{"id":50788,"date":"2026-03-20T12:51:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-20T12:51:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/?p=50788"},"modified":"2026-03-20T12:51:51","modified_gmt":"2026-03-20T12:51:51","slug":"play-a-video-as-lock-screen-wallpaper-in-ubuntu-gnome","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/2026\/03\/play-a-video-as-lock-screen-wallpaper-in-ubuntu-gnome\/","title":{"rendered":"Play a Video as Lock Screen Wallpaper in Ubuntu (GNOME)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

Want to set a video as animated background for your lock screen? Here’s an extension to do the job for GNOME.<\/p>\n

For Linux desktop, there’s a free open-source python app to set video wallpaper<\/a>. Now there’s a new app to do the job for the lock screen, though only for Gnome.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\nhttps:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/video-lockscreen.mp4<\/a><\/video><\/div>\n

This is implemented by Live Lock Screen<\/a>, an extension that uses GStreamer 1.0 media framework to play any video in your computer as lock screen background.<\/p>\n

It also features infinite looping support, optional audio, multi-monitor support, pause\/play on suspend and wake, as well as adjustable frame rate and blur effect.<\/p>\n

1. Install Live Lock Screen<\/h3>\n

The extension so far supports GNOME from version 47 to 50<\/b>, meaning for Ubuntu 25.10\/26.04, Fedora 41 ~ 44, and other Linux with recent GNOME. While, Gnome 46<\/b> (Ubuntu 24.04) is also supported via manually installation.<\/p>\n

1. Install dependencies.<\/b> First, press Ctrl+Alt+T on keyboard to open terminal and run command to install the gstreamer plugins:<\/p>\n

sudo apt install gstreamer1.0-plugins-good gstreamer1.0-plugins-bad gstreamer1.0-plugins-ugly<\/pre>\n
Also install the gstreamer plugin for GTK-4 sink elements by running command:<\/p>\n
sudo apt install gstreamer1.0-gtk4<\/pre>\n
For Ubuntu 24.04<\/b>, the GTK4 plugin is not available in system repository, you may select download the one for Ubuntu 24.10<\/a>, then click open and install via App Center.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n
2. Install Extension Manager.<\/b> I prefer to use Extension Manager app to install & manage Gnome extensions. For Ubuntu, it’s available to install in App Center (filtered by Debian package).<\/p>\n
\"\"
Install Extension Manager in Ubuntu Software\/App Center<\/p><\/div>\n
3.<\/b> Finally, search and install the “Live Lock Screen” extension using Extension Manager under browse<\/i> tab.<\/p>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
For choice, you may go to the extension page in Gnome website<\/a>, then use the ON\/OFF toggle to install it, after installed the browser extension and refresh.<\/p>\n
Tips: Debian and Ubuntu also need to install the agent package before being able to use web browser to install Gnome Extensions:<\/i><\/p>\n
sudo apt install chrome-gnome-shell<\/pre>\n
\"\"<\/p>\n
For Ubuntu 24.04 with GNOME 46<\/b>, after installed the dependency libraries mentioned above, open terminal (Ctrl+Alt+T) and run the commands below one by one to install the extension from source:<\/p>\n
    \n
  • First, run the command to clone the source:\n
    git clone https:\/\/github.com\/nick-redwill\/LiveLockScreen.git<\/pre>\n
    Install git via sudo apt install git<\/code> if you don’t have it.<\/li>\n
  • Next, copy the source folder to local extension directory:\n
    cp -r LiveLockScreen ~\/.local\/share\/gnome-shell\/extensions\/live-lockscreen@nick-redwill<\/pre>\n
    If this is the first time you install an extension for your Gnome desktop, then you may need to first create that directory by running mkdir -p ~\/.local\/share\/gnome-shell\/extensions<\/code> command.<\/li>\n
  • Finally, log out and back in to apply change. And, clean by removing the source folder in user home.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
    \"\"<\/p>\n
    2. Configure Lock Screen Video Wallpaper<\/h3>\n
    After installed the extension, launch either “Extension Manager” or Gnome Extensions app, then turn on that extension and click the gear icon to open its preferences dialog.<\/p>\n
    Next, choose a local video file, configure scaling mode, loop or not, and other settings, and finally lock screen to see the magic!<\/p>\n
    \"\"<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
    Want to set a video as animated background for your lock screen? Here’s an extension to do the job for GNOME. For Linux desktop, there’s a free open-source python app to set video wallpaper. Now there’s a new app to do the job for the lock screen, though only for Gnome.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":50789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[689],"class_list":["post-50788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-howtos","tag-gnome"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ubuntuhandbook.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}