There are plenty of ways in which you can customize your Windows 10 PC to make it your own and give it a unique look. From external modifications like skins and stickers to intricate changes to your desktop using widgets and docks, you can do a whole lot to make your Windows 10 PC a reflection of your personality and interests. Changing your desktop wallpaper is one of the simplest ways you can customize your PC and there are a ton of websites that feature crisp wallpapers that you can use. But did you know that you can also use live wallpapers for Windows 10 to customize your system?
Here, you will find both free and paid live wallpaper apps for PCs and learn how to set GIF as your desktop background. We have also mentioned a short guide on how to use VLC to set live wallpapers. You can click on the link below and move to the corresponding point easily.
- Desktop Live WallpapersWallpaper EngineLively WallpaperRainWallpaperDeskScapesWinDynamicDesktopWaifu: Live Gaming WallpapersMyLiveWallpapers: Live Anime WallpapersHow to Use Animated GIFs as Live Wallpapers on Windows 10How to Use Videos as Live Wallpapers on Windows 10Frequently Asked Questions
1. Desktop Live Wallpapers
One of the best live wallpaper apps for Windows 10 is the Desktop Live Wallpapers app that you can get for free from the Microsoft Store. The app brings a ton of categories of live wallpapers for you to use and apply on your Windows 10 PC including things like Search, Dark Vista, 3D Aquarium, and a lot more. If you’re an animal lover, the Cats live wallpaper category might be exceptionally attractive to you as well.
What’s more, Desktop Live Wallpaper can let you create your own live wallpapers as well. All you have to do is upload your favorite video to the app and it will convert it into a live wallpaper. However, this particular feature is only available in the Pro version of the app. Apart from that, Desktop Live Wallpaper is also the best live wallpaper app for multi-monitor setups because it supports up to 3 monitors along with multiple DPIs.
Also, if you’re worried about the app using too much of your PC’s resources, you’ll be glad to know that it automatically pauses playback of the live wallpaper when the desktop is hidden.
Let’s start off with Wallpaper Engine, a software that offers probably the best live wallpapers for Windows 10 and Windows 11. The software includes a ton of options to choose from, including various graphics, videos, and it even allows for you to pin an application or a particular website as your live wallpaper. Wallpaper Engine also allows you to personalize the animated wallpapers and it even features some interactive wallpapers that react to the way you move and click your mouse.
Next reason for you to try out Wallpaper Engine is that it includes a feature that pauses the live wallpapers while playing games, which means that the live wallpapers won’t have any adverse effect on your system’s performance. And finally, another great feature that makes Wallpaper Engine a compelling buy is that it allows you to create your own custom live wallpapers using the Wallpaper Engine Editor.
What’s more, Wallpaper Engine has a Steam Workshop where you can share and download new live wallpapers for your PC. From the looks of it, the community is quite active and thriving. As for video formats, it supports mp4, WebM, avi, m4v, mov and wmv. Having said all of that, keep in mind, the popular software does not have a free offering but $3.99 is worth paying for.
When it comes to live wallpapers for PCs, almost everyone knows about Wallpaper Engine. However, its paid-only offering deters many people to use the app. Well, if you want something advanced like Wallpaper Engine but absolutely free to use then Lively Wallpaper has you covered.
Download Lively Wallpaper (Free)
Next up is RainWallpaper, a powerful live wallpaper software that allows you to set up a wide variety of customizable animated wallpapers on your desktop. The software supports both 3D and 2D live wallpapers, and much like Wallpaper Engine, it allows you to use websites, videos, and animated wallpapers that support mouse interactions as live wallpapers on your Windows 10 and Windows 11 PC.
Download RainWallpaper ($3.99 / Rs. 165)
DeskScapes is another great live wallpaper software that allows you to animate and customize live wallpapers for your Windows 10 and Windows 11 desktop. Not only does the software include a bunch of animated wallpapers for you to choose from, it even allows you to use your own WMV files to personalize your desktop.
