How to change the desktop background?

Working for a PC today takes a lot of time from each person, because almost all services for work today are provided precisely in electronic form. And in order to somehow diversify the routine everyday life, users seek to bring a little originality to the design of all computer tools. For example, in order to personalize the appearance of a computer or laptop, you can change the background image. This will help make the main screen more beautiful and enjoyable, as the new illustration will please the eye. In this article, we will look at how to change the desktop background.

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What is a desktop?

A desktop is a graphical environment where all objects or controls on a computer or laptop are displayed. It appears immediately after turning on the device and loading its operating system. By default, the main screen contains icons, shortcuts, folders, and below is a taskbar with the familiar “Start” button. On the desktop you can place a lot of elements, but there are also required system folders.

Important! Previously, these folders were Trash, My Computer, and My Documents. Starting with the seventh version of the Windows operating system, which is used by most PC owners, the “Trash” folder is necessarily placed on the desktop, and the rest may not appear on the main screen, but they are necessarily placed in the “Main menu”.

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Where to get the background image?

First you need to select a new picture for the main screen wallpaper. By default, the Windows operating system has several presets. They are located along the path: C: \ Windows \ Web \ Wallpaper.

You can also use the Internet, because there are many beautiful illustrations for the splash screen. Moreover, on the Internet there are even special sites that offer a wide selection of screensavers, sorted by various topics.

In order to get to one of these sites, you need to open an Internet browser and enter one of these phrases in the search bar:

• wallpapers for a desktop;
• desktop background;
• download desktop wallpaper;
• download background for desktop.

Important! Pictures for screensavers are also called wallpapers, therefore, in this context, these words are synonyms.

After you entered the desired phrase in the search line, we go to one of the sites found, where we are looking for the photo you like. Next, download the necessary picture. There are two ways to do this:

• click on the download link next to the picture;
• right-click on the picture, select “Save Image As” from the context menu.

After these steps, the download of the specified file will begin. A line appears in the browser where the download process will be displayed. If you click on the file in this line, the folder where the picture is saved opens.

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How to change desktop background in Windows XP?

• Right-click anywhere in the free space on the main window.
• Select the “Properties” item from the context menu. This is where you can configure most of the parameters of the appearance of the system.
• Go to the “Wallpaper” tab.
• Click on the “Browse” button to upload your file.
• In the window that appears, specify the location of the desired file and click on it.
• After setting all the parameters, click on the “Apply” button and the new changes will take effect.

Important! A few more tips to help you change the desktop background on this OS correctly:

• If the picture does not fit the parameters of the main window, then it can be placed in the center or stretched. To perform such actions, go to the “Location” tab.
• If you want to change the screen saver color for the main screen, then the necessary parameters are in the “Color” tab. The specified color will be located behind the picture and will be visible in the names of the icons and shortcuts on the main screen.

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How to change desktop background in Windows 7?

To set the desktop background in Windows 7:

• Right-click anywhere in the free space on the main window.
• From the context menu, select “Personalization”.

Important! In the initial versions of the Windows 7 operating system, there is no “Personalization” item; therefore, the default wallpaper cannot be changed to a new one.

• In the window that appears, you can configure wallpaper settings for the main screen, specify a file for the screen saver.
• Go to the “Location” tab to configure the splash screen settings.
• Choose a value for the wallpaper: solid color or image.
• Click on the “Browse” button to set the desired file as the wallpaper of the main screen.
• In the window that appears, select the path to the desired file and click on it.
• In order to indicate the filling option, go to the “Filling” tab. There you can choose the value for the screen saver: placement in the center or stretching.

Important! Windows 7 compared with the version of the operating system XP provides more options for customizing the wallpaper of the main screen.

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How to change desktop background in Windows 8-10?

Putting the desktop background in Windows 8-10 is also not a big problem. Follow this instruction:

• Click the “Start” button (Windows logo).
• Select “Parameters”.
• Click on the “Personalization” item. Here you can configure the wallpaper settings of the main window, change the color scheme of all elements of the device.

