SetBackground

Given how most of our daily tasks concerning both personal and work-related matters are carried out by leveraging the processing power of our computers, many users tend to customize their virtual space in a way that matches their personalities, tastes in art and overall preferences.

While Windows’ built-in settings for personalizing the desktop have come a long way in terms of accessibility and extra functions featuring support for custom themes that alter more than the background image, those who prefer the faster keyboard-based interaction pattern over the mouse cursor-optimized layouts can try out an incredibly lightweight utility known as SetBackground.

Once downloaded, users can simply open a terminal window inside the location of the app’s executable using the client of their choice and type in its title to reveal the available series of commands that can be executed to carry out its functions. This foregoes the need for a graphical interface, which would require extra time, effort and resources to be updated by the developer alongside its core structure and might even pose a steep learning curve for certain users not accustomed to its eventual layout in some cases.

In comparison with Windows’ built-in counterpart, the app lets you set any color belonging to the RGB spectrum as the wallpaper for all of your backgrounds by simply mentioning its relevant hex code, which may come in handy for those who want to make their desktop icons and their respective titles more readable for accessibility reasons. Those who want to have a fresh wallpaper each day can set the app to randomly select an image from the folder of your choice whenever you feel undecided about the next background theme.

Finally, users with multiple monitors have the chance to set custom pictures for each display — a feature that can be helpful when organizing your digital workspace in easily distinguishable categories, such as designating a screen for source materials, one for following the writing guidelines and another one for crafting the essay, for instance.

Whether you happen to have a keyboard-focused workflow and prefer to swiftly type a series of commands instead of searching them with your cursor to activate them, or you wish to have a different photo for each display belonging to your multi-monitor setup to brighten your virtual workspace, SetBackground may be a solid choice, given its lightweight and portable form factor.