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HOW TO CHANGE DESKTOP WALLPAPER USING REGEDIT

By Zach Lazzari Updated June 30, 2020

Techwalla may earn compensation through affiliate links in this story.
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You can change your wallpaper.
Image Credit: dusanpetkovic/iStock/GettyImages

REGEDIT is the Windows Registry and it has the ability to lock the background
wallpaper. Businesses frequently use this option to maintain a consistent and
professional background across all computer screens. Shared computers may also
have this feature enacted to prevent unnecessary wallpaper changes. Making the
appropriate edits to the background registry key will ultimately unlock the
wallpaper, making new changes possible again.

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CHECK THE SETTINGS FIRST

Before jumping into the registry for edits, check to ensure the wallpaper
settings are actually locked in place. Start the computer and right click the
screen to open a list of options. Make sure to right click the screen only and
not a desktop icon or folder. Choose Personalize and access the Background drop
down list.

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Select a new photo from the available files for the background. You can also add
new photos to the hard drive and choose from personal files for a completely
unique and custom wallpaper option. Choose between the tile, fill, stretch, fit
and center options to set the new wallpaper and save the changes to make the new
background take effect.

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If the wallpaper settings will not allow changes, exit from the panel and
prepare to edit the registry. After completing the edits, making changes to the
wallpaper is easy and you will not experience another lockout unless the
registry is changed again.


REGEDIT WALLPAPER UNLOCK

Open the Registry Editor by typing REGEDIT in the search bar on the computer.
Click Start and then Run to launch a text box. Enter REGEDIT in the editor and
it will generate a list of options. Click to expand the option labeled
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies to access
the default policy settings. The default allows for changes to the wallpaper by
any user with access to the computer.

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Look under "Policies" for an ActiveDesktop label and delete this if the setting
exists. If the setting does not exist, you may also find a label for Wallpaper
or NoDispBackgroundPage under the policies system settings. To access the
policies system settings, use the same process but expand the option with
\System as the final label in the sequence.

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Delete the Wallpaper label if found or click the NoDispBackgroundPage option and
set to a numerical 0 to remove the lock. Return to the home screen and attempt
to change the wallpaper at this point. The ability to open and adjust the
settings should be seamless at this point, leaving the option change to preset
wallpaper designs or to use custom graphics and photos uploaded to the computer.

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BACKGROUND REGISTRY KEY FILE

One very simple option for editing the registry is the utilization of an edit
file that changes the desktop background registry in a matter of seconds. This
process requires zero editing within the actual registry and is very easy to
execute. The registry edit file does require allowing permissions to complete
the almost automated fix for the locked wallpaper issue but one simple click
will change the registry to allow for new wallpaper.

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Access any edit registry site with a fixwallpaper.reg file available.
Tech-pro.net has one readily available at no cost (see Resources) but others are
available through a basic web search. Right click the file and save to your
computer.

Access the newly saved file and double click to activate. When prompted, click
Yes to allow for changes to the registry. Once complete, the wallpaper is
unlocked and ready for editing or new custom photos and formatting. This works
to change wallpaper in Windows 10 with regedit, and in earlier versions of
Windows too.



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