How to Get the Old Windows 10 Default Wallpaper Back

In May of this year, Microsoft introduced the Windows light theme in a Windows update. The introduction of this new theme also introduced a new, lighter, default Windows 10 wallpaper.

Unfortunately this update also completely removed the original, darker, background that many of us have become accustomed to. Luckily someone uploaded a 4k version of this wallpaper to Imgur and we’re here to show you how to restore it.

You can also download this wallpaper in various resolutions thanks to a user over at the Windows 10 Forums. If you’re unsure of which resolution to use, just use the 4k version at the Imgur link above.

At a Glance

1. Click this Imgur link
2. Right click anywhere on the image and click Save image as. and save it to your Desktop
3. Find the image on your desktop, right click it and choose `Set as desktop background`

Video: How to Restore the Old Windows 10 Default Wallpaper

How to Restore the Old Windows 10 Default Wallpaper

Step 1: Open this Imgur link and save the image to your desktop.

Step 2: Go back to your desktop and find the image you just saved. Right click it and choose Set as desktop background .

Your desktop wallpaper should now be back to the original Windows 10 wallpaper.

Windows 10 Wallpapers Location

Another option you may have, if you have access to another Windows 10 computer that has not yet received the update, is to pull the original image from that computer’s windows wallpaper directory.

You can do this by navigating to the C:\Windows\Web\4K\Wallpaper\Windows directory on the older Windows 10 version PC and copying over the img0_3840x2160.jpg file to the updated computer. I’d recommend using something like Dropbox to do this but you could just as easily use a USB stick.

Once you have the original file copied over to the computer with the update, simply right click and set it as your desktop background like shown in this tutorial with the copy from Imgur.

A user over at the Windows 10 Forums retrieved these images and uploaded them for others to use. You can download these instead of copying them over from an older computer.

On the topic of frustrating changes Microsoft has made this year, have you suddenly started seeing a program called Microsoft Teams startup when you turn on your computer? If so, and you find that it annoys you, we have an article on how to uninstall it or simply remove it from the startup processes.

Where are Windows 10 Default Wallpapers Stored

The desktop backgrounds which come with Windows 10 are really lovely. Many users like these wallpapers much. I have been asked by readers where they are stored on the disk drive. If you are interested in finding them and want to use them somewhere else like in your dual boot operating system like Linux or Windows 7, here is how to find them.

Traditionally, wallpapers in Windows were stored in the folder C:\Windows\Web\Wallpapers. To find Windows 10 Default Wallpapers, open File Explorer by pressing Win + E on the keyboard. Type or copy-paste the following path in its address bar:

There you will find 3 subfolders which contain all the default desktop backgrounds available in Windows 10.

The 4K folder contains different sizes of the default wallpaper known as the «Windows Hero» image. These images are used with different screen orientations on supported devices. It is also available in 4K resolution (3840 x 2160).

The Screen folder includes default images used for the Lock Screen background.

Note: When the Spotlight feature is enabled, Windows 10 downloads gorgeous Lock Screen wallpapers from the Internet automatically. The OS stores them at a different location. To learn more, please refer to the following article: Where to find Lockscreen Spotlight images in Windows 10?

The last folder, Wallpaper, contains the default Desktop backgrounds. They are arranged in three folders:

The Flowers folder stores images for the built-in «Flowers» theme.

The Windows folder comes with only one stock background image.

Windows 10 — this folder contains the default backgrounds visible in the Settings app out of the box.

If you are interested, you can download the entire collection of the Windows 10 default wallpapers here:

You might be curious why the folder has the name «Web» in its path, when the images are not related to the web. That’s because of the «Active Desktop» feature in early Windows versions. Windows 95 had no ability to use a *.JPG image as the Desktop background. Later, when Microsoft released Internet Explorer 4, it brought the feature called «Active Desktop». Its key feature was the ability to display your favorite web content right on the Desktop. It also extended Explorer with the ability to show folders as web pages. JPEG images could also be used as the Desktop background. So, starting with Windows 98, Windows keeps all images in the Windows\Web\Wallpapers subfolder.

Modern Windows versions have no support for Active Desktop or for the web view in File Explorer, however, the folder structure remains intact even today. Windows 10 has mostly the same folder structure for wallpapers and allows you to adjust the wallpaper image quality.

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About Sergey Tkachenko

Sergey Tkachenko is a software developer from Russia who started Winaero back in 2011. On this blog, Sergey is writing about everything connected to Microsoft, Windows and popular software. Follow him on Telegram, Twitter, and YouTube.

[How To] Change Windows 10 Desktop Wallpaper Using Registry

Published: December 15, 2018 · 05:11 PM \\ Applies to: How To, Windows 10

Though in Windows 10, you can change your Desktop wallpaper by right click over your desired image file and select Set as desktop background. You can also change Desktop wallpaper from Settings app > Personalization > Background > Choose your picture. If you can’t change Desktop background, refer this article:

However, some users may have special requirement of changing the Desktop background via registry. This article show provides a way to those users and shares the required steps. You can also create batch file or script using below mentioned registry manipulation and apply it on multiple machines.

