If you are a Windows 11 user and have attempted to add a folder source for the lock screen slideshow by clicking the “Browse” button next to “Add an album for your slideshow” in the “Personalization > Lock screen” settings and selecting a folder (e.g., Pictures), you may have encountered an error message that says: “The Pictures folder isn’t supported because of its location. Please choose another folder“. This error message can be frustrating, especially if you are trying to customize your lock screen with your favorite photos or images.
However, don’t worry, there are some solutions that can help you work around this issue. In this article, we will discuss the possible causes of this error message and how to fix it.
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Understanding the Lock screen folder location error on Windows 11
When you attempt to add a folder source for the lock screen slideshow, you may encounter the “The [folder name] folder isn’t supported because of its location” error. This error message usually appears when you click on the Browse button and choose a special folder or its subfolders, or when you type the full path manually in the browse dialog box.
The problem occurs because Windows thinks that the folder or subfolder you have selected is not supported for use as a source for the lock screen slideshow due to their location or type. For example, some system folders or special folders from Quick access like Documents, Downloads, Music, and Videos may not be supported for use as a source for the lock screen slideshow.
Also see: Windows 10 Lock Screen Images Location (Folder)
Workarounds for the “The folder isn’t supported because of its location” error
Fortunately, there are some workarounds that can help you add the folder you want to use as a source for the lock screen slideshow, even if you encounter the “The folder isn’t supported because of its location” error. Here are some solutions you can try:
Solution 1: Browse to the folder path manually from This PC
One of the easiest workarounds for the lock screen “The folder isn’t supported because of its location” error is to manually browse to the folder path from “This PC” or the root directory of the drive (e.g., C: drive) and then navigate to the folder you want to select, instead of selecting it from Quick Access or any other location.
Related issue: “This Folder is Empty” in Windows 11 (Fix)
For example, if you want to select the Pictures folder from the Users folder as the source for lock screen slideshow, here are the steps you can follow:
- Click on the Browse button in the Lock Screen settings.
- In the file picker dialog, click “This PC” from the left pane.
- Open the C: drive.
- Open “Users” folder.
- Open your user profile folder.
- Then, select the “Pictures” folder but do not open it.
- Finally, click “Choose this folder“.
You can perform these steps for each folder or album you want to include in the lock screen slideshow.
Solution 2: Select but do not open the folder containing your images
Another workaround for the “The folder isn’t supported because of its location” error in the Windows 11 lock screen settings is to select the folder containing your images but refrain from opening it. This solution has been reported to work for many Windows 11 users. Here are the steps to follow:
- Click on the Browse button in the Lock Screen settings.
- Browse the folder path manually from any drive root, such as C: or D:.
- Select the folder containing your images but do not open it.
- Click “Choose this folder“.
Solution 3: Access Personalization settings via CMD
If the above solutions do not work for you, you can try opening the Personalization’s wallpaper settings by running the following command in Command Prompt:
control /name Microsoft.Personalization /page pageWallpaper
This command should open the wallpaper settings page, where you can browse and select the folder for your lock screen wallpaper or slideshow.
Final thoughts
It’s worth noting that the “The folder isn’t supported because of its location” error message can occur due to system restrictions on certain folders or subfolders, which are not suitable for use as a source for the lock screen slideshow. If you still encounter the error even after navigating to the folder manually from “This PC” or the root directory of the drive while selecting the folder as the source for the lock screen slideshow, it might indicate that the folder is actually not supported and restricted by Windows.
We hope that this article has been helpful in resolving this issue. If you have any further questions or concerns, please feel free to leave a comment in the section below.
