How to set up a live wallpaper on Windows

The first step and easiest way to personalize your Windows computer is to change the wallpaper. Changing your wallpaper on Windows is pretty easy, but stationary wallpapers aren't fun and can get boring quickly. Windows doesn't have a live or animated wallpaper feature, but you can use some alternative apps and methods to set live wallpapers on Windows desktops. How to set live wallpapers on Windows.

Method 1: Using Lively Wallpaper

Lively Wallpaper is a popular app that you can find on the Microsoft Store that allows you to set live wallpapers for free. The app offers a selection of some great wallpapers while also allowing you to add your own wallpapers. The best part is that it is open source, so you can be sure that your privacy is not at risk. How to use Lively Wallpaper.

1. Install Lively Wallpaper from this Microsoft Store page.
2. Once installed, launch the Lively Wallpaper app. When the app opens it should throw this error. Follow the on-screen steps and activate Animate controls and elements in Windows.

3. Once you're done, you'll have 12 live wallpapers to choose from.
4. If you want to add your own, click that Plus + symbol from the top bar.

4. In the Add background image field, click Open and select the downloaded animated wallpaper.
5. Finally, click OK and the live wallpaper will be set.

Lively Wallpaper doesn't require a lot of system resources, but if you have an old Windows machine, performance might be affected. Fortunately, the app has many parameters and rules that you can change to make sure Lively Wallpaper doesn't eat up system resources that are necessary for apps to function.

Lively Wallpaper can also use YouTube links to set the videos as wallpaper, but we didn't find the feature particularly great in our testing. Hovering over the video always shows the player options, which doesn't look great.

Method 2: Using Wallpaper Engine

Wallpaper Engine is the ultimate live wallpaper app that you can download from Steam. Thanks to Steam Workshop and the community, there are tons of live wallpapers to choose from. Even though it's a paid app, it only costs a few dollars.

1. First, purchase and install Wallpaper Engine from the Steam store.
2. Once installed, go through the installation instructions and you should soon find yourself on the app's home screen in the “Installed” section.

3. Go to Discover or Steam Workshop section and browse through the wallpapers. If you like a wallpaper, click Subscribe to in the right area. All subscribed wallpapers should appear in the Furnished Section.

4. When setting background images, you can customize many things including color, alignment, position, scale, etc.

You can also go to Settings and adjust the overall lighting and quality of the wallpapers. Most of us don't have powerful PCs and for those, the ability to adjust the quality could be useful.

Method 3: Using Wallpaper Alive

Wallpaper Engine is an excellent live wallpaper app for Windows, but it is paid. If you're looking for an alternative to downloading from Steam, Wallpaper Alive is an open source app that will serve you well. Here's how to use it.

1. Open the Wallpaper Alive page in Steam and install it.
2. Launch the app and click Steam Workshop to access the wallpaper library.

3. If you like a wallpaper click Subscribe to at the bottom.

4. You should use this wallpaper in the Wallpapers tab.. Click to apply this wallpaper.

5. Now configure the wallpaper to your liking and click save Changes.

There seems to be a major issue in the app where the wallpaper appears as an overlay and hides desktop icons. Many users have also complained that they cannot access the Windows context menu when right-clicking, and that for some reason the app sets a lower resolution wallpaper because it treats my 2K monitor as a 1080p device.

So these were some of the apps that you can use to apply live wallpapers on Windows. While both Lively Wallpaper and Wallpaper Alive are great apps, Wallpaper Engine is hard to beat thanks to the amount of wallpapers and customizations available in the app. Therefore, we recommend you buy it for the few dollars it costs to get the best live wallpaper and customization experience.

What things do you do to customize your Windows PC that many people don't know about? Let us know in the comments below.