You can easily change your Chromebook’s background and set a specific image as your wallpaper — all it takes is a few clicks.
Changing the wallpaper on your Chromebook is an easy and effective way to personalise your device and make feel more like yours.
You can use pretty much any image or photo you have as the wallpaper on your Chromebook, or you can pick from one of Google’s built-in background suggestions collated and collected from artists and photographers.
For precisely how, read on.
Change Background on a Chromebook
Your Chromebook comes with an app that lets your change the background image to something other than what you see normally.
The quickest way to access the wallpaper picker is to:
- Right-click on the empty desktop
- Select the Set wallpaper option
This opens the wallpaper picker app, which you can see below:
A tonne of high-quality desktop backgrounds are available here, free for you to use on your Chromebook. These are separated into specific categories, e.g., Cityscapes, Illustrations, Abstract, etc.
Select a category from the left sidebar to browse images grouped in it. When you see a picture you like just click on it to set it as your background.
When you’re bored, repeat the process until you find a background you’re happy with.
Set an Image as Chromebook Wallpaper
Want to set an particular image as your Chromebook wallpaper instead?
The wallpaper picker app also lets you set a specific image as your Chromebook wallpaper:
- Right-click on the empty desktop
- Select the Set wallpaper option
- Click ‘My Images’ in the sidebar
The “My Images” section displays a grid of image files downloaded and stored on your Chromebook or in your Google Drive.
Just click on any image you see to make it your background (and pick whether the image appears centered or center cropped).
You can also set Chromebook wallpaper from the Files app. Just right click on an image file and, if it’s compatible, select the ‘Set as wallpaper’ option:
- Open the Files app (blue circle with white folder)
- Right-click on a compatible image
- Select ‘Set as wallpaper’
This method works on any images downloaded, stored in your Google Drive, or located on on a USB drive or SD card.
Simple!
What’s your Chromebook wallpaper?
Keep in mind that low-quality images don’t look great when they’re stretched across the screen! So, where possible, try to download high-quality wallpapers or use hi-resolution photos.
Try to avoid using a busy desktop background that makes it harder to “see” the Chrome OS application shelf.
If your device is ‘managed’, e.g., you’re using a school Chromebook, you can’t change the desktop background without your administrator’s permission, sorry!
Now you know how to change the wallpaper on your Chromebook tell me: did you use one of Google’s images, or your own?