How to prevent windows users from changing the desktop background

If your Windows 10 computer becomes unactivated, there will be many limitations in the system. For example, you will be unable to change wallpaper without activating Windows. For some reason, you can’t activate your Windows 10 immediately. Then, how to change background on Windows 10 without activation? In this post, MiniTool Software will show you two simple approaches.

You can go to Settings to change the background wallpaper in Windows 10 if you have activated the system. However, if your Windows 10 is unactivated, you will receive an error message saying You need to activate Windows before you can personalize your PC. All the options are grayed out on the page. And of course, you find you are unable to change wallpaper without activating Windows.

This is one of the limitations on an unactivated Windows 10 computer. You should not feel surprised.

Do you want to remove Activate Windows 10 watermark from your computer? In this post, we will show you two effective methods to do this job.

We believe that many of you have been bothered or are currently facing this problem: how to change background on windows 10 without activation? It is not a difficult issue. You can use some other available methods to change background on Windows 10 without activation.

In this post, we will show you two methods that can bypass the limitation and change your wallpaper without activating Windows 10.

How to Change Wallpaper without Activating Windows?

Use File Explorer
Use Web Browser

Method 1: Use File Explorer

Case 1: Use Windows Wallpaper

The Windows wallpapers are saved in the C drive (Where to Find the Windows 10 Wallpaper Location on Your PC). If you still want to use this wallpaper, you can access that folder and select your needed one to set it as the background.

Here is a guide on how to change background on unactivated Windows 10 using this method:

1. Click This PC on the desktop.

2. Go to C:\Windows\Web\Wallpaper.

3. Open the folder that contains the wallpaper you want to use.

4. Right-click the image you want to set as the background wallpaper and then select Set as desktop background.

After these steps, the background wallpaper will be switched to your selected one.

Case 2: Use Your Downloaded Picture

You can also use your downloaded picture to change the background on unactivated Windows 10. The target picture should fit your computer screen.

Here is a guide:

Go to the folder that saves the image you want to use.
Right-click the image you want to use as the wallpaper and then select Set as desktop background.

You can see it is very easy to use this method to change the background on your Windows 10 computer that is not activated.

Method 2: Use Your Web Browser

Some web browsers like Firefox and Internet Explorer support settings your desired image as the wallpaper without downloading them to your computer.

Tip: Both Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge don’t support this feature. If you want to use this method, you need to switch to an available web browser.

Here is a guide on how to change desktop background in Windows 10 without activation using this method:

Open the web browser.
Search for the wallpaper on Google or some other website.
On the search result page, you need to right-click the target image you want to use and then select Set as background. You need to check the size of the image. If it is too small, the effect as wallpaper will not be so good. Here are some widescreen wallpaper websites: The Best 6 Widescreen Wallpaper Websites for You!

Bottom Line

Those are the two methods to change the wallpaper on an unactivated Windows 10 computer. You can just select one method according to your requirement. If you lose some wallpapers by mistake, you can use MiniTool Power Data Recovery, a free file recovery tool, to get them back.

Should have some other related issues, you can let us know in the comment.

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About The Author

Stella has been working in MiniTool Software as an English Editor for more than 4 years. Her articles mainly cover the fields of data recovery including storage media data recovery and phone data recovery, YouTube videos download, partition management, and video conversions.

To enjoy a little variety when staring at their screens day-in day-out, many Windows users change their desktop background theme. Read on to find out how to change the background theme in Windows 11 and Windows 10, what individual setting options there are, and how to set up a monochrome desktop.

How to change a desktop background theme: quick tutorial for Windows 10 and 11
Options for changing a Windows background theme
Changing the desktop background: step-by-step tutorial
1. Changing the background theme in Windows 11
  1. Customize Windows 11 desktop: set an image as background theme
  2. Customize Windows 11 desktop: set solid color as background theme
  3. Customize Windows 11 desktop: set a slideshow as background theme
2. Changing the background theme: how to modify settings
  1. Customize Windows 10 background: set an image as background theme
  2. Customize Windows 10 background: set solid color as background theme
  3. Customize Windows 10 desktop: set a slideshow as background theme

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How to change a desktop background theme: quick tutorial for Windows 10 and 11

In Windows 10 you can adjust the background as follows:

Launch Settings by clicking on the Start menu or using the key combination [Windows] + [i].
Change the category to “Personalization”.
Select “Background” and choose the image, solid color, or slideshow you wish to set as your desktop background.
Select the desired color, image, or image folder. If you want to use a specific image, click on “Browse” and specify the location of the respective image file.

