A downloadable wallpaper-engine for Windows

Lively Wallpaper turns your desktop background into something alive - video loops, GIFs, animated shaders, even interactive web pages - instead of a static image sitting there doing nothing.

This is a Windows-packaged build of the open-source Lively Wallpaper, one of the most-starred desktop customization tools on itch.io. Nothing about the engine is changed - this build just gets it in front of itch's desktop-customization audience.

Why free instead of Wallpaper Engine

Wallpaper Engine on Steam costs $3.99 and works great, but it's closed-source and locked to Steam. Lively does the same core job - animated/interactive wallpapers, per-monitor support, pause-on-fullscreen - and is completely free, with the source code open for anyone to check or modify.

Features

Video, GIF, and animated image wallpapers
Interactive web page wallpapers (HTML/CSS/JS)
Real-time shader wallpapers
Per-application pause (games/fullscreen apps don't fight it for GPU)
Multi-monitor support, per-monitor wallpaper
Playlist mode - cycle wallpapers on a timer
System tray control, low idle resource usage

Install

Download LivelyWallpaper.exe
Run it and grant the one-time Windows permission prompt (needed to draw behind desktop icons)
Right-click the tray icon → Browse Wallpapers → pick or add your own

More information

Published	10 days ago
Status	Released
Category	Tool
Platforms	Windows
Author	WraithEcho
Tags	dekstop_wallpaper, dynamic-wallpaper, fluent-design, wallpaper, wallpaper-app, wallpaper-changer, wallpaper-engine, wallpapers, widgets
Average session	Days or more
Languages	Czech, German, English, Spanish; Castilian, Spanish; Latin America, Italian, Lithuanian, Latvian, Polish, Portuguese (Portugal)
Inputs	Keyboard, Mouse
Accessibility	Color-blind friendly
Content	No generative AI was used

Download

Lively Wallpaper.zip 101 MB

Install instructions

Click Download and grab LivelyWallpaper.exe.
Run the app. Windows SmartScreen may show "Windows protected your PC" since the build isn't code-signed - click More info → Run anyway to proceed.
On first launch, Windows will ask for a permission prompt to let Lively draw behind your desktop icons - click Yes, this is required for it to work.
Once open, right-click the tray icon (bottom-right, near the clock) → Browse Wallpapers to pick one, or Add Wallpaper to load your own video/GIF/shader.
To stop or uninstall, right-click the tray icon → Quit, then remove via Windows Settings → Apps.