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Windows 11 Background Slideshow Not Working: Quick Fix

Key Takeaways:

To fix the background slideshow not working in Windows, go to Settings > Personalization > Themes and click on the Use Custom Theme button.


Generally, the wallpaper slideshow on the desktop or lock screen works as intended. However, under certain circumstances, the background slideshow might not work. If that’s the case for you, this article shows you some simple steps to fix it.

Table of contents:

  1. Why doesn’t the background slideshow work?
  2. Fix the Windows 11 background slideshow not working

Why doesn’t the background slideshow work?

On Windows 11 or 10, it is quite easy to set up a background slideshow; in fact, I’ve already written articles with detailed steps for setting up desktop background slideshow and lock screen slideshow. However, the slideshow will not work if you use a built-in or third-party theme. If a theme already has one or more background images, those will be used for wallpapers. This is because Windows gives the first preference to the background images in the theme. That way, the theme’s overall look, and feel will be consistent.

Fix the Windows 11 background slideshow not working

The easiest way to fix the background slideshow not working is by setting the theme preference to custom. Here’s how to do it.

1. Open the Settings app in Windows 11 or 10.

Use the Windows key + I keyboard shortcut to launch the Settings application on your computer. You can also click the Settings icon (gear) in the Quick Settings panel or search for it in the Start menu.

2. Go to the Personalization > Themes page in the Settings app.

Once the Settings app opens, click on the Personalization tab on the sidebar and then click on the Themes page. As you can guess, this is where you can change themes and other personalization settings, such as the desktop icons.

click on themes in settings

3. Click on the ‘Use custom theme’ button to fix the problem.

Here on the themes page, click the ‘Use custom theme’ appearing right under the theme settings. For reference, see the highlighted part of the below image. With that, the wallpaper slideshow not working problem is fixed. From now on, the wallpaper slideshow will work as intended.

click use custom theme button to fix wallpaper slideshow not working problem

4. (Optional) Change the color mode or theme (light or dark).

Clicking the ‘Use custom theme’ automatically sets the theme to light mode. If you like that, no problem. On the other hand, if you want to use a dark theme, you can still do that by changing the color mode. For that, open the Settings app, go to the ‘Personalization > Colors’ page, and select ‘Dark’ from the ‘Choose your mode’ dropdown menu. You can also schedule dark mode. This does not affect the slideshow, and it works as intended.

Note: If you didn’t set the wallpaper slideshow, set it and it will work.

That is all. It is that simple to fix the background slideshow not working in Windows. As you can see, all you have to do is click a single button, and the problem is fixed. Do keep in mind that if you install a new Windows theme or enable a built-in one, the slideshow stops working again. In that case, follow the above steps to fix it.

I hope this simple and easy Windows how-to guide helped you.

If you are stuck or need help, send an email, and I will try to help as much as possible.

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