The truth is that it is something that makes me quite pissed off. A silly mistake but incredibly difficult to fix in principle. From one day to the next, when selecting ” Set as … ” on an image, the option to set it as a “lock screen image” has disappeared from my Android phone. Next, I will explain how I managed to solve this problem.
The lock screen button has completely disappeared. What do I do now?
Before starting, I would like to explain how I got to this situation – it would be interesting to know if the rest of the people who have had this problem have had the same thing. I like to test apps that offer wallpapers for Android, and I’m always installing new apps with all kinds of wallpapers.
The one I like the most is Walli, but lately, I’ve been tinkering with several new apps, and I have the feeling that they have had something to do with all this mess. Cause and effect or mere coincidence? I do not know.
What I am clear about is that, since then, if I select an image from my gallery, it won’t let me set it as “Lock screen.” That option has completely disappeared. I can set it as a WhatsApp profile photo, wallpaper -only for the home screen- or contact photo, but nothing else.
Solution # 1: Set the lock image from the Android settings menu or the desktop
Instead of setting the lock screen image from the gallery or the wallpapers app on duty, you can also change it from the settings or home.
Change wallpaper from Android settings
Go to ” Settings -> Display -> Wallpaper,” and from here, select an image to set it as the lock screen.
If you have a smartphone with a more recent version of Android, such as Android 10, you have to navigate to « Settings -> Display -> Styles and wallpapers. « From there, enter « Wallpaper. « This will take you to a new configuration menu where you can:
- View the wallpapers that are currently set on the lock screen and home screen.
- Change the current wallpapers from the list that you find available in « Wallpaper categories. « Here, you can choose between photos from your gallery or various predetermined backgrounds (landscapes, textures, life, art, geometric shapes, etc.).
Set wallpaper from desktop
From the same Android home screen, make a long press. 3 new buttons will appear at the bottom of the screen. We select “Wallpapers,” and from here, try to set a new lock screen background.
If you have a mobile or tablet with Android 10, the process is very similar. By long pressing on the desktop, a small box will appear with 3 options: ” Screen settings,” “Widgets,” and ” Styles and wallpapers.” By checking the latter, the system will take you to the settings screen from where you can change the wallpaper of your Android without too many complications.
If you have an Android phone with some layer of customization, as happens, for example, with the Samsung Galaxy, the process is very similar. In the case of Samsung’s One UI layer, what you have to do is make a long press on the home screen, and just at the bottom left, you will see an option that says “Wallpapers.”
Within this menu, select «My wallpapers» choose an image from the gallery. When you click on it, the system will give you the option to set it as «Lock screen.»
Solution # 2: Install Google Wallpapers to manage the lock screen
In my head, the idea had been a wallpaper app that had caused all this mess, so I did 2 things:
- Uninstall all the wallpapers and wallpapers apps from my mobile phone.
- Install the application “Google Wallpapers.” Nothing better than an app from the same Android creators to solve the mess.
The application “Wallpapers” developed by Google allows you to manage the wallpapers you set both on the home screen or desktop and the lock screen. It offers its own wallpapers, but it also lets you use the images stored in your terminal.
Now, all the management of my Android wallpapers is done with this application, and I can now put and remove images on the lock screen without problems. In addition, it has a pretty nice wallpapers catalog, so honey on flakes.
In essence, it is most likely that, from the beginning, some wallpapers app – or even a launcher – would have taken over the management of the lock screen, establishing itself as the default application. Therefore, it could also have been solved by locating this app, clearing the cache, and resetting the ” Open by default” section in the app settings. In my case, unfortunately, this never worked.
I understand that restoring the system to its factory state would also solve the problem, but if you want to avoid a measure as forceful as this, using the aforementioned Google app is a quick and easy solution to carry out.
