Wallpaper is also called a computer background and should not be confused with the screen saver, which are images or animations that are run across the screen when the computer is inactive for some time. Free wallpapers are found aplenty on the Internet; you just have to download them.

To download free wallpaper, you have to visit a search engine like Google or Yahoo, wherein you type the keywords computer wallpaper or computer sports wallpaper, if any specific type of wallpaper is required. Upon pressing Enter, your query is submitted; then you click on the site that has the free wallpaper you wish to download. The instructions for downloading free wallpapers are different for different operating systems.

After choosing the wallpaper, you have to download it. To do this, you have to click on the start menu button, wherein you click on Settings, and then on Control Panel. You then double-click the Display icon or text link, where a window named Display Properties is opened. If the Background tab is not selected, you have to click on it. Then you click on one of the items that appear on the box labeled wallpaper. You click on browse to click on the image that was stored previously. Once the image is located, open it, and then click OK to change your wallpaper. Then you use the display menu to do some experimenting with tiling, centering or stretching the picture you are previewing. However, if you suddenly decide to maintain your present wallpaper, you only have to click on Cancel.

You can also download scanned or digital photographs, or some original artwork created by you, to function as free wallpaper. As wallpapers consist of large image files, they tend to take some time to download.