Setting a static wallpaper on your Windows 11 is one of the easiest tasks on Windows OS. But you may want to add a GIF or an animated wallpaper. In this guide, I will show you How to Install and Set Lively Wallpaper on Windows 11. You can further read on How to Add Dynamic Wallpaper controlled by time on Windows 10 and 11. How to Create Desktop Stickers in Windows 11, and How to Configure screen saver timeout in Windows.
You may not like a static image on your Windows 11 wallpaper. But you may want to make it more interesting by adding an animated image through a third-party application. It’s currently impossible to set a GIF through Windows settings. But you will need to install third-party apps that allow you to upload and use animated GIFs as your desktop wallpaper.
The GIFs or animated wallpapers uploaded will continue to run on a loop and continue to give you constant animated wallpaper for your computer.
Please see Enhanced Multi-Monitor Experience with Windows 11, how to Add Dynamic Wallpaper controlled by time on Windows 10 and 11, and How to fix Microsoft Teams GIFs or Images not working.
Install Lively Wallpaper on Windows 11
If you want your wallpaper to move then you will install a third-party app. In this guide I will be using a free wallpaper app called Lively Wallpaper.
1.. Search and Click on the Microsoft Store icon.
2. In the Microsoft Store search field, type Lively Wallpaper.
3. Click on Get and Install the Lively Wallpaper app.
4. The app will start downloading. Immediately its done you will be ready to set a GIF as wallpaper using Lively Wallpaper.
5. Click Open to launch Lively Wallpaper.
Setting a GIF as Wallpaper on Windows 11
6. After installing Lively Wallpaper open the Lively Wallpaper app and you will see a library of wallpapers you can add.
7. Select one of the GIF options and it will be set as the active background wallpaper.
8. You can click the Active Wallpapers button to access the Control Panel so that you can manage the wallpapers placement method.
9. Click the X icon on the Control Panel Choose Display to remove the current wallpaper.
10. If you want to change the wallpaper you can just select a different option in the Lively Wallpaper app.
You can also see a preview of the wallpaper before setting it as your wallpaper background by right-clicking the wallpaper you want to preview. Select Preview. Other options are customizing, editing, and deleting the GIF.
Set a Custom GIF as Wallpaper on Windows 11
11. There is a custom setting to add your own GIFs to the library if you would like to use a different GIF from the ones on the Lively Wallpaper library. Click Add Wallpaper at the top of the library.
12. You can add your custom GIF by doing these:
- Dragging the file into the Lively Wallpaper app.
- Click Open and choose the Wallpaper file where it is saved.
- Enter URL of where the Wallpaper is located.
- Create a dynamic wallpaper.
Immediately the GIF appears in the Lively Wallpaper library it can be set as the GIF for your wallpaper by mere clicking on it.
Here is a guide on “Desktop Wallpaper and Screen Saver Management: Configure and apply Group Policy Objects on Windows Server“, and how to enable or disable automatic Live Caption on macOS through Chrome. Kindly take a look at this video for more information.
FAQ
You cannot set a live wallpaper in the Windows 11 lock screen but you can set a slideshow to Windows 11 lock screen.
Live wallpapers or GIF appeal to the eye but they may consume some additional system resources. If you use a graphics-intensive animations as your wallpaper this can have a negative effect on your computer central processing unit (CPU) and graphics processing unit (GPU), thereby affecting the general performance of your computer.
I hope you found this blog post on How to Install and Set Lively Wallpaper on Windows 11 Interesting and helpful. If you have any questions, feel free to let me know in the comment section.