How To Change Windows 10 Desktop Wallpaper Using Registry

Registry Disclaimer: The further steps will involve registry manipulation. Making mistakes while manipulating registry could affect your system adversely. So be careful while editing registry entries and create a System Restore point first.

1. Press + R and put regedit in Run dialog box to open Registry Editor (if you’re not familiar with Registry Editor, then click here). Click OK.

2. In left pane of Registry Editor window, click on following registry branch:

3. Then click on File > Load Hive. Under Load Hive, assuming Windows is installed on C: drive, browse to C:\Users\Default. Note that Default is hidden folder, so make sure you’ve allowed to show hidden items in File Explorer. Inside Default folder, select NTUSER.DAT file and click Open.

4. Now name the loaded hive as Default_User.

5. Then go to following registry location:

6. In the right pane of Desktop registry key, you will found Wallpaper named registry string (REG_SZ). Double click on this registry string to modify its Value data:

7. Set the Value data as location of your desired image, which you want to set as Desktop wallpaper. Click OK. Then click File > Unload Hive.

8. In the confirmation box, select Yes to unload hive.

Close Registry Editor and reboot the machine to make changes effective.

After reboot, you’ll see your desired image whose location you provided in registry Value data is now set as Desktop wallpaper.

About Kapil Arya

Kapil is presently a Microsoft MVP in Windows IT Pro expertise. He is Windows Insider MVP as well, and author of ‘Windows Group Policy Troubleshooting’ book. In 2015, Microsoft India accomplished him as ‘Windows 10 Champion’. Being passionate Windows blogger, he loves to help others on fixing their system issues. You can follow him for news/updates and fixes for Windows.

Where are desktop backgrounds (wallpapers) stored in Windows 10?

The Windows 10 operating system comes with a set of wallpapers and the ability to refresh wallpapers regularly from a pool of images. The following guide provides users of Windows 10 with instructions on finding these wallpapers on the local system.

Let’s say you want to use them on your other devices (smartphone, TV, Xbox One or PS4), or want to make a background image of the past the permanent background on the Windows 10 device. You need to know where to find these wallpapers, and that is the guide for that.

Even if you are an advanced user, there is a chance you may not know about it. You won’t find them in the Pictures folder, that’s for sure.

Where are desktop backgrounds (wallpapers) stored in Windows 10?

Open File Explorer and navigate to the following folder or copy the path and jump to it directly: C:\Windows\Web.

This is not really an obvious place to find wallpapers, is it? One would think the folder is probably something related to the internet. The Web folder houses 3 sub-folders which are called: 4K, Screen, and Wallpaper. Surprisingly, all three folders have wallpapers and different ones at that.

The default Windows 10 wallpaper, which is the one with the light beams and the Windows logo, can be found inside the «C:\Windows\Web\4K\Wallpaper\Windows» folder. The name is once again a bit misleading because the 4K folder also happens to contain the wallpaper in several other screen resolutions like 1024 x 768, 1366 x 768, 1920 x 1200, 2560 x 1600 and 3840 x 2160 pixels.

You may have noticed that the aspect ratios of the wallpaper differs, so you may want to select the one that matches your device’s display resolution. If it doesn’t match the screen size, you can always resize the wallpaper using a tool such as Irfan View, Fast Stone Photo Resizer, Flexxi, etc.

The second folder «Screen» contains photos which the operating system uses for its lock screen and log-on screen. That is probably why the folder is named «screen».

The Wallpaper folder has a number of sub-folders of its own: Windows and Windows 10, and then a number of folders based on past usage. You may have folders like landscapes, architecture, or flowers there.

If you are a fan of macro photography and nature, you will probably dig what’s in the Flowers folder. The Windows folder has one wallpaper, and that is the 1920 x 1200 pixels version of the default wallpaper. The Windows 10 folder on the other hand, contains some nice walls related to outdoor activities.

Themes

Another source of wallpapers are themes. These themes, you may install hundreds of them from the Microsoft Store, are not placed in the Web folder when you install them. Instead, they are placed in the user folder.

Use the following path as a starting point in File Explorer to browse the installed themes and the backgrounds they come with: %localappdata%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes

Closing Words

Now that you know where to find the wallpapers, you can copy them to your other devices or maybe use it on a multi-monitor setup too. You can drop your own wallpapers in the folders in case you want to switch to a different one quickly from the Personalization section in the Settings app.

I have seen fan edited versions of the default wallpaper which look stunning. Some have different colors for the background while maintaining the art style, maybe you can create something similar with it if you are a graphics designer.

Which among the default Windows 10 wallpapers is your favorite?