My son changed something on my Windows PC and now the image on my desktop changes every minute. It’s maddening! How can I change the speed or frequency of my Win10 desktop wallpaper image changing back so I can relax again??
Ya know, did parents 500 years ago have these problems with their kids being mischievous? Probably, though it was a lot more analog than digital back then, I’m sure! Nowadays kids are so comfortable with tech as part of the so-called digital generation that they seem to understand both the regular use of and tricky secret settings in every app better than even the developers who programmed it. The rest of us have no option but to learn more about these programs, apps and systems too, if nothing else than just to keep up.
In this instance, the changes that your son has made on your Windows PC are pretty simple and the remedy is simple too. Before we get there, though, you might consider setting up a separate account for him on your computer so that in the future he can monkey with his own layout, themes and features without affecting your own experience. It’s easy to add a new local user too, as I detail: How to add new users to Windows 10.
Let’s get this fixed, however! Start out by searching for ‘background’ in the search box:
As you can see, it suggests “background image settings” which is exactly what you want. Convenient.
Click or tap on “Background image settings” on your Windows system to proceed. It produces this window:
Here you can choose from a slideshow, solid color or static picture as your desktop image, but it’s the setting that’s at the bottom of the main column that’s most of interest, “Change picture every…”. Let’s have a closer look:
My guess is that your son simply changed this to “change ever 1 minute”. Why anyone would want to have their image changed that frequently is a bit beyond me. I choose “30 minutes” as my default so that it’s something that happens without me having to pay any attention to it when I’m working or playing.
While we’re here, wondering where to get some really nice background wallpapers? On the main Backgrounds window there’s a link on the left to “Themes”. A click on that and you’ll see what theme – if any! – you have selected. I have “Islands in the Sun”, as shown:
This is a free download from Microsoft (thanks, Microsoft!) and you can see that it has a 14 image slideshow background library as part of the theme package. That’s really all I care about in a theme, actually: I don’t want goofy cursor images and I never have audio unmuted so sounds are pointless. Anyway, if you want to pick some additional themes for your computer to get a better desktop wallpaper slideshow, just below where it shows your current theme it has a link to “get more themes”.
You can also follow along on my How To Get New Themes in Windows 10 tutorial too!
And that’s it. You should be able to tame the wild windows background image with these tools. Heck, you can tame your wild son with these tools too! 🙂
Pro Tip: I’ve been writing about Windows for years. Please check out my extensive Windows 10 help here on the site!