The desktop backgrounds which come with Windows 10 are really lovely. Many users like these wallpapers much. I have been asked by readers where they are stored on the disk drive. If you are interested in finding them and want to use them somewhere else like in your dual boot operating system like Linux or Windows 7, here is how to find them.
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Traditionally, wallpapers in Windows were stored in the folder C:\Windows\Web\Wallpapers. To find Windows 10 Default Wallpapers, open File Explorer by pressing Win + E on the keyboard. Type or copy-paste the following path in its address bar:
C:\Windows\Web
There you will find 3 subfolders which contain all the default desktop backgrounds available in Windows 10.
The 4K folder contains different sizes of the default wallpaper known as the "Windows Hero" image. These images are used with different screen orientations on supported devices. It is also available in 4K resolution (3840 x 2160).
The Screen folder includes default images used for the Lock Screen background.
Note: When the Spotlight feature is enabled, Windows 10 downloads gorgeous Lock Screen wallpapers from the Internet automatically. The OS stores them at a different location. To learn more, please refer to the following article: Where to find Lockscreen Spotlight images in Windows 10?
The last folder, Wallpaper, contains the default Desktop backgrounds. They are arranged in three folders:
The Flowers folder stores images for the built-in "Flowers" theme.
The Windows folder comes with only one stock background image.
Windows 10 - this folder contains the default backgrounds visible in the Settings app out of the box.
If you are interested, you can download the entire collection of the Windows 10 default wallpapers here:
Download Windows 10 Default Wallpapers
You might be curious why the folder has the name "Web" in its path, when the images are not related to the web. That's because of the "Active Desktop" feature in early Windows versions. Windows 95 had no ability to use a *.JPG image as the Desktop background. Later, when Microsoft released Internet Explorer 4, it brought the feature called "Active Desktop". Its key feature was the ability to display your favorite web content right on the Desktop. It also extended Explorer with the ability to show folders as web pages. JPEG images could also be used as the Desktop background. So, starting with Windows 98, Windows keeps all images in the Windows\Web\Wallpapers subfolder.
Modern Windows versions have no support for Active Desktop or for the web view in File Explorer, however, the folder structure remains intact even today. Windows 10 has mostly the same folder structure for wallpapers and allows you to adjust the wallpaper image quality.
That's it.
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