Microsoft has quietly added native support for .webp images as desktop backgrounds in the Insider channels, a small but practical tweak that removes a long-standing friction point for users who collect web-sourced wallpapers — while the more eye-catching idea of native video wallpapers remains a work-in-progress, visible only in earlier preview traces and community-enabled builds.
The Windows Insider release notes for Build 26220.7653 (Beta Channel) explicitly state that you can now set .webp images from Settings > Personalization > Desktop Background. This is a deliberate, user-facing change that aligns the wallpaper picker with the modern web ecosystem where WebP is a common choice for efficient image delivery. The build itself sits in the 26xxx series that Microsoft is using while iterating features across the 24H2/25H2 shared servicing branch, which means this improvement is appearing inside the ongoing annual-update cadence rather than as a separate product.
Separately, Microsoft’s experiments with video wallpapers — a DreamScene-style return that would let you pick containers such as .mp4, .mkv, .mov, .webm and others as looping desktop backgrounds — surfaced in earlier preview builds and community hands‑ons. That experimental capability was discovered in older Dev/Beta builds and exposed by enthusiasts through an internal feature flag, but it is not present (or at least not visible) in the recent Beta build that adds WebP support. In short: WebP as wallpaper is now an official, rolling change for Insiders; native video wallpapers remain experimental and gated.
Historically, users who wanted WebP wallpapers sometimes resorted to:
Key points from community findings and early hands‑on reports:
Performance and battery life
Microsoft’s approach — surfacing WebP first, experimenting with video wallpaper behind hidden flags, and rolling changes through Insider channels — fits a conservative, iterative model. It lets Microsoft collect telemetry, observe real-world impacts, and design administrative controls before committing to a broad public rollout.
The broader idea of video wallpapers — the modern DreamScene — remains tantalizing but unfinished. Community discoveries showed the capability in preview builds and revealed a generous list of supported video containers, but the feature remains experimental and gated. Microsoft appears to be iterating cautiously, balancing the appeal of animated backgrounds against battery, security, accessibility, and enterprise policy concerns.
For now, WebP support is the immediate, supported improvement to enjoy. Video wallpaper, if it returns to the Insider channel as a polished, documented, and manageable feature, would broaden personalization in a visible way — but its final shape and availability are still to be determined. Users and IT pros should test, prepare scripts and policies for WebP, and keep a watchful eye on subsequent Insider notes for the next step in Windows personalization.
Source: Windows Latest Microsoft lets you use .webp images as Windows 11 desktop background, no signs of Video wallpaper yet
Background / Overview
The Windows Insider release notes for Build 26220.7653 (Beta Channel) explicitly state that you can now set .webp images from Settings > Personalization > Desktop Background. This is a deliberate, user-facing change that aligns the wallpaper picker with the modern web ecosystem where WebP is a common choice for efficient image delivery. The build itself sits in the 26xxx series that Microsoft is using while iterating features across the 24H2/25H2 shared servicing branch, which means this improvement is appearing inside the ongoing annual-update cadence rather than as a separate product.Separately, Microsoft’s experiments with video wallpapers — a DreamScene-style return that would let you pick containers such as .mp4, .mkv, .mov, .webm and others as looping desktop backgrounds — surfaced in earlier preview builds and community hands‑ons. That experimental capability was discovered in older Dev/Beta builds and exposed by enthusiasts through an internal feature flag, but it is not present (or at least not visible) in the recent Beta build that adds WebP support. In short: WebP as wallpaper is now an official, rolling change for Insiders; native video wallpapers remain experimental and gated.
Why this matters: WebP, wallpaper workflows, and practical benefits
WebP is designed to deliver smaller file sizes at comparable or better visual fidelity than JPEG and PNG. For wallpaper use, that translates to several practical benefits:- Smaller storage footprint for large wallpaper collections and synced themes.
- Lower bandwidth if wallpapers are downloaded or synchronized across devices or when using cloud-based theme services.
- Higher quality at modest file sizes, especially for photographic or gradient-rich images.
- Better parity with the web: Many modern image sources deliver images as WebP by default.
Real-world benefits at a glance
- Faster sync and reduced data transfer for wallpaper galleries.
- Easier workflows for designers and users who save wallpapers directly from the web.
- Less friction for curated theme packs distributed internally in enterprises or via third‑party marketplaces.
What Microsoft changed in Build 26220.7653
The official Insider release notes for Build 26220.7653 state, in plain language: you can now set .webp images for your desktop background from Settings > Personalization > Desktop Background. That change indicates a supported path in the Settings app and shell for WebP. The key implications are:- The Settings-based image picker will offer WebP images alongside PNG and JPEG when browsing local files.
- Users no longer need to convert WebP files before applying them through the standard personalization UX.
- This change is being rolled out to Insiders and may be gated or gradual as Microsoft flips server-side toggles; your device may receive the change at a different time depending on toggles and channels.
