89
submitted 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago) by zlatiah@lemmy.world to c/asklemmy@lemmy.world

Asking because I only recently realized that I've been running KDE default wallpapers for over a year without noticing. I'm also debating whether to switch to something more "fun" and aligned to my hobbies

As far as I'm aware, popular OSes/DEs tend to have a healthy selection of high-quality default wallpapers, and some OSes/DEs even have wallpaper "shops". So I'd like to ask what you all use! If you are using a custom one, love to hear where/why you got it.

If you want to share your custom wallpaper feel free to

Edit: thank you all! I didn't realize how many of you use solid colors... as well as the number of people who don't think too much about wallpapers since you don't look at it often (frankly the same for me). For the ones who shared: thanks a ton. Also fun story: there was a recurring joke on r/Unixporn about anime wallpapers but I guess it is not remotely as popular outside of the ricing community

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] tal@lemmy.today 23 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I use #222e45. I think that it's been constant since the 1990s or so.

 $ convert -size 200x200 "xc:#222e45" example.png

I don't see it much these days, since I'm using sway, which does tiling window management. There's almost always something fully covering it now.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] falseWhite@lemmy.world 19 points 4 days ago

I use Wallpaper Engine for animated and interactive wallpapers. They're fucking awesome!

[-] kelpie_returns@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

I didn't know I needed this until a second ago, but wow do i need this now. Thanks for the tip!

[-] cdzero@lemmy.ml 3 points 3 days ago

I was running screenshots I would grab from anime if there was a lingering shot on a nice scene. Had a really nice sky and clouds shot for a while. Phone has had a nice Hiroshi Nagai painting since I got it.

Currently just on one of the Mint defaults since the latest installation. I'll change it. Eventually.

[-] SpongyAneurysm@feddit.org 3 points 3 days ago

I use KDE default wallpapers as well, because something keeps switching them as I regularly plug/unplug additional monitors and I don't bother trobleshooting the issue anymore.

I have a high-key photo of spring cherry blossoms, that I took myself on my SDDM greeter, though.

Used to have my own photo of a wall made of tires as my wallpaper as well.

[-] snoons@lemmy.ca 13 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I always use images from the JWST:

https://esawebb.org/images/?sort=-release_date

They're all gorgeous.

For my phone backgrounds, I use pictures made by Seok98.

GiTS/Jujutsu Kaisen anime girls.

*I'm so surprised how many people use solid colours. Interesting to see other peoples apparent mindset in that regard.

*Should also say I don't use desktop icons like a dirty pleb >:3 i use ubuntu btw (and idrc if you use icons)

[-] Lumisal@lemmy.world 12 points 4 days ago

Anyone know if there's something easy to use like Wallpaper Engine for Linux? Specifically on Bazzite

[-] remon@ani.social 14 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I have a folder with 598 pictures of stealth aircraft that are cycled through as wallpaper and screen saver.

[-] TigerClawTV@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

I think I would make zooming noises everytime I use my computer with that setup

[-] Evkob@lemmy.ca 8 points 4 days ago

I always use a simple diagonal gradient with the three colours of the bisexual flag. I am bisexual, but it's mostly because I like the colours. Whenever I get a new device, I generate an appropriately-sized gradient for its screen using GIMP.

The one exception is the background of my Steam Deck in desktop mode, which is the following because I thought it was funny:

[-] SpongyAneurysm@feddit.org 1 points 3 days ago
[-] commie@lemmy.dbzer0.com 12 points 4 days ago

I like black wallpaper. I like to keep the serial number of the machine visible. the wallpaper is black with the serial number.

my phone lock screen includes my imeis, mac address, bluetooth mac, model, and serial no

I'm just quirky like that

[-] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 7 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

How long does it take you to know that number by heart?

/s

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] HootinNHollerin@lemmy.dbzer0.com 9 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)
[-] DeLancre@feddit.org 3 points 3 days ago

I use JWST Images from NASA. It's a free library of fascinating high res images

[-] Inkstainthebat@pawb.social 8 points 4 days ago

I use two different pieces of art I made myself for my mobile and desktop devices respectively!

mobile devices

desktop devices I don't keep icons on my desktop, so contrast isn't something I worry about, and I'm a sucker for colors :3

[-] strlcpy@lemmy.sdf.org 6 points 4 days ago

Chaotic neutral here

I cycle wallpapers from different OSes, but never the one running. Work W11 laptop has the Debian wallpaper now, OpenBSD laptop the Windows 10 backlit glass one, etc

(I do the same with game character names)

[-] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 8 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

Solid color: Light-ish dull-ish green. Been using it since I concluded that I didn't like the Win98 default, and it has carried over to other OSes after that.

