Microsoft launched Windows 11 on October 5 as a free upgrade to all customers. All features from the previous version of Windows are still available in this latest release, with several new additions.
Windows 11 has improved visual appearance and usability and has new and redesigned visuals. A variety of new wallpaper and themes also accompany this OS. After you sign in for the first time, your desktop wallpaper is changed to a new default image.
Even though the fresh default wallpapers are lovely, you will want to avoid staring at the same ones for too long; eventually, you’ll want to change your desktop background for a wallpaper you like.
Personalize your desktop background in Windows 11 by selecting a picture, a solid color, or a slideshow. Windows 11 has various simple methods to change your desktop background. Let’s go through them one by one.
Changing Your Wallpaper on Windows 11 From Settings
Firstly, you’ll need to open up the Settings app. You can do this by clicking the ‘Start’ icon from the Taskbar, pressing the Windows key, and then selecting ‘Settings.’
Alternatively, you may open the Settings app by pressing Windows + I.
From there, you’ll go to Personalization > Background on the right.
Quick way:
From the desktop, right-click on it and select ‘Personalize’ from the context menu to go straight to it.
On the Background settings page, you may quickly select a new wallpaper using any current images in Recent Images.
If you want to replace the default background image with another one, follow these steps: You may select a different background type from the drop-down menu beside the “Personalize your background” section.
How to Set a Custom Picture as Background
Make sure the ‘Picture’ option is chosen from the drop-down menu and then click the ‘Browse photos’ button if you want to use a photo from your local storage as your wallpaper.
After that, go to the image you wish to use as your desktop picture and choose it. Click the ‘Choose picture’ button or double-click on the image to finish.
After you’ve picked the image, you may also choose how big it should be on your screen. To do so, click the dropdown menu next to “Choose a fit for your desktop image” to customize how it appears on your computer.
The new background image will now be set as your Windows 11 desktop picture.
Changing your Desktop to a Solid Color
If that’s what you want, you may also choose a simple solid color as your backdrop. To begin, pick ‘Solid color’ from the ‘Personalize your background’ drop-down menu.
After that, choose the color you want to use as a background from the table of colors. If you wish to define more specific custom colors for your background, click the “View colors” button.
Select the color you want by clicking on it with your cursor. Select ‘Done’ from the drop-down menu that appears after you’ve made your selection.
You can also use the “More” option to define your own custom RGB or HSB values.
How to Set Up a Wallpaper Slideshow in Windows 11
Select ‘Slideshow’ from the Personalize your background drop-down menu if you wish to use a slideshow as your backdrop to cycling through photos from your chosen folder.
Click the ‘Browse’ button to select a folder or album for the slideshow.
Then, choose the folder with all of the pictures you wish to use for your background slideshow by clicking the “Choose this folder” button.
The slideshow will begin with the first image of the folder, once you’ve picked it. The picture changes every 30 minutes by default. You can also change the interval at which your background slideshow changes pictures by selecting a different option from the drop-down menu next to ‘Change picture every.’ (From 1 minute to 1 day.)
You may also enable the switch for ‘Shuffle the picture order’ if you want to shuffle your photo collection and change the wallpaper at a set period.
Slideshow backgrounds use more energy than standard wallpaper. If you want the PC to keep changing the wallpaper when you’re on battery, check to see whether ‘Let slideshow run even if I’m on battery power’ is enabled, just turn it on then (You will not see this option from PC).
You may also pick a fit type for your slideshow backgrounds by clicking the last drop-down button. Now, the folder of pictures that you selected will be used as a slideshow background for all your computers.
Right-click on the desktop and select ‘Next desktop background’ if you want to change the background to the next slide in a slideshow quickly before it changes automatically.
The background will transition to the next photo in the slideshow.
How to Set Different Wallpapers For Virtual Desktops on Windows 11
Virtual desktops offer a way to organize your work by separating activities. If you use many virtual desktops on Windows 11 and change your background to a picture background, the wallpaper only changes for the current desktop.
When you choose ‘Picture’ as the Personalize your background option, you can only change the wallpaper for each desktop when it’s different.
Set the selected image as wallpaper by right-clicking one of the recently added photos under the Recent image area and selecting Set for desktop from the drop-down menu.
Select Desktop 1/2/3 (or any other number) for which you want to set this picture as background if necessary.
You can also left-click the ‘virtual desktop’ button on the taskbar and right-click on the desktop for which you want to change the wallpaper, then choose ‘Choose background.’
Select one of the Background images from the Recent photos or choose an image from the local storage by clicking the “Browse Photos” button on this page.
Changing Wallpaper on Windows 11 From Context Menu
The simplest and quickest method to change the wallpaper on Windows 11 (or any other Windows) is through the right-click context menu.
Locate the picture you want on your computer, whether it’s in File Explorer or on the desktop, and right-click on it. Place the image as a desktop wallpaper by selecting the “Set as desktop background” option from the context menu.
This approach is only for image types that are compatible with Windows. The ‘Set as desktop background’ option will not be available on the context menu when you right-click a picture file with an unknown format.
How to Set Background Using the Photos Viewer
From the right-click context menu in Microsoft’s Photo app, you may also set the image as a background.
