
We end with another of the best screensavers for geeks. Another Matrix displays the falling green code as made famous by the 1999 movie.
You can customize the screensaver by changing the code density, speed, and font. Unfortunately, anyone hoping to change the color of the code will be out of luck.
There’s also a fun little Easter egg that you can activate. You can enter your own messages into the Matrix code, and they will slowly become apparent over time. It could be an excellent prank to play on your buddy’s laptop.
Download: Another Matrix (Free)
Should You Use a Screensaver?
As you may know, screensavers were first introduced as a way to prevent phosphor burn-in on CRT, plasma, and OLED computer monitors.
That’s no longer an issue on modern monitors, so the choice of whether to use a screensaver solely boils down to usefulness and aesthetics. They may even be better “eyesavers” than screensavers, as the darker tones give your eyeballs a rest from all the bright white colors on your screen.
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