Roughly #81e39b

[-] tal@lemmy.today 7 points 4 days ago
$ convert -size 200x200 "xc:#81e39b" example.png

[-] neidu3@sh.itjust.works 4 points 4 days ago

Yeah, pretty close. I don't have my PC available so I don't know exactly, I just picked those values from a color picker website.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] DarkSirrush@piefed.ca 5 points 4 days ago

I paid a stupid amount of money (because of currency conversion, their rates were reasonable) for some art for tattoos, and the artist formatted it as a wallpaper for me.

It has been my wallpaper ever since.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] PrivateNoob@sopuli.xyz 7 points 4 days ago

I have an anime girl wallpaper with a pink reddish theme

[-] Wolf314159@startrek.website 7 points 4 days ago

At work, all black, because I prefer working in a darkened room and sometimes I need to use the laptop in sunny conditions full of glare. I have no need of any extra light getting blasted at me not directly related to something I'm working on. Also, I get a kick out of the "Why are your other monitors off?" comments. Also, IT tends to clutter my desktop with a bunch of shortcuts with a hodgepodge of icon styles, it's a lot easier to visually parse these on a black field.

At home, the media server is directly connected to a TV with HDMI and has a desktop environment. My distributions default wallpapers always come in two varieties, colorful or greyscale. The server automatically logs into a restricted user account for family access to Kodi, retro arch, web browsing, etc., which has the colorful wallpaper. If for some reason I need to get into the admin account with a GUI, the desktop wallpaper is grey. It's like an always-on simplified color coded whoami. Since I almost never interact with this machine except through ssh or the services it hosts, this is the most amount of ricing I'm willing to do.

[-] tal@lemmy.today 7 points 4 days ago

At work, all black

Not sure that this requires an example, but since I'm doing example images for some other comments, for consistency:

$ convert -size 200x200 "xc:black" example.png

[-] snoons@lemmy.ca 4 points 4 days ago

Lol that's the exact same as voyagers background colour in dark mode.

I almost thought the link was broken.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (5 replies)
[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 5 points 4 days ago

I'm using the "Astronomy Pic of the Day".

[-] antrosapien@lemmy.ml 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

The Starry Night, on all my devices for about 5 years now Straight outta Wikipedia

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] Unpigged@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 4 days ago

I have a script that pulls a fresh image from NASA Astronomy Picture of the Day and sets it as a wallpaper. But I rarely see it because 99.9% of the time my windows are maximized and I don't have things on the desktop.

[-] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 6 points 4 days ago

I like this artist’s stuff for my wallpapers on all my devices except my work machine:

https://www.artstation.com/artwork/zDalZ4

[-] TheV2@programming.dev 1 points 3 days ago

#6a4d53 - I do care about it, but rather as the color in the window gaps.

[-] AlexCory21@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

TLDR: if you're a VRChat player/enjoyer, Find a cool world in VRChat to pose in with your favorite avatar by yourself or with friends and take a picture with the in-game camera.

Alternatively, "Elite Dangerous" is a great desktop background generator! Find a cool spot and take a screenshot. Boom. New desktop background haha.

/end TLDR


I play alot of VRChat and I found a cool world in VRChat called " VR art 'New place' ". It's basically a VR art museum where you click on the "painting" and it teleports you inside of it. The scenery in the world is super super pretty and very cool; I highly recommend it.

What I did is I found a spot that I thought would look good for a desktop background. I posed on a dock facing a giant moon. And then used VRChat's fly camera to give some distance. Thus making my avatar appear small in the center and expanding the view of the art in the world. That way the focus is moreso on the world with my small avatar in the center.

It's kind of like placing yourself in the middle of your favorite desktop background. Granted I suppose any experienced photoshopper or photographer could do something similar haha.

As for Elite Dangerous, I've enjoyed flying my ship to a cool star system and then using the spectator camera to take pictures of cool phenomena and use those as desktop background too. Some of my favorites include: landing on Ring planets, finding a tiny planet with a view of 3 or more stars, or pictures of black holes.

