How to put a photo on your desktop?

When you turn on the computer, the very first thing that appears on the screen is the desktop, which plays an important role for many users. Some put their favorite image of nature, while someone enjoys a screensaver that displays an interesting photo. But some time passes and a desire arises to change it. As a rule, choosing a picture for a desktop does not cause any difficulties, but far from everyone knows how to install it. In our article, we will consider how to put a photo on the desktop.

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Windows XP

There are several ways to set a photo as a background in the Windows XP operating system. This action can be performed using the control panel or screen properties.

Important! In addition to everyday photography, you can also set other vivid images of your favorite landscapes, the underwater world or animals. This is pretty simple. In another article on our site, read about how to install a screensaver on a computer screen.

Setting through screen properties

How to put a photo on the desktop in the Windows XP operating system:

1. Right-click the computer mouse on any free space on the main window.
2. Select the “Properties” item, which is located in the context menu. It is here that you can configure the main number of external parameters of the system.
3. Go to the “Wallpaper” tab.
4. Click on the “Browse” button to upload your file.
5. Click on the window that appears, indicating the location of the desired file.
6. When all parameters are configured, click on the “Apply” button, after this procedure all new changes appear.

Important! Consider a few recommendations, the use of which will help you do everything right:

• If the file is too large or slightly smaller than the parameters of the main window, then the picture can be placed in the center or slightly stretched. To perform such actions, you need to use the “Location” tab.
• To change the color, go to the “Color” tab. The necessary color will be viewed behind the photo, and it can be viewed in the names of labels and icons located on the main screen.

Important! Live desktop wallpapers today are at the peak of popularity among regular PC users. If you also wanted to install them on your computer, check out the information about how to make an animated desktop.

Control Panel Installation

In order to put a photo on your desktop through the control panel, you have to perform the following actions:

1. Click on the “Start” button.
2. In the window that opens, select the “Control Panel” tab and then “Screen”.
3. Next, go to the “Desktop” section.
4. From the list of available standard photos, select a new one.
5. When installing your picture, which is saved on the computer’s hard drive, you must click the “Browse” button and select the place where it was placed.

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Windows 7 and Vista

The Windows 7 and Vista operating systems provide several options for setting the background image of the main screen. To do this, you can use the control panel or personalization.

Customization Installation

Consider how to set a photo in Windows 7:

• Right-click on any free space in the main window.
• Select the “Personalization” item, which is located in the context menu.

Important! In the initial versions of the Windows 7 operating system, there is no “Personalization” tab, so there is no way to change the default picture to another.

• In the window that opens, you can configure the photo settings and thus set the picture on the main screen, while indicating the file for the splash screen.
• You need to go to the “Location” item, and configure the splash screen settings.
• Choose a value for the background of the main screen: solid color or colorful picture.
• Click on the “Browse” button, set the photo on the display.
• In the window that appears, select the path to the corresponding file, click on it.
• To indicate the filling option, go to the “Filling” item. Where the value for the picture is selected - you can place it in the center or stretch the picture.

Important! The Windows 7 operating system has much more features compared to the XP version.

Control Panel Installation

In order to put a photo on the desktop in Windows 7 and Vista in this way, you need to perform the following actions:

1. Click on the “Start” button.
2. In the window that opens, select the “Control Panel” tab.
3. In the menu that appears on the control panel in the “Management and Personalization” section, launch the “Change Desktop Wallpaper” tab.
4. Select a new photo from the standard background images that are located in the C: \ Windows \ Web \ Wallpaper directory.

Important! If you install from another directory, for example, your own photos or pictures for the display that are saved from the Internet, you need to click the "Browse" button and specify the path to the image.

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Windows 8-10

Installing a photo on your desktop in Windows 8-10 is not such a big problem. Consider the order of sequential actions:

• Click on the “Start” button (Windows logo).
• Select the “Settings” tab.
• Click on the “Personalization” tab. At this point, you can adjust the photo settings, as well as change the color tone of all elements of the device.

Important! As you make changes, you can monitor them using the preview window.

• Go to the “Background” tab, specify a solid color or colorful image for the background of the main display. Also there is the possibility of creating a slide show of several photos.
• In the present “Colors” section, you can independently determine the color scheme for a photograph on a computer or laptop, or you can use an automatically selected version of the operating system.
• Having made a choice of a color scale of a photo, it is necessary to decide on a placement.
• You also need to define the background theme - dark or light.