6. WinDynamicDesktop
WinDynamicDesktop is a simple live wallpaper app for Windows 10 and it brings limited, but exciting new additions to the table. The app brings macOS dynamic wallpapers on Windows 10 — from Mojave and Catalina to Big Sur and macOS 12 Monterey. You can easily download the dynamic wallpaper pack and apply the live wallpaper within a few seconds. No need to configure or tweak anything. The best part is that it has recently added some new live wallpapers too, apart from the macOS ones.
Other than that, WinDynamicDesktop is that it sits in the system tray and changes the background based on the time and day of your location. I have been using it for quite a few months and I can say that its location-based customization is absolutely great and quite reliable. So to sum up, if you want an app that is not resource-hungry and offers some great live wallpapers for PC then WinDynamicDesktop is the one you should get.
If you are looking for live gaming wallpapers for PC then I will strongly recommend you to head over to Waifu. It’s a website that houses tons of live wallpapers, among which gaming ones are quite incredible. It does not have its own app to apply the live wallpapers but you can use Wallpaper Engine or Lively Wallpaper to set a dynamic background.
I tested gaming wallpapers downloaded from Waifu on Lively and it worked pretty well without any incompatibility issues. I would say, go ahead and browse its website to find the best live wallpapers on gaming.
Check Out Waifu (Free)
If you are looking for a dedicated portal where you can find the best live anime wallpapers for Windows 10 and Windows 11, then MyLiveWallpapers is where you should head to. Just like Waifu, it has a broad range of categories, but when it comes to Anime, the website boasts of some great Anime live wallpapers.
Ranging from Tenki to Tanjiro Kamado, you have all your favorite Anime characters, free for you to download. And the best part is that MyLiveWallpapers has its own software, MLWapp, to apply the live wallpapers.
If you didn’t seem to like any of the aforementioned options and want to use an animated GIF as a live wallpaper on Windows 10, you can make use of a software called Plastuer (Check Out). The software allows you to set up GIFs, videos, and HTML5 web pages as your wallpaper.
That said, keep in mind, Plasteur is no longer free and requires you to pay $5 for app access. So if you have bought the app, here’s how you can use an animated GIF as a live wallpaper on Windows 10:
Next, select a live wallpaper in the next section by clicking on the ‘Browse Gallery’ option. However, if you wish to use your own GIF then you can click on ‘Select File’.
Choose any GIF that you like from the gallery and select the wallpaper fit on the next screen. If you choose to use a centered wallpaper, then you can also select the background color for the live wallpaper.
Your GIF should now be applied to your desktop. Enjoy! In case, you are looking for a free software to set GIFs as your live wallpaper then I would recommend Video Wallpaper Animator by Bionix (Check Out). It’s not as feature-rich as Plasteur, but is quite reliable and does the job well. While its development ceased in 2018, the app is still working on Windows 10 so you can definitely try it on your PC.
How to Use Videos as Live Wallpapers on Windows 10
If you wish to use a video as your live wallpaper, you can make use of one of the popular VLC tricks. You can use the VLC media player and its Wallpaper tool to set a dynamic wallpaper on your Windows 10 computer. In order to do so, you’ll need to follow these steps:
Yes, it’s that simple! You can even use multiple videos as live wallpapers by adding them to a playlist on VLC, but if you wish to use the same video over and over again, make sure you toggle on the loop feature on VLC.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q. How Much Does Wallpaper Engine Cost?
Wallpaper Engine costs $3.99 and you can get it from Steam (buy).
Yes, Wallpaper Engine runs in the background, but it consumes very little CPU and GPU resources.
If you want to start Wallpaper Engine on reboot then open Task Manager by right-clicking on the Taskbar. After that, move to the “Startup” tab and enable Wallpaper Engine.
Yes, live wallpaper does affect performance, but it depends on which application you are using. We have mentioned some great apps on this list that don’t hog system resources and pauses live wallpaper when you are playing a game or using an app in full screen.
To an extent, yes, live wallpapers drain battery laptop.
Q. Does Live Wallpaper Consume More RAM?
It takes up a few MB of RAM but nothing substantial. You can easily use live wallpapers on your system if your PC has more than 4GB of RAM. Also, if your PC is running slow, check out our Windows 10 cleanup guide to make it faster.
Live wallpapers only work on the home screen and not on the lock screen.
