Fun
Online screensaver
Pick one of six classic-style screensavers, preview it live, then start it full screen — with your own bouncing text, an optional idle auto start and a screen that stays awake.
Auto start only works while this tab stays open and visible. Browsers need a click to enter true full screen, so an automatic start fills the browser tab instead.
Play and explore in your browser. No account needed.
Frequently asked questions
Is this the DVD screensaver?
It is a bouncing-text screensaver in the same spirit, but it does not use the DVD logo. You type your own words — up to 24 characters — and they bounce around inside a glowing rounded box that changes colour each time it touches an edge. The small counter in the corner counts true corner hits, when the box meets a horizontal and a vertical edge in the same frame, and each one sets off a small burst of sparks.
Can it replace my computer’s real screensaver?
Not exactly. A web page cannot install itself as your operating system’s screensaver or start when the computer itself is idle. What it can do is start after the page has had no mouse, keyboard or touch input for the minutes you choose, while this tab stays open and visible. Browsers only allow true full screen after a click or key press, so an automatic start fills the browser tab instead; press Start screensaver for true full screen.
Why does my screen still go to sleep?
Keep screen awake uses the Screen Wake Lock API, which current Chrome, Edge, Safari and Firefox support, but not every older browser or device. Battery saver, Low Power Mode or a work policy can refuse the lock, and the browser releases it when you switch tabs; the page asks again when you return. The option shows whether the lock was granted. If your browser does not support it, lengthen your device’s screen timeout instead.
Does a screensaver prevent burn-in?
Moving pictures spread wear more evenly than a still image, which is why the Clock drifts slowly around the screen instead of staying in one place, and every other mode is constantly in motion. Modern LCD screens are hardly affected by burn-in, and OLED screens have their own protection, so the most effective way to save your screen and power is still to let it turn off when you are not using it.
Why doesn’t it go fully full screen on my iPhone?
Safari on iPhone does not let web pages put an element in true full screen, so the screensaver covers the whole visible page instead and the browser bars may stay. Turning the phone sideways, or adding the page to your Home Screen, gives you more of the screen. iPad, Android and desktop browsers go truly full screen.
Will it slow down my computer or drain my battery?
Each screensaver is drawn on a single canvas with requestAnimationFrame, and it stops drawing entirely when the tab is hidden or the preview is scrolled out of view. If frames start taking too long, the page lowers its drawing resolution — and draws fewer stars and aurora columns — until it runs smoothly again. Any animation on a bright screen uses more power than a sleeping display, though, so on battery a shorter screen timeout is kinder.
About this tool
This page brings back the pleasure of the old desktop screensaver in any modern browser, with six original animations drawn live on an HTML canvas. Starfield warp flies you through up to 1,400 stars that stretch into streaks as they rush past. Bouncing text sends your own words around the screen in a glowing box that changes colour at every wall. 3D pipes grows shaded tubes, with ball joints at every turn, through a 12 × 9 × 12 grid until it fills up, then fades and starts again. Mystify lines draws two drifting polygons with a trail of fading echoes, Aurora ripples curtains of green, cyan and violet light above a mountain skyline, and Clock shows a large time and date that drift slowly around the screen.
Each mode can be previewed on the page before you start it. The speed slider runs from a quarter of normal speed to three times as fast, and if your device is set to reduce motion the screensavers start at a slow speed you can change. Switch screensaver every rotates through all six modes at the interval you choose, so a spare monitor or a TV connected to a laptop can run a changing show.
When you start, the screensaver goes full screen through the Fullscreen API, hides the cursor and asks for a Screen Wake Lock so the display stays on. Like a classic screensaver, pressing any key, clicking, tapping or moving the mouse ends it, with a short pause at the start so the click that launched it does not close it straight away. The auto-start timer watches for mouse, keyboard, scroll and touch activity on this page only.
Everything runs locally in your browser: nothing is uploaded, no account is needed and no images or videos are downloaded, because every star, pipe and aurora curtain is calculated as it is drawn. The drawing resolution is matched to your screen’s pixel density and lowered automatically if frames take too long, so it stays smooth on phones as well as large desktop displays.