If you work with Windows 11, you can change the screen background as follows:

Launch Settings by clicking on the Start menu or using the key combination [Windows] + [i].
Change the category to “Personalization”.
Select the entry “Background”.
Select “Personalize your background” and choose the desired background (“Solid color”, “Image” or “Slideshow”).
Choose a color, desired background theme or the respective image album for a slideshow. Click on “Browse photos” if you want to use an individual image file.

Prefer for Windows to load fewer applications on system startup? Take a look at the autostart modifications for Windows 11 or Windows 10 to exclude applications you no longer need.

Options for changing a Windows background theme

On Windows devices, you have three options to customize your desktop background:

Images: Images are the most frequently employed option for desktop background themes. You could select a picture provided by Windows, download high-quality wallpapers, or insert a personal photo.
Solid color: It doesn’t always have to be a picture. You could change your desktop background to a solid color. Windows provides a selection of colors or you can create your own.
Slideshow: Don’t want to settle for a single image? You can set up a slideshow with any number of images. Just add them to the same folder for this purpose.

In principle, setting an image or slideshow for your desktop background is a simple process. Windows doesn’t have specific requirements when it comes to format either. Known image formats like JPEG or PNG are supported. However, those who value optimal arrangement of the selected image(s) should ensure the resolution of the image matches the resolution of the display.

You can view your current screen resolution in Windows as follows: “Start” > “Settings” > “System” > “Display”.

The resolution of the image and the screen do not need to match. The appropriate ratio of width and height is a more important consideration and can be adjusted using an image editing program. If, for example, the desired image section is smaller than the screen resolution, the “Fill” setting ensures that the image extends to the entire background.

Changing the desktop background: step-by-step tutorial

Adjusting the desktop theme in Windows is quick and easy. Any adjustments to settings can be undone again later, giving you plenty of freedom to experiment with different options. The following instructions will guide you step by step through the process of changing the background image or background color in Windows 10 and Windows 11.

Changing the background theme in Windows 11

You’ll find the menu for customizing the desktop background in the “Settings” in Windows 11 which you can access either via the button of the same name in the Start menu or by using the key combination [Windows] + [i].

Prevent Users from Changing Desktop Wallpaper in Windows 10: If you work in a multinational company then you may have noticed the company logo as the desktop wallpaper and if you ever try to change the wallpaper you may not be able to do so as the network admin might have prevented users from changing the desktop wallpaper. Also, if you use your PC in public then this article might interest you as you can also prevent users from changing the desktop wallpaper in Windows 10.

Now there are two methods available to stop people from changing your desktop wallpaper, one of which is only available to Windows 10 Pro, Education and Enterprise edition users. Anyway without wasting any time let’s see How to Prevent Users from Changing Desktop Wallpaper in Windows 10 with the help of the below-listed tutorial.

Prevent Users from Changing Desktop Wallpaper in Windows 10

Make sure to create a restore point just in case something goes wrong.

Method 1: Prevent Users from Changing Desktop Wallpaper using Registry Editor

1.Press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.

2.Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

3.Right-click on policies folder then select New and click on Key.

4.Name this new kye as ActiveDesktop and press Enter.

5.Right-click on ActiveDesktop then select New > DWORD (32-bit) value.

6.Name this newly created DWORD as NoChangingWallPaper and hit Enter.

7.Double-click on NoChangingWallPaper DWORD then change its value from 0 to 1.

0 = Allow
1 = Prevent

8.Close everything then restart your PC to save changes.

