How to Change Your Windows 11 Wallpaper and Lock Screen?

Have you recently upgraded to Windows 11? Or perhaps you’ve just purchased a new laptop (many new models now come with Windows 11 as standard). Windows 11 is the powerful new operating system released by Microsoft, succeeding Windows 10, which was widely regarded as the best operating system for business and professionals – many IT support companies used Windows 10 as their preferred system, as did their customers.

An upgrade is always a good time to do a bit of personalization – whether it’s to a whole new machine or just a new system. In Windows 11, there are a number of ways in which you can customize it – for example, changing the way it looks for you.

Personalization

Customizing the way that Windows 11 looks all starts with the Personalization options. This is a section of the system settings that allows you to select themes, colors, wallpapers, and a range of other things to personalize the look of Windows for you.

Finding the Personalization settings is easy. To do so, follow these steps:

1. Click the Start button to open the Start menu.
2. Click on Settings (the cog-shaped icon).
3. From the left-hand menu in Settings, select the Personalization tab.

Now that you’re in the Personalization settings, there are several design changes you might want to make.

Changing Wallpaper

The first thing you might want to do is change your wallpaper. There are a number of pre-loaded wallpapers, or you can add your own images.

• On the Personalization page, select Background.
• Next to Personalize your background, select the drop-down. Here, you can choose whether your wallpaper is a picture, a solid color, or a slideshow.

Picture

• When you select Picture, there will be a list of recent images (default Windows wallpapers), and the option to Choose a photo by browsing file explorer.
• You can also choose a fit for your desktop image – which includes fill, fit, tile, center, and more.

Solid Color

• When you select Solid Color, you can choose your background color from several default options.
• You can also create a custom color using a color spectrum and a brightness slider.

Slideshow

• When you select Slideshow, you must Choose a picture album for a slideshow. Do this by browsing your file explorer.
• Select how often the picture changes – either 1 minute, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours, or 1 day.
• You can also enable the switch to Shuffle the picture order.
• Select whether the slideshow will still run while on battery power.

Setting a Lock Screen

When you lock your PC, you will see a lock screen. This is another display that you can customize in the Personalization section:

1. On the Personalization page, select the Lock screen.
2. Next to Personalize your lock screen, select the drop-down. Here, you can choose whether your lock screen is a Slideshow, a Picture, or the Windows spotlight.

Windows Spotlight

• When you select Windows spotlight, another drop-down will appear, called Lock screen status, which allows you to choose an app that displays certain information on the lock screen – this includes Weather, Calendar, Mail, and more.
• You can also choose to show the lock screen background picture on the sign-in screen.

Picture

1. When you select Picture, there will be a list of recent images (default Windows images), as well as the option to Choose a photo by browsing photos.
2. You can also choose to get fun facts, tips, tricks, and more on your lock screen.
3. Again, you can choose to enable Lock screen status and to show the same lock screen image during sign-in.

Slideshow

• When you select Slideshow, you must Choose a picture album for a slideshow. You can add multiple albums.
• You can also choose to get fun facts, tips, tricks, and more on your lock screen.
• Select how often the picture changes – either 1 minute, 10 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hour, 6 hours, or 1 day.
• Open Advanced slideshow settings for additional settings:
• You can include camera roll folders from OneDrive.
• You can make sure the slideshow only uses pictures that fit your screen.
• You can make the slideshow when using battery power.
• Instead of the screen turning off when the PC is inactive, you can make the lock screen slideshow get displayed.