- Microsoft documentation lists this as an OS-level settings improvement; the notes do not explicitly detail whether the shell performs native decoding of WebP internally, or if it still converts to another intermediate format for caching. Observations from hands-on testers suggest the wallpaper path now accepts WebP directly, but whether that equates to purely native decoding versus internal conversion is an implementation detail Microsoft has not published. Treat any claims about the internal conversion pipeline as informed inference unless Microsoft publishes explicit technical details.
- The feature is arriving through Insider channels and may be delivered to stable channels via the shared servicing branch and enablement packages used for 24H2/25H2 lifecycle updates. Microsoft’s flighting model means the exact public release branch and timing can change.
Technical context: WebP support in Windows historically
WebP has been supported by many Windows applications for years — browsers, image editors, and some apps have used the WebP codec and libraries. What changed now is the inclusion of WebP in the Settings > Personalization wallpaper path, a path that underpins the OS shell behavior for desktop backgrounds and interacts with features like slideshow, transcoded wallpaper cache, and enterprise wallpaper deployments.Historically, users who wanted WebP wallpapers sometimes resorted to:
- Converting .webp to .jpg/.png before applying.
- Using registry tweaks or third‑party utilities to add a “Set as desktop background” context action for .webp files.
- Employing third‑party wallpaper managers.
Video wallpaper: the DreamScene echo and current status
The idea of setting a video as a desktop background is not new — Windows Vista’s DreamScene allowed animated backgrounds long ago — and it has been a popular third-party feature via apps like Wallpaper Engine and Lively Wallpaper. Over the last year, traces of a first-party video wallpaper implementation appeared in Insider preview builds: the personalization UI had been observed to accept video containers, and community testers exposed the capability via an internal feature flag.Key points from community findings and early hands‑on reports:
- The capability was discovered in Dev/Beta preview builds earlier in the cycle and appears to accept a wide range of containers: .mp4, .mkv, .mov, .wmv, .avi, .m4v, .webm, etc.
- When enabled by the internal flag, the Settings > Personalization > Background picker showed video files and allowed them to be applied as looping wallpapers.
- Early testers reported playback was silent by default (no audio), which matches sensible UX expectations for desktop backgrounds.
- The implementation is gated behind a feature flag (community-tested flag: 57645315) and requires experimental tooling to expose on consumer builds; Microsoft has not formally announced a general rollout.
- The video wallpaper feature was visible in earlier preview traces but is absent or hidden in some subsequent Insider builds that focus on other changes. That suggests Microsoft is still iterating, assessing trade-offs (performance, battery, accessibility), and possibly reworking the media pipeline before finalizing a public release.
- Microsoft has not published formal guidance about codec support, battery impact, or enterprise controls for video wallpapers. Container support doesn’t guarantee every codec inside that container will decode the same way across hardware and drivers.
- Insider traces suggest the capability exists but may eventually be controlled by policy, reduced-motion heuristics, or power state checks.
Hands-on notes and how testers exposed video wallpapers (community insights)
Community sleuths found the video wallpaper bits by examining Settings and by flipping an internal feature flag using a third‑party utility. The commonly reported approach in the testing community is:- Obtain the utility that toggles internal features (community tool such as ViVeTool).
- Enable the feature ID 57645315.
- Restart Explorer.exe or reboot to refresh shell state.
- Open Settings > Personalization > Background and browse to a video file; the option to set it as wallpaper appears.
- This is a community method, not an official Microsoft-supported workflow. Enabling internal flags can change system behavior and is recommended only on non-critical test machines.
- The feature is experimental and could change or be removed without notice; enabling it may expose unresolved bugs or stability issues.
- There is no official Microsoft support path for problems caused by flipping internal flags.
Risks, unknowns, and implementation considerations
While WebP wallpaper support is a benign and welcome usability improvement, the broader ambitions to support video backgrounds raise several technical and security questions. These deserve attention from both power users and IT professionals.Performance and battery life
- Continuous video decoding and rendering carries an energy cost. Early hands-on reports indicate testers saw little immediate resource impact for short, low-resolution loops, but that is not a guarantee for all hardware or all codecs.
- Laptops on battery, small form-factor devices, or devices with older GPUs may see measurable battery drain and thermal impact if long or high-resolution clips are used.
- Microsoft has historically included power heuristics for animation (for example, pause or reduce motion under Battery Saver). Expect similar heuristics for video wallpapers — but those have not been fully documented yet.
- Supporting containers (MP4, MKV, WEBM, etc. is only part of the story; the actual decoding depends on the codecs inside the container (H.264, H.265, AV1, VP9, etc.. Hardware acceleration, driver support, and performance vary by GPU and platform.
- Unsupported codecs will fallback to software decoders, which may consume CPU and produce worse battery and performance outcomes on some devices.
