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Why can't I set different wallpapers to my monitors when I have more than one desktop open windows 11

Anonymous
2023-04-13T18:50:30+00:00

I used to be able to have two virtual desktops, and when my main desktop is open and connected to my monitor, Monitor 1 and Monitor 2 had two different wallpapers. Now when I go into settings under personalization to change my monitor wallpapers, it only allows me to have different wallpapers for desktops one and two after right-clicking the desired picture instead of the usual monitor one and two. When I delete my second desktop, the options to change the wallpaper for monitors one and two come back but once I set it and add back the second desktop, everything resets to the same wallpaper- erasing all of the changes I made. I use both of my desktops and enjoy the personalization of being able to quickly identify from one monitor to the other.

Is there any way to have different wallpapers on my monitors while still having two desktops?

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Settings

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-10-30T04:55:31+00:00

    Hi Megan, I am not from Microsoft. But I had the same problem as you, I could not set my backgrounds to what I want on 2 monitors. The problem was that I had 2 desktops running. To fix this press the windows key + tab and it will pop up with different desktops u have open, close the one you don't want. And when you go back into your background and display settings you can now pick which background you want to put on which monitor, aka the original of what it was supposed to be not chosen the desktops u want to put backgrounds on.

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  1. Anonymous
    2023-04-13T19:51:16+00:00

    Hello and thanks for reaching out for support. My name is Larribeau, I'm an independent advisor and a regular user like you. I'll be happy to help you out today.

    1. Open Settings and switch to the “Personalization” tab from the left sidebar. Once you’re there, click on “Background” to view wallpaper-related settings.
    2. Click on the “Browse photos” button next to “Choose a photo” to pick your preferred wallpaper.
    3. When the image appears in the “Recent images” tab, right-click and choose “Set for monitor 1” to set the wallpaper for the first monitor. Similarly, right-click another image and choose “Set for monitor 2” to set it as your second monitor’s wallpaper.

    You have successfully set a unique wallpaper on each monitor in Windows 11.

    1. In case you are not sure of the monitor’s number, you can visit System -> Display and click on the “Identify” button to find it. Clicking the button will show the monitor number at the bottom-left corner of the screen

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-04-14T04:31:12+00:00

    Thank you so much for your reply!

    However, I do not believe you understood the full extent of my question. I know how to assign a different wallpaper for each monitor. My issue is when I have more than one desktop active on my laptop, after clicking on the “Browse photos” button next to “Choose a photo” to pick my preferred wallpaper. "Set for monitor 1" and "Set to monitor 2" disappear and turn into "Set for Desktop 1" and "Set for desktop 2" when I have two desktops open. Settings will only allow me to have different wallpapers for each desktop and force both of my monitors to have the same wallpaper.

    Once again my question is: Is there any way to have different wallpapers on my monitors while still having two "virtual" desktops active?

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  3. Anonymous
    2024-01-16T17:06:18+00:00

    Maybe it's a little late but here is my solution:

    1. You need to remove or delete your "Desktops" Windows+Tab and click on X button of each Desktop.
    2. Now you will be able to Select beetwen Monitor 1, Monitor 2, etc on Background.
    3. Finally you can create again your Desktops with new wallpapers

    10+ people found this answer helpful.
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  4. Anonymous
    2023-05-19T11:43:53+00:00

    Make a wallpaper that spans all monitors. For example, if you have two 1920x1080 monitors you can make one 3840x1080 wallpaper from two images, and each monitor will display its 1920x1080 half of the image

    8 people found this answer helpful.
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