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Whether you have built your own PC or bought one from the store with Windows preinstalled, one of the first things people like to do is customize their desktop wallpaper. Even though Windows 11 is not as customizable as we would like, you still have several options when it comes to your desktop background.
But many people want to do more than just have a single image or even use the desktop wallpaper slideshow option where you can use your own photos as a changing background for your desktop. In this article, we will be showing you how to add animated live desktop wallpaper backgrounds to your PC to spruce things up a bit.
If you were to go to the personalization options in Windows, you would see that you only have choices for a single picture, solid color, slideshow or Windows Spotlight. The Windows Spotlight option uses photos from Microsoft that change on their own.
The app we will be using to add animated live desktop wallpaper backgrounds to your PC is called Live Wallpapers + and can be downloaded from the Microsoft store for free. If you open the Microsoft Store and do a search for Live Wallpapers +, you should see a result as shown in the image below. Just make sure the logo and the developer match so you are getting the right app. Then you just need to click the button that says Get or Install to have it installed on your computer.
Once you open the app, you will see that there are many built in live desktop wallpaper backgrounds to choose from. At the top, you can click on the various categories to narrow down the results and help you find the one you want to use.
To activate one of the live wallpaper backgrounds, simply click on it or click on the ellipsis (…) and choose Set as Wallpaper. Now you should see your new animated live desktop wallpaper on your main screen.
If you want to remove it or choose a different wallpaper, you can go back to the app and select another one. Or you can right click the desktop and choose Personalize and use one of the Windows default wallpapers. Many times, you can click the ellipsis next to the active wallpaper and choose Edit and it will set it back to the Windows default.
You can also add your own custom photos or videos and have them added to the Live Wallpapers + backgrounds within the app. To do so, simply click the + button at the upper right side of the app and then drag your photo or video into the box or click on Choose a file to browse to it.
We will now add our own custom video of some dogs playing to the app so we can use it for an animated live wallpaper.
Now that it has been added, we can see it with the other backgrounds within the app sorted alphabetically.
Once we apply it to our computer, we will then have our home movie playing as our desktop wallpaper.
If you click on the settings gear icon, you will have a few options such as the ability to have Live Wallpapers + start with your computer. At the bottom, you can change the volume level for video wallpapers that have sound or disable the audio completely.
One thing we have noticed is that using a live wallpaper background can be a little resource intensive, so if you have an older computer and it’s slowing you down, you may want to stick with just a photo for your background.
Here is another animated desktop wallpaper app you might want to check out.
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