When viewing your favorite photographs in the built-in Photo app, you can right-click anywhere on it, then hover over ‘Set as’ and select ‘Set as background.’ Select this option from the pop-up menu.
How to Change Wallpaper Using File Explorer
Using File Explorer, you may also create a background in Windows 11 in the quickest way possible. You can change the Windows 11 wallpaper directly from File Explorer without going through the Settings app. Here’s how to do it:
Open the File Explorer and go to the picture you’d like to use as your Windows 11 desktop background. Then, click the picture and choose ‘Set as background’ from the toolbar at the top.
Note: This “Set as Background” option will only appear in the toolbar after you’ve chosen an image.
How to Set Desktop Background from Web Browser
Some Web browsers (like Firefox) allow you to establish a picture as your computer’s background right from the browser, without saving or downloading the image. If you’re looking for a creative way to use your computer’s wallpaper, this is it.
You may set any image as your desktop wallpaper by right-clicking the picture with the mouse and selecting ‘Set image as desktop background’.
Firstly, you need to open the image in its original resolution, then use this option. Otherwise, you’ll just be using the preview picture as your desktop wallpaper (which will be of much lower resolution and poor quality).
For example, when you see the “Mu Cang Chai” images on Google, don’t right-click on them and select “Set image as desktop background” immediately.
If you do, the preview image will be used as the background, which will have poor quality and be a bad fit for the background. It would resemble something like this:
So, to view the image in its entirety, simply click on the picture. Then right-click on the image on the website and choose “Open Image in New Tab.”
Choose a resolution & download this wallpaper in HD or 4K
After it appears in full resolution on the browser’s entire screen, right-click anywhere on the image and select “Set Image as Desktop Background…,” as shown below.
Select the ‘Set as Background’ option if you wish to save the image to your desktop and use it as a background later.
As you can see, the wallpaper looks considerably nicer with the full resolution photo:
How to Find and Set Windows 11 Default Wallpapers
Windows 11 comes with several new preloaded wallpapers that are 4K in resolution (3840×2400) and do not include any from previous versions. The new Default wallpapers are designed to match the chosen theme and ensure they are as distinct from it as possible.
The default wallpapers may be found in the Background Settings, Recent Images section. If you’ve already replaced the background with pictures of your own numerous times, the Settings will no longer offer access to the default wallpapers.
To access the Windows 11 wallpapers if they aren’t in Settings, go to this address, which has all of the Windows 11 wallpaper images:
C:\Windows\Web
Open File Explorer by clicking on the icon on the Taskbar. Then, copy the address above in the File Explorer search bar and press Enter.
The 4K Folder contains two default pictures (one in light and one in dark), and the Screen folder has some random wallpapers (img100.jpg, img101.jpg, img102.jpg, etc.).
The Touchkeyboard folder contains photos in the resolution of 2736×1539, which are designed for use with your Touch Keyboard. Open the ‘Wallpaper’ folder if you wish to see the entire collection.
The Wallpaper folder contains 5 separate groups of wallpapers, as seen in the figure:
Captured Motion
Flow
Glow
Sunrise
Windows
Choose photos to use as your desktop wallpaper and right-click the picture and choose ‘Set as desktop background’ from the context menu.
This means the chosen default wallpaper will be used as your background.
Best Wallpaper Sites for Free Desktop Backgrounds
Are you looking for a site that can offer you free wallpaper backgrounds? Many sites exist, but we want to share our favorites with you. We have taken the time to find some of the best and share them below. Let’s explore!
1. Wallhaven.cc
Wallhaven.cc is a free wallpaper site that offers a ton of different backgrounds for you to choose from. Best of all, they are all free! This site also has many other features like high-quality images and even groups where you can meet new people with similar interests.
This is an excellent place to start your search if you are looking for the best wallpaper sites for free PC and desktop backgrounds.
2. Unsplash
Unsplash Wallpaper is another site that offers high-quality images to download for free. Best of all, this site gets updated daily with new photos! This site also has a unique feature; it will create a desktop background using your chosen images.
The downside to this site is that you can’t filter by resolution like other sites, but the quality makes up for it. These are just two sites we recommend if you are looking for wallpaper backgrounds for your PC and desktop at no cost.
3. NASA Astronomy Images (My favorite)
This is a NASA-run website that offers photos taken with NASA’s telescopes, including images of the sun and deep space. Best of all, these are all free for you to download.
This NASA Astronomy Images site is regularly updated with new images to explore! Best of all, these high-quality photos are perfect for your desktop background.
4. Pexels
Pexels.com is another site that offers high-quality images to download for free. Best of all, this site gets updated regularly with new photos! These photos are free and can be downloaded by anyone. It has excellent pictures that are perfect for your desktop background or to look at.
How to Set Desktop Background Using Wallpaper Changer App
You may also use the wallpaper changer software to set the wallpaper automatically. Several third-party applications let you pick from a wide range of beautiful wallpapers. Some of these applications are:
In this post, we’ve covered how to change the wallpaper on Windows 11. We hope you found it helpful and informative! Comment below if you have any lingering questions about the post or want more information.
