How to Change a Background on Any Device
Whether you're personalizing your desktop, refreshing a video call, or updating a lock screen, changing a background is one of the most common — and most device-specific — customization tasks in tech. The steps, options, and limitations vary significantly depending on your operating system, app, or hardware. Here's what you actually need to know.
What "Changing a Background" Actually Means
The term covers several distinct scenarios:
- Wallpaper/desktop background — the image displayed on your computer, phone, or tablet home screen or lock screen
- Virtual background — a digital backdrop used during video calls (Zoom, Teams, Google Meet)
- Browser background — a custom image or theme on your browser's new tab page
- App-specific backgrounds — custom backdrops inside messaging apps, photo editors, or presentation tools
Each of these works differently under the hood, and the process for changing one won't necessarily apply to another.
Changing a Desktop or Phone Wallpaper
This is the most common use case, and the method depends entirely on your operating system.
Windows
On Windows 10 and 11, right-click an empty area of your desktop and select Personalize, then choose Background. You can set a static image, a slideshow, or a solid color. Windows also supports Spotlight — a feature that automatically rotates curated images from Microsoft.
macOS
On a Mac, go to System Settings → Wallpaper (macOS Ventura and later) or System Preferences → Desktop & Screen Saver on older versions. macOS supports dynamic wallpapers that shift appearance based on time of day.
Android
Android's approach varies by manufacturer. On stock Android, long-press the home screen and tap Wallpaper & style. Samsung, OnePlus, and other manufacturers often add their own layers on top, so menu names may differ. Most Android versions let you set separate images for the home screen and lock screen.
iPhone and iPad (iOS/iPadOS)
Go to Settings → Wallpaper → Add New Wallpaper. iOS 16 and later introduced customizable lock screens with widgets, depth-effect photos, and animated options — a significant upgrade from earlier flat image support.
Changing a Virtual Background 🎥
Virtual backgrounds work by using either hardware or software to separate you from your real environment and replace it with an image or video.
Zoom — Click the ^ arrow next to the video camera icon, select Virtual Background, and choose or upload an image. Zoom works best with a physical green screen, though modern versions use AI-based background removal without one.
Microsoft Teams — Before or during a call, select More → Video Effects → Background. Teams supports blurred, custom image, and video backgrounds.
Google Meet — Click the three-dot menu, then Apply visual effects. Options include blur and custom images.
Hardware vs. Software Processing
| Method | What It Uses | Green Screen Needed? | Quality |
|---|---|---|---|
| AI-based removal | CPU/GPU | No | Good to excellent |
| Green screen | Dedicated backdrop | Yes | Consistently high |
| Dedicated webcam AI | Webcam firmware | No | Varies by webcam |
Higher-end CPUs and GPUs generally produce cleaner edge detection without a green screen. On older or lower-powered machines, AI removal can introduce visible artifacts — especially around hair and fine details.
Changing a Browser New Tab Background
Most major browsers support custom backgrounds on the new tab page.
- Chrome — Click the pencil icon (bottom right of the new tab page) → Upload from device or choose from Chrome's built-in themes
- Firefox — New tab page backgrounds can be changed via Extensions & Themes in settings
- Edge — Offers background image options directly in the new tab settings panel 🖼️
Browser backgrounds are cosmetic and have no impact on performance or browsing speed.
Variables That Change the Experience
The steps above are the baseline, but several factors affect what options are actually available to you:
Operating system version — Features like dynamic wallpapers or lock screen widgets only exist on newer OS releases. An older version may offer fewer options or different menu paths.
Device hardware — Virtual background quality is tied directly to processing power. Machines without a dedicated GPU may struggle with real-time background removal.
App version — Video conferencing apps update frequently. Menu locations and available features can shift between versions, sometimes significantly.
Display setup — Multi-monitor setups on Windows and macOS allow different wallpapers per screen, but this setting is often buried or handled inconsistently depending on the OS version.
Manufacturer skin (Android) — Samsung's One UI, Xiaomi's MIUI, and similar Android overlays add their own wallpaper tools, sometimes replacing or hiding the stock Android options entirely.
Image format and resolution — Low-resolution images will appear blurry on high-DPI displays. Most systems accept JPEG and PNG; some virtual background tools also support MP4 video files.
Where Individual Results Diverge
Someone changing a wallpaper on a fresh iPhone 15 has an almost frictionless experience. Someone trying to set a virtual background on a five-year-old laptop without a green screen may see choppy, artifact-heavy results. Someone on a heavily customized Android skin might find the wallpaper settings in an unexpected location — or restricted entirely by a device administrator.
The technical process is straightforward in most cases. What changes meaningfully is your starting point: which OS version you're running, what hardware you're working with, which app is involved, and how much customization that specific platform actually allows. Those details shape whether the process takes ten seconds or ten minutes — and what the result looks like once it's done. 🎨