Instructions to change wallpaper on Windows 11

Changing your wallpaper in Windows 11 is one of the best ways to customize your desktop. Adding a new wallpaper to your desktop is like redecorating your room, and a visually appealing wallpaper will help make your Windows 11 PC shine.

There are several ways you can change your desktop background in Windows 11. Windows 11's Settings app, Photos, and File Explorer have alternative options for changing the background. You can also apply wallpaper changes using third-party software. Here are some methods for changing your Windows desktop wallpaper

Table of Contents of the Article

• Change wallpaper by choosing new Windows theme
• Change desktop wallpaper using File Explorer
• Change wallpaper via context menu
• Change wallpaper using Photos app
• Change wallpaper with Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome
• Change Windows 11 wallpaper with dedicated application 

Change wallpaper by choosing new Windows theme

Different Windows desktop themes have unique backgrounds and color schemes. So choosing a different desktop theme is also a way to change the background. You can change the theme in Windows through Settings as follows:

1. Open the Settings window .

2. Select Personalization > Themes to open the display settings shown just below.

3. Click Custom to see the default themes included with Windows 11.

4. Select a theme there with a different wallpaper than your current wallpaper.

You can add a new theme background to Windows by clicking Browse themes. Select a theme from the MS Store. Click Get on the theme's page and select the Open button to add the theme. You can then select the theme in Settings. Your desktop will then change to the theme background.

Change desktop wallpaper using File Explorer

File Explorer includes a Set as background option, which lets you add a selected image file to your desktop background without opening Settings. Here's how you can change your desktop background using Explorer.

1. To open File Explorer , press Win + E or click the folder icon on the taskbar.

2. Open a folder containing the images that you can change the wallpaper for.

3. Select the file for the image to add to the screen.

4. Click the Set as background button to change the background image.

Change wallpaper via context menu

The File Explorer context menu also includes a Set as background option . If you right-click a file in a folder, you can choose that option. You can also right-click an image file on your desktop and choose the Set as background option on the context menu to change the background image.

Change wallpaper using Photos app

Photos is the default image viewing app in Windows 11. It includes two options you can choose from to add images opened in it to your desktop or lock screen.

Here are the steps to change your computer wallpaper using Photos:

1. Open the Start menu and click the Photos app pinned there.

2. Scroll through your saved images in Photos to find and select your desktop wallpaper there.

3. Click the See more button on the Photos toolbar .

4. Select the Set as submenu .

5. Then click on the Set as background option to change the background image for the selected photo.

Change wallpaper with Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome

Most users will browse the World Wide Web to find new wallpapers for their desktop. Instead of saving an image, you can change your Windows 11 desktop background directly from Firefox. The browser includes a handy Set Image as Desktop Background option that you can choose to change your wallpaper in Windows 11.

Here's how you can change your desktop wallpaper using Firefox:

1. If you don't already have Firefox installed, download Firefox . Then, open it and go through the Firefox setup wizard to install the software.

2. Open Firefox browser.

3. Type www.google.com in Firefox's URL bar and press Enter.

4. Click Images in Google .

5. Enter a keyword into the Google search box to find matching images.

6. Right-click the image to change the Windows wallpaper to the one in the search results and select Set Image as Desktop Background .

Google Chrome doesn't include any built-in context menu option to set an image as your desktop background. However, you can add a similar option to Chrome with the "Set as desktop background" extension . To do so, follow these steps.

1. Open the Chrome Web Store page of the Set as desktop background extension .

2. Click on the Add to Chrome option to install the extension.

3. Click the Add extension button.

4. Open Google search engine and enter a keyword in it.

5. Select Images to view image thumbnails.

6. Right-click on the image thumbnail and select the new Set as desktop background option on Chrome's context menu.

Change Windows 11 wallpaper with dedicated application

There are several desktop apps that help you change your Windows 11 wallpaper. Some of them let you choose multiple wallpapers to change. Others automatically change your desktop wallpaper based on a specific source, like Bing or Unsplash.

You can change your desktop wallpaper by:

• Bing Wallpaper
• Wallpaper Studio 10
• 9Zen Wallpaper Changer
• Splash! - Unsplash Wallpaper App

Bing search engine can make for great desktop wallpapers, as it allows you to set the search engine's wallpaper as your own.

Why use the default Windows 11 wallpaper when you can add something much more interesting to your desktop? There are many web sources from which you can download visually appealing wallpapers. Changing your desktop wallpaper in Windows 11 is simple with all the methods above. Choose whichever method you prefer to change your desktop background.

Good luck!