Your Windows desktop is what you see behind the icons on your screen and it shows an image which comes included with Windows. This background image can be changed and Windows comes with a variety of images you can choose from.
These images are bundled in what are called Themes that include not just images but also desktop colours, sounds and other Windows features. You can use themes to customize your Windows desktop to make it your own.
We’ll show you how to find and use themes and show you how you can display a favourite photo of your own as your desktop background image.
To begin, minimize or close any open applications so that you can see your Windows desktop very clearly. You can do this using by pressing the Windows Key and the D key at the same time. The Windows key is usually on the bottom row of keys, between the CTRL and ALT keys. Right click the desktop and choose Personalize to open the Personalization options dialogue.
What you see on the screen depends on the Windows version that you are using. However you should see a range of themes and you can select one to use by clicking on the theme. Wait as the screen updates – behind the scenes a lot of small changes are being made to your computer. When the changes are complete your screen will display your new theme.
You can also choose the theme images to use as your desktop background by clicking the Desktop Background link. Click one image to make it your new desktop background. To use multiple images, click the checkbox in each image’s top left corner. From the Change Picture Every dropdown list choose the frequency for the change. Click Shuffle to display the images randomly. Click Save Changes to view your new background image(s).
Click Get More Themes Online to find more themes online. Internet Explorer will open at the Themes page so you can browse free themes. When you find a theme to use, click it to select and download it. When you are prompted to save or open the file, click Open and it will download and install automatically.
Regardless of the theme you are using you can also show a favorite photo as your desktop background. To do this click the Start button, type Paint and open the Paint application. Click the blue icon in the top left of the screen, choose Open and browse to find a photo to use. Landscape orientation photos that are wider than they are tall are a good choice. Click the image and click Open.
With the photo open click the blue icon again and choose Set as Desktop Background. Choose either Fill, Tile or Centre as desired. Fill will fill the screen with the image and Centre will centre it on the screen – these are the better options to use. Whichever you choose the image will now be your desktop background.
