Basic Computer Skills: How to Customize Your Desktop Background

Lesson 11: How to Customize Your Desktop Background

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How to customize your desktop background

Want your computer to feel a bit more like, well, your computer? You might want to consider changing your wallpaper.

The wallpaper is the image that appears behind the icons on your computer's desktop—that's why it's usually called a desktop background. On most computers, you can change your background by right-clicking the desktop and selecting Personalize.

personalizing the desktop

Then select Desktop Background. By default, you'll see the images that were included with your computer.

changing the desktop background

If you're looking for something specific, might we suggest Google Image Search? Its custom search tools allow you to search for images by size, which is perfect when you're looking for a large picture (we recommend an image that's at least 1024 x 768). Anything smaller will look pixelated or grainy when stretched across your desktop.

searching Google Images

When you find an image you like, just select it and choose View image.

clicking view image

Then click and drag the picture to your desktop.

dragging the image to the desktop

You can now set the image as your desktop background. Right-click the image and select Set as desktop background.

setting the desktop background

You can use this same technique to turn any of your personal photos into a desktop background.

the applied desktop background

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