This is how you Prevent Users from Changing Desktop Wallpaper in Windows 10 but if you have Windows 10 Pro, Education and Enterprise Edition then you can follow the next method instead of this one.

Method 2: Prevent Users from Changing Desktop Wallpaper using Group Policy Editor

Note: This method is only available to Windows 10 Pro, Education, and Enterprise Edition Users.

1.Press Windows Key + R then type gpedit.msc and hit Enter.

2.Navigate to the following path:

User Configuration > Administrative Templates > Control Panel > Personalization

3.Make sure to select Personalization then in right-window pane double-click on “Prevent changing desktop background” policy.

4.Select Enabled then click Apply followed by OK.

5.Reboot your PC to save changes.

Once you complete any of the above-listed methods then you can check if you’re able to change the desktop background or not. Press Windows Key + I to open Settings then navigate to Personalization > Background, where you will notice that all the settings are greyed out and you will see a message saying “Some settings are managed by your organization”.

Method 3: Enforce a default desktop background

1.Press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.

2.Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

3.Right-click on policies folder then select New and click on Key.

4.Name this new key as System and hit Enter.

Note: Make sure the key is not already there, if so then skip the above step.

5.Right-click on System then select New > String Value.

6.Name the string Wallpaper and hit Enter.

7.Double-click on the Wallpaper string then set the path of the default wallpaper you want to set and click OK.

Note: For example, you have a wallpaper on Desktop name wall.jpg, then the path would be C:\Users\Adity\Desktop\bmw.jpg

8.Again right-click on System then select New > String Value and name this string as WallpaperStyle then hit Enter.

9.Double-click on WallpaperStyle then change its value according to following wallpaper style available:

0 – Centered
1 – Tiled
2 – Stretched
3 – Fit
4 – Fill

10.Click OK then close Registry Editor. Reboot your PC to save changes.

Recommended:

That’s it you have successfully learned How to Prevent Users from Changing Desktop Wallpaper in Windows 10 but if you still have any questions regarding this tutorial then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.

Aditya Farrad

Aditya is a self-motivated information technology professional and has been a technology writer for the last 7 years. He covers Internet services, mobile, Windows, software, and How-to guides.

The Background section is listed under the Personalization settings in the Settings app. This is used to change the desktop wallpaper and fit for it. There is also an option for changing the background color of your system on this page. Some related settings like high contrast are also listed at the bottom of the page. An administrator can disable this page from any standard user at home or in any organization. Once the page is disabled, it will grey out all the options on this page and a standard user will be unable to change any option. In this article, we are providing you methods through which you can enable and disable the Background page of the Settings app.

Background settings disabled by an administrator

Method 1: Using the Local Group Policy Editor

The Group Policy Editor is a Microsoft Management Console that is used to control the working environment of the operating system. Administrators can use this tool to disable specific settings in the Windows Settings app. The background page is listed under the personalization settings. After enabling this policy setting, it will grey out most of the options on the background page. There are also some other policies that prevent users from changing the desktop wallpaper and desktop icons.

The Group Policy Editor is available only on the Windows 10 pro, education, and enterprise editions. If you are using the Windows Home edition, then you need to skip this method and try using the Registry method.

Press the Windows + R key together on your keyboard to open a Run dialog. Then, you need to type “gpedit.msc” in the dialog box and press the Enter key or click on the Ok button. This will open up the Local Group Policy Editor window on your computer. Opening the Local Group Policy Editor
In the Local Group Policy Editor window, head over to the following path: Navigating to the settings
Now double-click on the policy named “Prevent changing desktop background” and it will open another window. Then choose the Enable toggle option. Enabling the setting
After that, just click on the Apply and Ok buttons to save these changes.
The Group Policy will automatically update the changes. If not, then you must force the update for the group policy.
Search for Command Prompt in the Windows search feature and run it as an administrator. Now type the following command in Command Prompt (Admin) and press the Enter key. You can also update the group policy by restarting the computer. Force updating group policy
If you want to enable the Background settings again, just change the toggle option to Disabled or Not Configured in step 3.