- Media codecs are historically a source of security vulnerabilities. Whitelisting untrusted video files or playing malformed files in the shell could raise attack-surface concerns if the media stack or decoders have undiscovered flaws.
- Enterprises should expect Microsoft to implement safe-guards (scanning by antimalware engines, process isolation for media decoding, or policy controls) before a general release.
- Dynamic or animated backgrounds must respect accessibility preferences such as Reduce motion and should not create motion or flicker issues for users with vestibular disorders.
- Defaulting to silent playback is a sensible UX decision; any deviation would be disruptive.
- Organizations will want Group Policy or MDM controls to:
- Disable video wallpapers on managed devices.
- Restrict allowed file types or directories.
- Ensure compliance with performance baselines or imaging policies.
- Native video wallpaper support could subsume much of the functionality that third‑party apps provide, but third‑party apps commonly offer richer per-monitor control, streaming, interactive content, and pause-on-fullscreen gaming behavior.
- Third-party apps may need to adapt to coexist with native functionality; conversely, Microsoft could provide OS-level APIs so third-party developers can integrate responsibly.
Practical guidance for typical users
- If you only care about smaller, higher-quality wallpapers: update to the latest Insider builds that include the WebP wallpaper feature and use Settings > Personalization > Desktop Background to apply WebP images. Expect the feature to arrive gradually if you don’t see it immediately.
- If you want to experiment with video wallpapers now: understand that the capability is experimental and lives behind a feature flag. Use a test machine and proceed cautiously; shorter, lower-resolution clips encoded with widely supported codecs (H.264 in an MP4 container) will generally be the most compatible and efficient.
- Keep an eye on power settings: if you apply a looping video wallpaper on a laptop, verify battery life and thermal behavior — especially for long or 4K clips.
- For multi-monitor setups: current community reports do not confirm per-monitor capabilities for native video wallpapers. Third-party apps still provide more advanced per-monitor personalization.
Practical guidance for IT admins and developers
- Audit existing scripts and automation that set wallpapers: if your tools assume only JPG/PNG/BMP, update them to handle WebP if your environment will adopt WebP assets.
- Consider Group Policy/MDM readiness: plan for potential administrative controls to disable animated or video backgrounds on managed fleets.
- Test line-of-business images and themes: if you deploy corporate wallpapers, validate that WebP assets display correctly across target devices and that any transcoded wallpaper caches behave as expected.
- Monitor driver and codec compatibility: for environments with constrained or legacy hardware, confirm that media decoders are available and that fallback behavior is acceptable.
Strategic perspective: why Microsoft might be moving cautiously
Small, incremental shell features often hide complex trade-offs. Adding WebP wallpaper support is low risk and high value: it’s a simple UX win that improves parity with the web. Enabling video wallpapers touches on a wider set of concerns: battery impact, codec diversity, media security, accessibility, and enterprise manageability.Microsoft’s approach — surfacing WebP first, experimenting with video wallpaper behind hidden flags, and rolling changes through Insider channels — fits a conservative, iterative model. It lets Microsoft collect telemetry, observe real-world impacts, and design administrative controls before committing to a broad public rollout.
What to watch next
- Official documentation or a formal announcement that clarifies the internal implementation details for WebP (native decode vs. conversion / caching strategy).
- Microsoft guidance on video wallpaper behavior: battery impact, codec list, audio policy, and enterprise controls.
- Group Policy or MDM CSP entries that allow admins to restrict or disable animated/video wallpapers.
- Accessibility and reduced‑motion integration into the feature (expected, but not yet documented).
- How third‑party wallpaper ecosystem vendors adapt: will they preserve niche features or pivot to complementary capabilities?
Conclusion
The addition of .webp as a first-class desktop background type in Build 26220.7653 is a modest but meaningful modernization that simplifies workflows for users and administrators who rely on web-native imagery. It’s a tidy, practical win: reduced file sizes, fewer conversions, and more consistent behavior when sourcing wallpapers from the web.The broader idea of video wallpapers — the modern DreamScene — remains tantalizing but unfinished. Community discoveries showed the capability in preview builds and revealed a generous list of supported video containers, but the feature remains experimental and gated. Microsoft appears to be iterating cautiously, balancing the appeal of animated backgrounds against battery, security, accessibility, and enterprise policy concerns.
For now, WebP support is the immediate, supported improvement to enjoy. Video wallpaper, if it returns to the Insider channel as a polished, documented, and manageable feature, would broaden personalization in a visible way — but its final shape and availability are still to be determined. Users and IT pros should test, prepare scripts and policies for WebP, and keep a watchful eye on subsequent Insider notes for the next step in Windows personalization.
Source: Windows Latest Microsoft lets you use .webp images as Windows 11 desktop background, no signs of Video wallpaper yet
