When you purchase a new PC, it comes pre-loaded with the default Windows 11 “Bloom” wallpaper—a glowing, abstract blue flower. While it looks very clean, staring at the exact same image every single day can become incredibly monotonous.
Customizing your desktop background is the fastest way to make your computer feel uniquely yours. Windows 11 gives you the ability to set a single static image, cycle through a rotating slideshow of your favorite family photographs, or automatically pull beautiful, professional landscape photography directly from Microsoft every single day.
How to Change Your Wallpaper to a Custom Picture
If you have downloaded a high-resolution photograph from the internet or want to use a picture you took yourself, applying it as your background takes only a few seconds.
- Minimize all your open windows so you are looking at your bare desktop.
- Right-click anywhere on an empty space on the desktop.
- A drop-down menu will appear. Click on Personalise at the very bottom.
- The Settings app will open directly to the Personalisation page. Click on the Background button.
- Look for the row labelled “Personalise your background.” Ensure the drop-down menu next to it is set to Picture.
- Below that, you will see a “Recent images” grid. If the photo you want is not there, click the Browse photos button.
- A File Explorer window will open. Navigate to the folder where your image is saved, select the picture, and click Choose picture.
Your desktop background will instantly update to the new image.
(Tip: If your photograph does not perfectly fit the exact aspect ratio of your monitor, look for the “Choose a fit for your desktop image” menu right below the picture. Changing this from “Fill” to “Fit” or “Center” will prevent your image from being awkwardly cropped or stretched).
How to Create a Wallpaper Slideshow
If you cannot choose just one photograph, you can instruct Windows 11 to automatically cycle through an entire folder of images.
- In the Background settings menu, change the “Personalise your background” drop-down menu from Picture to Slideshow.
- Click the Browse button next to “Choose a picture album for a slideshow.”
- Select a folder on your hard drive (for example, your “Vacation 2024” folder) and click Choose this folder.
Once selected, a new option will appear allowing you to change the frequency of the slideshow. You can set the wallpaper to automatically rotate every 1 minute, every 10 minutes, every hour, or once a day.
How to Enable Windows Spotlight
If you love stunning photography but do not want to hunt for images yourself, you can enable Windows Spotlight.
Simply change the main “Personalise your background” drop-down menu to Windows Spotlight.
Windows 11 will automatically connect to Microsoft’s Bing servers and download a new, incredibly high-quality, professional photograph of a landscape, city, or animal to use as your wallpaper. This image will automatically change every single day without any manual effort on your part.