Remove a Background from the Desktop Background List

Desktop backgrounds are a great way to express your love for your favorite celebrities or to showcase a collection of your favorite quotes. New features even allow you to rotate between different desktop backgrounds to help you switch it up. But sometimes we go overboard and have way too many files cluttering up our desktop background list, so we need to take some down. Here's how to remove one in Windows.

Steps

Windows 7

  1. Right-click on your desktop and select "Personalize."
    • On the top left of the window that pops up, click "Control Panel Home."
  2. Under the Appearance and Personalization header on the right column, click "Change desktop background."
  3. You will see a screen that lists all of your currently available desktop backgrounds. Find the background that you don't want, and uncheck the box to remove it as a desktop background option.
  4. If you want to delete the file from your computer entirely, look at the sub-header above the desktop background thumbnail and note the image's folder location. In this example, my unwanted desktop background is on the desktop.
    • Go to that folder in your explorer window and right-click on the image to delete it from your computer.

Windows XP

  1. Open up My Computer from the Start menu.
    • Then select Tools then Folder Options
    • Click the "View" tab then click "Show Hidden Files and Folders" and click "OK".
  2. Navigate to the C:\ drive and look for the Windows folder. If you are presented with a warning about modifying system files, click the 'Show files' link to continue.
  3. When you're in the Windows folder, locate and double-click the Web folder
    • Then double-click on the "Wallpaper" folder.
    • Look for the wallpaper/pictures you want to delete
    • If you're using Firefox, it may be stored in C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Mozilla\Firefox
    • If you're using Internet Explorer, it may be stored in C:\Documents and Settings\<user name>\Application Data\Microsoft\Internet Explorer
  4. If you still have not found it, go to Start Menu, Search.
    • Click "All files and folders", and enter the name of the background to locate it.
  5. When you have located the file, you can either delete it, or move it to a new folder. Try creating a folder called Moved Backgrounds. If you move the file to this new folder, it will be removed from your list, but still available on your PC should you change your mind.

Tips

  • A well known problem with XP is that images stored in My Pictures somehow get added to the list of Background Images. A unique thing about the images is they are all .bmp images. In my case, every time I added or created a new .bmp it was added to the Background list automatically. One option could be to create a new folder (i.e. "My Pict" Folder) and move all your pictures into the new folder. It should clear the list of those pictures.
  • Alternatively, you can re-save any .bmp's that you have as a .jpg or .png in any image editing software. Then delete the .bmp originals and they should be removed from your list of desktop backgrounds.
  • If you are having trouble finding the directory, search for one of the names of the wallpaper, i.e. Stonehenge. Once it is found, left click and go to open containing folder.
  • Image files listed in the Background display options are the ones stored under the ...\Windows\Web\Wallpaper directory, plus the background in use if selected via the 'Browse' button.

Warnings

  • Do not modify any other system files.

Related Articles

  • Remove a Laptop Screen
Retrieved from "https://kipkis.com/index.php?title=Remove_a_Background_from_the_Desktop_Background_List&oldid=297352"