How do I install Wallpaper Lively X?

💡Before you start

Wallpaper Lively X is a free Windows desktop app that plays video, web page, GIF and interactive wallpapers behind your desktop icons. This page gets it onto your PC and explains the first screen you will see.

🛒Install from the Store

Where do I download Wallpaper Lively X?

The app is published on the Microsoft Store, so there is nothing to configure and no separate installer to hunt down.

Open the Wallpaper Lively X page in the Store - the download button on this page takes you straight there.
Click Get or Install and wait for the download to finish.
Click Open, or start Wallpaper Lively X from the Start menu later.

What does my PC need to run it?

It is a Windows desktop app for Windows 10 and Windows 11, 64-bit; the Store page lists the exact minimum build for your region. Beyond Windows itself:

Disk space: the app is small, but video and web wallpapers are stored on your PC, so leave a few gigabytes free if you collect them.
Browser engine: web page wallpapers use either the CEFSharp engine that ships with the app or the WebView2 runtime already built into Windows 10 and 11 - either way there is nothing extra to install.
Windows N or KN editions: video wallpaper playback needs the Microsoft Media Feature Pack, which those editions do not include.
A GPU: hardware video decoding keeps the CPU free; there is a GPU Decode switch in Settings > Wallpaper if you ever need to turn it off.

Keep the wallpapers on a reasonably fast drive - a video wallpaper is decoded while you work, so a slow disk shows up as stutter.

🚀The first launch

What happens the first time I open the app?

A welcome dialog offers to open the tutorial: choose Read tutorial or Later, and tick Do not show again if you would rather not be asked again. Behind the dialog is the main window - a sidebar with Library, Wallpaper Store, Add Wallpaper, Favorites and Settings, and the active wallpaper counter at the bottom.

Why is my library empty?

A fresh install has no wallpapers of its own, so the app usually pulls a few free featured ones from the store so that the grid is not blank. If nothing has been added yet, the Library says Your library is empty and offers two buttons: Browse Store for the catalogue, and Add File for a video, picture, GIF, web page or wallpaper zip of your own.

Leave the app running. Wallpaper Lively X paints the desktop from a background process, so closing or hiding the window does not stop the wallpaper - read the tray icon page if you want it gone from the notification area.

The Wallpaper Lively X Library page on first launch, with library tiles and the type badges

The Library collects everything you download or add.

✅Check that it is running

How do I know a wallpaper is actually playing?

Three signals, all on screen at once:

The counter at the bottom of the sidebar changes from 0 Active Wallpaper(s) to the number of screens that are playing.
The Library tile of the running wallpaper gains a green Active badge.
The notification-area icon stays in colour; it turns grey only while playback is paused.

Nothing is playing yet - where do I go next?

Use Wallpaper Store to download something from the catalogue, or Add Wallpaper to point the app at a file you already own. The rest of this tutorial walks through both routes, the library, and every Settings tab.

Wallpaper Lively X is published by Software Union and is built on the open-source Lively Wallpaper project; the licence text and the complete source archive are published on the Source code & license page linked below.

Source code & license Microsoft Store page How do I find and download wallpapers in the store? →