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Through the Windows registry

In order to change the picture on the desktop, using the Windows registry, you will have to perform the following steps:

• Click on the “Start” button.
• In the search bar, create a regedit query and click on the Enter button.
• If a User Account Control (UAC) prompt appears, click “Yes”.
• In the registry window that opens, you must perform the following actions: HKEY_CURRENT_USER \ Control Panel \ Desktop.
• Double-click the left mouse button on the right side of the window on the “Wallpaper” key.
• Indicate the full path to the corresponding photo (with the extension .bmp or .jpg).

Important! The file name must not contain spaces. If they are, then you need to rename the name of the photo. If you do not take advantage of this recommendation, then the result will be only a black image.

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

Important! If important information is stored on your computer that, unknowingly, can be moved or removed by children and other users, set a transparent folder on the desktop. With its help, all the necessary information for other users will be hidden, but at the same time be at your fingertips.Ways to do this are provided as step-by-step instructions in the article. "How to create a transparent folder on the desktop".

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Via the context menu

Changing the photo on the desktop through the context menu of the picture is not difficult. How to set the image:

1. Find the appropriate picture.
2. Click on the file with the right mouse button.
3. Select a tab from the context menu “Set as desktop background”, click on this item.

Done, the device has a new background for the main display!

Important! Applying these actions, you can only set the picture. To fully configure all the parameters, go to the section called “Personalization”.

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Create a slide show of photos

So that the photo does not bother and constantly bring pleasure, you can design a slide show of several pictures. They will automatically change after a certain time interval. To create a slide show on the desktop, you must perform the following actions:

• Right-click on any free space in the main window.
• Select the section called “Personalization” from the context menu.
• Go to “Location” to adjust image settings.
• Choose the appropriate value for the photo.
• Click on the “Browse” button to set the desired set of photos as the main screen saver.
• In the window that appears, select the path to the necessary pictures.
• Select all pictures for the splash screen main window.

Important! Quick image selection method:

1. If you need to select all the files in the specified folder, then just use the key combination Ctrl + A.
2. If the files are not located nearby, they can be selected while holding down the Ctrl key.
3. When placing files one after another, you can select the first image, and then, holding the Shift key, click the last picture from the list. With this procedure, all files that are located between the first and last image are selected.

• Click on the “OK” key.
• Set the time interval for changing background images in the section “Change image every ...”.
• In order to change the pictures not in order, but in a chaotic mode, you need to check the box “Randomly”.
• Click on the “Save Changes” item.

Important! Windows XP does not have the ability to set slide shows for the main screen. This feature is present only in the Windows operating system, starting with the seventh version.

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Mac OS

For the functioning of laptops and tablets, not only the Windows operating system is used - computer devices can also be equipped with other OSs. For example, Apple uses the Mac OS operating system for its devices. Consider how to set a photo on your desktop in Mac OS:

• With a double touch, click on the touchpad.

Important! If the mouse is not factory, you need to simultaneously hold down the Ctrl key and press the touchpad, or click the right mouse button.

• Go to the context menu section and select the “Change desktop background” tab.
• In the opened tab “Desktop and screen saver” indicate the option of the picture.

Important! If on the left side in the item “Apple” mark “solid color”, then the main screen will be filled with one color. When specifying the “Pictures” section, the system prompts you to select the appropriate picture.

• If the necessary photo is in the “Image” folder, then it is enough to find it in the present list. If it is missing, then click on the “+” icon with the corresponding folder.

Important! If you specify the desired folder from external media - a USB flash drive, an external hard drive or an SD card, after disconnecting them from a computer device, the photo of the main screen will be automatically replaced with the standard version.That is why it must be transferred to the device’s internal hard drive.

• If you need a change in automatic mode after a certain time interval, you need to tick the “Change image” column and specify the desired period.

Important! In the second section of the “Desktop and screen saver” window, you can set image parameters. There you can specify how to display photos, the time after which they will appear, the source of the screen saver.

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Stock footage

In this article, we told you how to put a photo on your desktop. And what way to do it now - choose for yourself.