Windows 11 Is Finally Getting Live Wallpapers — Without Any Third-Party Apps!

If you love customizing your desktop, here’s some exciting news — Windows 11 is getting official live wallpaper support! That means you’ll soon be able to use animated or video wallpapers without installing any third-party applications.

Why This Matters

Up until now, using live wallpapers in Windows required third-party tools like Lively Wallpaper or Sucrose, but these apps often consumed a lot of CPU and memory because they used external video players in the background.
Microsoft’s upcoming built-in feature is different — it’s lightweight and optimized. Even when tested on a virtual machine with just two CPU cores, it ran smoothly with minimal resource usage.

How It Works

This feature is currently hidden in Windows 11 version 25H2 (Beta) and isn’t available in the stable release yet. However, you can try it out using a free and open-source tool called ViVeTool from GitHub that unlocks hidden Windows features.

Here’s a simple walkthrough:

1. Download the ViVeTool from GitHub

2. Extract the ZIP file.

3. Copy the folder address.

4. Open Command Prompt as Administrator.

5. Type cd and paste the tool’s folder path.

6. Run this command vivetool /enable /id:57645315

7. Restart your PC.

Once restarted:

• Right-click on your desktop → Personalize → Background

• Choose Picture

• Click Browse Photos

• Select any video file (MP4, MKV, AVI, WMV, MOV, M4V)

And that’s it — your chosen video will play as your desktop background!

Performance Comparison

• Official Method (Windows 11 Beta): Uses fewer resources and runs smoothly, even on virtual machines.

• Third-Party Apps: Use external players increasing CPU usage and sometimes causing lag.

While third-party tools can offer interactive and web-based wallpapers, they often come at the cost of higher system load. The new official live wallpaper feature is perfect for simple looping videos that look great and keep your PC running efficiently.

Final Thoughts

This long-awaited feature feels like the return of Windows DreamScene from the Vista era — only better and more optimized. After skipping versions 7, 8, and 10, Microsoft is finally bringing it back in Windows 11.

If you enjoy personalization but care about performance, this upcoming update is definitely worth trying out once it becomes officially available.

I’ve also made a video on this topic — you can watch it below.

Check out my other posts, I post useful tutorials and tech tips, maybe you will find something useful 😉.