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Postrediori/WindowsWallpapers.md

Last active October 5, 2023 09:14
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Some info about where Windows stores info on desktop wallpapers
Raw
WindowsWallpapers.md

Wallpapers set from Photos app:

%LocalAppData%\Packages\Microsoft.Windows.Photos_8wekyb3d8bbwe\LocalState\PhotosAppBackground

Current wallpaper copy:

%APPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\CachedFiles
%LOCALAPPDATA%\Microsoft\Windows\Themes\RoamedThemeFiles\DesktopBackground

Current wallpaper path:

HKCU\Control Panel\Desktop\WallPaper
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Wallpapers\CurrentWallpaperPath

History of wallpapers:

HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Wallpapers\BackgroundHistoryPath0
HKCU\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Wallpapers\BackgroundHistoryPath1
...

Registry keys are duplicated in HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-...:

HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-...\Control Panel\Desktop\WallPaper
HKEY_USERS\S-1-5-...\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\CurrentVersion\Explorer\Wallpapers\BackgroundHistoryPath0
...

Standard wallpapers:

%windir%\Web
%windir%\Web\Screen
...

Photo app cache (may contain thumbnails for wallpapers):

%LocalAppData%\Microsoft\Windows\INetCache\thumbnails\normal
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