Method 2: Using the Registry Editor

The Registry Editor is the tool to view and modify the Windows Registry values. It contains all the information and settings about applications and operating systems. Unlike the Group Policy Editor, this method requires some technical steps from the user. You need to create the missing value and key for any specific setting. The Windows 10 Home users also have access to the Registry Editor and they can use it to disable the background page.

Follow the below steps carefully without making any mistakes. We recommend users that they should create a backup before making any new changes in Registry every time.

First, open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows and R keys together on your keyboard. Then, you need to type “regedit” in the dialog box and press the Enter key to open the Registry Editor. If you get UAC (User Account Control) prompt, then click on the Yes button. Opening the Registry Editor
To create a Registry backup before making new changes, click on the File menu and choose the Export option. Select the path and name the file as you want. Lastly, click on the Save button to create the backup. Creating a Registry backup

Note: You can always restore a backup by clicking on the File menu and choosing the Import option as shown. Then, you can choose the backup file that you recently created.
In the Registry Editor window, head to the following location:

Note: If the ActiveDesktop key is missing, just right-click on the Policies key and choose the New > Key option. Then name that newly created key as “ActiveDesktop“.

Right-click on the right pane of the ActiveDesktop key and choose the New > DWORD (32-bit) Value option. Then rename the value as “NoChangingWallpaper” and save it. Creating a new value

Double-click on the NoChangingWallpaper value and it will open a small dialog. Now change the value data to 1 and click on the Ok button. Changing the value data

Finally, close the Registry Editor window, and reboot the computer to apply the new changes.

You can always enable it back by changing the value data to 0 or by removing the value from the Registry.

Tip / Trick

Scenario 1: You are one of the employees. You have come to your office, grabbed a cup of coffee and started your desktop or laptop only to find that the desktop wallpaper has been changed! And, no matter what you do to Personalize again, it’s not working, i.e., your favorite wallpaper cannot be brought back! How annoying is that?

Scenario 2: You run a company and you have set your company’s mission statement as the wallpaper on all of your users’ desktops. But one day you notice one of the employees’ desktop, and it’s a different wallpaper. As an employer, would you like it?

If you want to prevent users from changing the desktop wallpaper, then this tutorial is right for you. Once you do this, no one will be able to change the desktop wallpaper either by right-clicking on the ‘Desktop’ to choose Personalize, or by right-clicking on an image and selecting Set as desktop background.

Type regedit in the “Run” dialog box (keyboard shortcut: Win + R), or in the Start menu ‘Search programs and files’ box, and click OK, or hit Enter. It’ll open the “Registry Editor”.

WARNING: You are now going to ‘edit’ the registry. If something goes wrong, it can mess up your system. Look before you leap, and you should be okay!

Navigate to the following key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies

Under the Policies key, create a new key System (right-click Policies, and then New >Key if it hadn’t already existed). Select the System key, and in the blank area of the right-side pane, create a new ‘string’ value Wallpaper (right-click, and then New >String Value if it hadn’t already existed), and set its value to the exact path of your desired wallpaper (right-click Wallpaper, select Modify; this will open the “Edit String” dialog box; type in the exact location of the file, and click OK). You can only use a .JPG or .BMP file in this method (too bad that the PNG format cannot be used). The path may be something as follows:

You can also set the wallpaper style, e.g., Centered, Tiled or Stretched. Like before, create a new ‘string’ value WallpaperStyle if it hadn’t already existed, and set its value to 0, 1 or 2 as you may like it:

0 (Centered) OR 1 (Tiled) OR 2 (Stretched)

Restart or log off your system to apply the changes. No more change in the wallpaper until the registry is edited again!

Oh well, some users like me (or, you dotTechies) may dare to edit the registry to alter the wallpaper, but hey, not the rest of the world.

I have tested this in Windows 7 Professional 64 bit.

Sounds good? Share it with your acquainted ones! Troubleshooting?

The Windows themes are used to customize the interface of the Windows. It will change the colors, sounds, screen saver, pointers, and desktop background for the user account. There are several themes that the user can choose for their desktop. However, an administrator at home or in the organization can disable the theme changing settings from a standard account. It will completely disable the theme settings; however, the users can still change the colors, sounds, screen saver, pointers, and desktop background. In this article, we will show you methods for disabling the theme settings.

Windows 10 theme settings

Method 1: Using the Local Group Policy Editor

The Local Group Policy Editor contains all kinds of policies that can enable and disable specific settings on the operating system. It can be used to customize settings for a computer or a specific user on the computer. There is a specific policy setting for preventing users from changing the theme of their operating system. It is listed under the User Configuration category of the Group Policy Editor.

The Local Group Policy Editor isn’t available for every Windows 10 edition. If you are using the Windows 10 Home edition, then skip this method and try using the Registry method in this article.

Press the Windows + R key together on your keyboard to open a Run dialog. Then, you need to type “gpedit.msc” in the dialog box and press the Enter key or click on the Ok button. This will open up the Local Group Policy Editor window on your computer. Opening the Group Policy Editor
In the Local Group Policy Editor window, head over to the following path: Navigating to the setting
Now double-click on the policy named “Prevent changing theme” and it will open another window. Then choose the Enable toggle option as shown below. Enabling the setting
After that, just click on the Apply and Ok buttons to save these changes.
The Group Policy will automatically update the changes. If not, then you must force the update for the group policy.
Search for Command Prompt in the Windows search feature and run it as an administrator. Now type the following command in Command Prompt (Admin) and press the Enter key. You can also update the group policy by restarting the computer. Force updating the group policy
If you want to enable the theme settings again, just change the toggle option to Disabled or Not Configured in step 3.

Method 2: Using the Registry Editor

Another way to prevent users from changing themes on the computer is by using the Registry Editor. Whenever we configure a setting in the Group Policy Editor, it will automatically update the Registry for that specific setting. If you used the Group Policy Editor and configured the setting, then you don’t need to use this method because it will be already configured. However, if you are using this method directly, then you need to configure it from the start. There will some technical steps for creating the missing key and value for this specific setting. Follow the below steps carefully to prevent users from changing the theme:

Note: We have included a registry backup step for safety. However, you can skip it if you don’t want to create a backup.

First, open the Run dialog box by pressing the Windows and R keys together on your keyboard. Then, you need to type “regedit” in the dialog box and press the Enter key to open the Registry Editor. If you get UAC (User Account Control) prompt, then click on the Yes button. Opening the Registry Editor
To create a Registry backup before making new changes, click on the File menu and choose the Export option. Select the path and name the file as you want. Lastly, click on the Save button to create the backup. Creating a registry backup

Note: You can always restore a backup by clicking on the File menu and choosing the Import option as shown. Then, you can choose the backup file that you recently created.
In the Registry Editor window, head to the following location:

Note: If the Explorer key is missing, just right-click on the Policies key and choose the New > Key option. Then name that newly created key as “Explorer“.

Right-click on the right pane of the Explorer key and choose the New > DWORD (32-bit) Value option. Then rename the value as “NoThemesTab” and save it. Creating a new value in Registry

Double-click on the NoThemesTab value and it will open a small dialog. Now change the value data to 1 and click on the Ok button. Changing the value data

Finally, close the Registry Editor window, and reboot the computer to apply the new changes.

You can always enable it back by changing the value data to 0 or by removing the value from the Registry.

KB ID 0000461

Problem

If you need to lock down your client machines desktops and prevent your users from changing the wallpaper, then here’s a run through on how to do it.

Solution

1. On your domain controller , Start > Administrative Tools > Group Policy Management Console > Either create a new policy and link it to your targeted USERS or edit an existing one, then navigate to;

Locate “Prevent Changing Desktop Background”.

2. Set the policy to enabled, then either reboot the clients, wait a couple of hours, or manually run “gpupdate /force” on them.

3. Your users will no longer be able to select the “Desktop Background” link to change it.

4. If your users locate a picture on the internet they cannot select “Set as Background”.

5. If your users download a graphic and preview it, the option to “Set as desktop Background” is there but it no longer works.

My users can still “Set as Background” and “Set as desktop Background”

The above procedure works fine with Windows 7 and 2008, however some older versions of Windows still have access to these options. To fix that you need to lock active desktop then disable it.

If that’s the case, in addition to the above also do the following.

1. On the policy you edited above, navigate to;

Locate “Desktop Wallpaper”.

2. Enable the policy > Set the wallpaper name to . (a value that does not exist) > Set the wallpaper style to Stretch.

3. On the policy you edited above, navigate to;

Locate “Disable Active Desktop”.

4. Set it to enabled, then either reboot the clients, wait a couple of hours, or manually run “gpupdate /force” on them.

Prevent User From Changing Desktop Icons in Windows 10: By default Windows 10 users can change desktop icons using desktop icon settings but what if you want to deny access to users from using the desktop icon settings? Well, then you are in luck as today we are going to discuss exactly how to prevent a user from changing desktop icons in Windows 10. This setting is very beneficial if you use your laptop at work where you colleagues can mess up your desktop settings, thus messing up your important data. Although you can always lock your desktop but sometimes mistakes happen and thus your PC becomes vulnerable.

But before continuing, make sure you have added the necessary icons to your desktop because once the setting is enabled neither administrator or any other user can change the desktop icons settings. Anyway, without wasting any time let’s see How to Prevent User From Changing Desktop Icons in Windows 10 with the help of the below-listed tutorial.

Prevent User From Changing Desktop Icons in Windows 10

Make sure to create a restore point just in case something goes wrong.

Method 1: Prevent User From Changing Desktop Icons in Registry Editor

1.Press Windows Key + R then type regedit and hit Enter to open Registry Editor.

2.Navigate to the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\System

3.Right-click on System then select New > DWORD (32-bit) Value.

4.Name this newly created DWORD as NoDispBackgroundPage and then hit Enter.

5.Double-click on NoDispBackgroundPage DWORD and change its value to:

To Enable Changing Desktop Icons: 0
To Disable Changing Desktop Icons: 1

6.Once finished, click OK and close everything.

7.Reboot your PC to save changes and see if you’re able to Prevent User From Changing Desktop Icons in Windows 10.

Method 2: Prevent User From Changing Desktop Icons in Group Policy Editor

Note: This method only works for Windows 10 Pro, Education, and Enterprise Edition.

1.Press Windows Key + R then type gpedit.msc and hit Enter.

2.Navigate to the following path:

User Configuration > Administrative Tools > Control Panel > Personalization

3.Select Personalization then in right window pane double-click on “Prevent changing desktop icons” policy.

4.Now change the settings of the above policy according to:

To Enable Changing Desktop Icons: Not Configured or Disabled
To Disable Changing Desktop Icons: Enabled

5.Click Apply followed by OK.

6.Once finished, reboot your PC to save changes.

Now once you have disabled changing desktop icons you need to confirm if users are able to change the desktop icons or not. Press Windows Key + I to open Settings then click on Personalization and from the left-hand menu select Themes. Now in the extreme right click on Desktop icon settings and you will see a message saying “Your system administrator has disabled launching of the Display Control Panel“. If you see this message then you have successfully applied the changes and you can continue using your PC normally.

Recommended:

That’s it you have successfully learned How to Prevent User From Changing Desktop Icons in Windows 10 but if you still have any questions regarding this tutorial then feel free to ask them in the comment’s section.

Aditya Farrad

Aditya is a self-motivated information technology professional and has been a technology writer for the last 7 years. He covers Internet services, mobile, Windows, software, and How-to guides.

– Last updated on May 27, 2008 by VG

In Windows you can change desktop wallpaper, screen saver, themes and other appearance settings by right-click on Desktop and select “Properties”.

Sometimes you might want to disable all or a few options in Desktop Properties to restrict users or you might want to enable those options in case they are disabled by your system administrator or a virus infection.

Following tutorial will help you in enabling or disabling all or a particular option in Desktop Properties:

NOTE: This tutorial will work for almost all Windows versions.

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