How to Change Your Desktop Wallpaper

Desktop wallpapers let you to personalize Windows XP ’s look. Express yourself by changing the standard desktop wallpaper to something you love: Alpine skiing, fast cars, Elvis Presley, Gone with the Wind, Earth Wind & Fire, The Beatles, Casablanca (the movie), Casablanca (the place), Brad Pitt and/or Angelina Jolie, computers, Derek Jeter, antique typewriters, Britney Spears, Michael Jordon, Michael Jackson or even, God help us, Paris Hilton.

And it’s so easy to do:

  • Open the Display Properties dialog by:
  • Right-clicking on your desktop and choose “Properties” (at the bottom).
  • Go to Start>Control Panel>Appearance & Themes, select “Change the desktop background”.
  • The Display Properties dialog has five tabs along the top; click on the “Desktop” tab.
  • You’ll see a small graphic representing the current wallpaper, with a list of dozens of Windows-included wallpapers; some of these are pretty nice, you might want to play with them for a while.
  • You do this by scrolling through the list of wallpapers until you find one that sounds interesting. Click on it once and you’ll see it in the little monitor graphic at top.
  • Some wallpapers are designed to fill the desktop with a single image; if it is the same size as your resolution, select “Center” from the drop-down box on the right.
  • If it’s too small or too big, select “Stretch” and Windows will automatically make it fit snugly.
  • Some wallpapers are design to repeat themselves across your desktop, creating interesting patterns and color combinations; for these little graphics, select “Tile” from the drop-down box.
  • But what if you want to use wallpaper you found on the Internet, like the NextPhoto wallpapers?
  • Once you’ve unzipped one of our wallpapers, it will appear in a folder.
  • In the Display Properties dialog, click the “browse” button and find the folder with your new wallpaper. Click on the wallpaper file, click OK, then "Apply" to make sure it looks the way your want. You may need to adjust the centering or tiling options.
  • Once you're satisfied with your new wallpaper's appearance click OK on the Display Properties dialog and you’re done.

It’s that simple.

Updated: November 18, 2005