Important! Using the preview window, you can monitor the changes as they are made.

• Go to the “Background” section, specify a solid color or image for the screensaver. It is also possible to create a slide show of pictures.
• In the “Colors” section, you can independently determine the color gamut for a computer or laptop, or use the automatically selected version of the operating system based on the splash screen.
• After choosing the color gamut for the elements of the device, you need to determine where to display them.
• Define a desktop theme: light or dark.

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How to change desktop background using windows registry?

In order to change the screensaver of the main window using the Windows registry, you must:

• Click on the “Start”.
• In the search bar, type regedit and click Enter.
• If a User Account Control (UAC) prompt appears, click Yes.
• In the registry window that opens, follow the path: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop.
• Double-click the left mouse button on the right side of the window on the “Wallpaper” key.
• Specify the full path to the file with a picture for wallpaper (with the extension .bmp or .jpg).

Important! There should not be spaces in the name of the picture for the screensaver. If they are present, then you must rename the file. Otherwise, the result will be only a black background.

• Click on “OK”.
• Close the registry editor window.

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How to change the desktop background from the context menu?

Changing the desktop background through the context menu of the picture is also very easy, you need:

1. Find the photo you want to set as wallpaper for the main window.
2. Right click on this image.
3. Select “Set as desktop background image" from the context menu.

Done, a new background image has appeared on your device!

Important! With these actions, you can only set the picture as wallpaper. In order to fully configure all the parameters of the background image, you must go to the setting called “Personalization”.

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Work with background image

To prevent the background image from annoying and constantly pleasing to the eye, you can create a slide show of several drawings that will automatically change after a certain period of time.

In order to create a slide show on the main screen, you must:

• Right-click anywhere in the free space on the main window.
• From the context menu, select “Personalization”.
• Go to the “Location” tab to configure the splash screen settings.
• Choose a value for the splash screen: image.
• Click on the “Browse” button to set the desired set of pictures as wallpaper on the main screen.
• In the window that appears, select the path to the necessary files.
• Select all the files for the screen saver.

Important! How to quickly select images:

• If you need all the files from the specified folder, then just press the key combination Ctrl + A.
• If the files are not located next to each other, then you need to select them by holding the Ctrl key.
• If the necessary files are placed one after another, then you can select the first picture, and then, holding the Shift key, the last. Thus, all files that are between the first and last picture are highlighted.

• Click “OK.”
• Set the interval for changing background images in the item “Change image every”.
• In order for the pictures to change randomly, but randomly, it is necessary to tick “Randomly”.
• Click “Save Changes”.

Important! In Windows XP, there is no way to set a slide show for a background image. Such an opportunity is realized only starting with the seventh version of this operating system.

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How to change desktop background on Mac OS?

In addition to the Windows operating system, there are others. For example, Apple is equipping its devices with Mac OS.

How to put a desktop background on Mac OS:

• Double-tap the touchpad.

Important! If the mouse is not factory, then you need to hold down the Ctrl key and click on the touchpad or right-click.

• From the context menu, select “Change desktop background”.
• In the window “Desktop and screen saver” that appears, specify the option for wallpaper. If you indicate “Solid color” in the “Apple” section on the left, the main screen is filled with one color. If you specify “Pictures”, the system will prompt you to select an image for the wallpaper.
• If the desired file is in the “Image” folder, then just find it in the list. Otherwise, you need to click on the “+” sign and specify the appropriate folder.

Important! If you specify a folder from an external medium (USB flash drive, SD card, external hard drive), then after disconnecting it from the device, the background image of the main screen will be automatically replaced with a standard one.

• In order for the background pictures to change automatically at certain intervals, you need to check the box “Change image” and set the time interval.
• In the second tab of the “Desktop and screen saver” window, you can configure the wallpaper settings. There you can set the way the wallpaper is displayed, the time after which it will appear, as well as the source of the screen saver.

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Stock footage

That's all. Now you know that it is very easy to change the desktop background on any operating system of your computer. Change the design of your “electronic friend” in order to receive a piece of aesthetic pleasure even during routine work.