Desktop

The Windows 11 Desktop works much as it did in Windows 10, but it has been updated with new iconography, simpler right-click context menus, and a new Windows spotlight background that provides a new high-quality photo every day.
⚙️ Defaults
By default, Microsoft configures the Desktop to be mostly empty, with the background set to Windows spotlight, which displays a new high-quality image every day, usually from Bing. There are also three items on the Desktop by default:

A Recycle Bin shortcut in the upper left
A shortcut for the Microsoft Edge web browser
A “Learn more about this picture” icon in the upper right, shown only if Windows spotlight is configured as the background

 ✅ Tip: Your PC maker can customize the Desktop, so you may see a different background.
When you right-click the Desktop, a modern Windows 11-style context menu appears, as shown above. If you right-click an icon or other item on the Desktop, it will display using the same options found in File Explorer, and those options will vary depending on what you right-click.
? Customize the Desktop background
To customize the Desktop background, open the Settings app and navigate to Personalization > Background. Here, you can choose between Picture, Solid color, Slideshow, and Windows spotlight.
⌨️ Keyboard shortcut: Type Winkey + I to open Settings.
Picture
You can choose between a grid of recently used images or find a new image by clicking the “Browse photos.”
✅ Tip: The “Browse photos” option opens a standard File Open dialog that displays the contents of your Pictures folder. You can find the background images that Microsoft supplies with Windows 11 by navigating to C:\Windows\Web.
Solid color
This option lets you choose a solid color to use for the background.
Slideshow
Choose this to rotate the background between a selection of images you specify.
Windows spotlight
Windows spotlight will automatically display a different high-quality photo as your Desktop background each day.

To learn more about the current background photo, click the “Learn more about this picture” icon, and Microsoft Edge will open and display Bing search results related to the photo.

To switch to a different photo or rate the current photo, right-click the “Learn more about this picture” icon.
✅ Tip: Download a favorite Windows spotlight photo
Some Windows spotlight photos are breathtaking enough that you may wish to save a copy for yourself.

These images are temporarily stored in ? a hidden location in the file system, but without filename extensions, so it can be tedious finding the one you want. You can copy these files to another location in the file system and then rename them with a .jpg extension to view them more easily.

You may find it easier to use a third-party tool to save these images. The ? Windows Spotlight Images website backs up original-quality versions of these photos and is searchable. And the ? Dynamic Theme app, which is available...