Wallpaper disappeared after update

Hello，20hourslateraprofilenameiscreated

Welcome to posting in the Microsoft Community.

I understand that after your update, the desktop wallpaper disappears and you are unable to set an image.

I understand your confused feelings, please rest assured that I will investigate this issue with you, please try the following steps.

Ⅰ. Adjusting system settings

Please go to “Control Panel > Easy to use Settings Center > Make your computer easier to see”, and then uncheck “Remove background image”.

Ⅱ. Uninstall the update

If the disappearing wallpaper issue is caused by a recent system update, uninstalling the update will restore the system to its pre-update state, thus solving the problem of setting anomalies or missing files caused by the update.

1. Using System Restore Points

• Type Control Panel in the bottom search bar, then select “Recovery > Open System Restore > Next”, select the restore point before the system update, and then select Next > Finish.

2. Restoring the environment through WinRE

• Click the Start button in the bottom left corner of the screen and select Settings.

• In the Settings window, click on “Update & Security” and in the left menu, select “Recovery”.

• In the Advanced Startup section, click the Restart Now button. This will restart your computer and take you to the advanced startup options.

• From the options that appear, select “Troubleshooting > Advanced Options > Uninstalling updates”.

Ⅲ. Repair Installation

Repair Installation reinstalls Windows system files without affecting your personal data and applications. This helps to repair system corruption or setup anomalies that may be caused by updates or other reasons, thus restoring wallpaper setup functionality or resolving related issues.

1. Select the Download Now tool - run the media creation tool - select Yes - select Accept - select Create installation media for another computer - select DVD ISO file - Save as local.

Download Windows 11 (microsoft.com)

2. Run the local WINDOWS. ISO file - right click - mount - select run setup.exe - select don't use it for now - select keep personal files and settings - select Next - wait for the installation of WINDOWS Repair to complete - restart the WINDOWS computer.

After you refer to the above steps, you can share some information in this thread and I will answer your questions further. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation!

Best Regards，

Rota|Microsoft Community Support Specialist

Yeah this is still a thing as of today and the newly released update. Happened to me for the 2nd time.

It happened to me for the 1st time when I initially updated from Win 10 to Win 11 around a week ago.

There are threads showing this has been going on for years... -_-

Wallpaper disappeared after update - Microsoft Community

My desktop picture will be there and then all of a sudden it just disappears. If I restart my computer it will come back. It has been doing this since Jan 2025. It happens at least once a day if not multiple times. Thinking back it started happening after an update also.

I've had the same problem for few months.

However, restart the explorer.exe from the taskmanger is enough to restore the wallpaper.

My desktop picture will be there and then all of a sudden it just disappears. If I restart my computer it will come back. It has been doing this since Jan 2025. It happens at least once a day if not multiple times. Thinking back it started happening after an update also.

wollpaper