[-] GlenRambo@jlai.lu 3 points 4 days ago

Forrest's or plants. The green is relaxing.

[-] GreyShuck@feddit.uk 5 points 4 days ago

I have a selection of natural scenes - some that I have taken myself, other found on the web - that rotate each two hours around the day. Night shots at night etc.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] thisbenzingring@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

at work, on my main desktop, I use a picture I took on vacation (of Scotland)

otherwise I have to use a lot of servers so I color code the desktops to remind myself of what systems it is or how critical it is. Using red or uncomfortable colors on systems that are critical keeps me from making mistakes on them.

At home on my laptop, I have been using the KDE OneStandsOut wallpaper for a few years https://invent.kde.org/plasma/plasma-workspace-wallpapers/-/blob/master/OneStandsOut/contents/screenshot.jpg?ref_type=heads

its simple and nice to look at for a few seconds when I am actually looking at the desktop loading after a reboot or something

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] Nemo@slrpnk.net 4 points 4 days ago

Custom. I have a folder of wallpapers I've been accumulating over the past thirty years, since I got my first laptop (brick of a thing, too) on my way to college. There are photos, parks from comics, MS Paint drawings, diagrams, even screenshots of previous desktop setups.

load more comments (1 replies)
[-] chris@l.roofo.cc 4 points 4 days ago

Solid black to save my OLED screen from burn in.

[-] Typewar@infosec.pub 2 points 4 days ago

Arknights wallpapers for the last 5 years. Suzuran and Lappland.

[-] callyral@pawb.social 3 points 4 days ago

urban photography which i heavily edited

[-] Zwuzelmaus@feddit.org 4 points 4 days ago

Slide show with slow changes, only every 6 hours. It shows a selection of my own photos of beautiful nature, according to the current season.

[-] sfxrlz@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 4 days ago

I have a hyprland „rice“ config (didn’t do it myself) which came with beautiful backgrounds ootb but I don’t really use it at all. The one i mostly use is close to stock sway with the default sway-bg background.

Default, I love scarlet tree

[-] Contramuffin@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

Custom, but I understand the appeal of sticking with the default.

I think the issue with wallpapers is that there's a very fine balance that it needs to strike: not too simple that it's monotonous, but not too fancy that it's distracting and hides icons. Too many wallpapers swing too significantly in either extreme that I simply don't like the vast majority of wallpapers that I find.

Interestingly, KDE seems to strike this balance relatively consistently - they must be aware and are actively attempting to strike that balance. I don't know how else to explain it.

load more comments (2 replies)
[-] slazer2au@lemmy.world 4 points 4 days ago

Custom wall papers always for personal machines.

I use to have a monotone black wallpaper because I had weird game glitches when I had a wallpaper, but I don't play that game anymore so now I have one of the moon.

load more comments
view more: next ›
this post was submitted on 23 Oct 2025
89 points (100.0% liked)

Ask Lemmy

35292 readers
2059 users here now

A Fediverse community for open-ended, thought provoking questions


Rules: (interactive)


1) Be nice and; have funDoxxing, trolling, sealioning, racism, and toxicity are not welcomed in AskLemmy. Remember what your mother said: if you can't say something nice, don't say anything at all. In addition, the site-wide Lemmy.world terms of service also apply here. Please familiarize yourself with them


2) All posts must end with a '?'This is sort of like Jeopardy. Please phrase all post titles in the form of a proper question ending with ?


3) No spamPlease do not flood the community with nonsense. Actual suspected spammers will be banned on site. No astroturfing.


4) NSFW is okay, within reasonJust remember to tag posts with either a content warning or a [NSFW] tag. Overtly sexual posts are not allowed, please direct them to either !asklemmyafterdark@lemmy.world or !asklemmynsfw@lemmynsfw.com. NSFW comments should be restricted to posts tagged [NSFW].


5) This is not a support community.
It is not a place for 'how do I?', type questions. If you have any questions regarding the site itself or would like to report a community, please direct them to Lemmy.world Support or email info@lemmy.world. For other questions check our partnered communities list, or use the search function.


6) No US Politics.
Please don't post about current US Politics. If you need to do this, try !politicaldiscussion@lemmy.world or !askusa@discuss.online


Reminder: The terms of service apply here too.

Partnered Communities:

Tech Support

No Stupid Questions

You Should Know

Reddit

Jokes

Ask Ouija


Logo design credit goes to: tubbadu


founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS