Set Custom Picture As Start Screen Background In Windows 8

In addition to the Start screen, Lock screen, Explorer Ribbon, Refresh PC, Reset PC, and other features, Windows 8 also come with a number of personalization options. It lets you customize lock screen, Start screen, & desktop in a few clicks.

Options to personalize the Start screen and lock screen are located under PC settings. By navigating to PC settings, one can change the default background picture of Start screen and lock screen under PC settings. The only catch is that Windows 8 doesn’t allow you chose a your picture as Start screen background. One needs to either use a solid color or a picture from a set pictures available under PC settings.

Users who aren’t happy with the default set of Start screen background pictures will be glad to know about the availability of new utility which lets you set a custom picture as Start screen background.

ModernBack Changer is a free tool from the developer of MetroLink Apps tool (the tool that lets you create Metro apps shortcuts on desktop). ModernBack Changer enables you change the Start screen background in a jiffy and lets you set your picture as background.

While one can also use this utility to change UI color, ability to change the Start screen background with custom one is the core feature of this tool. Using this tool is fairly simple. Complete the given below instructions to change the Start screen background with your own shiny picture.

NOTE: We recommend you either create a custom Refresh PC image or create a system restore point before proceeding with this tool.

How to change Start screen background using ModernBack Changer:

Step 1: Visit the developer’s page (translated page), download the zip file, and then extract the zip file onto desktop or any other location.

Step 2: Run the tool, click Customize button to browse to the custom picture file that you wish to use as Start screen background, click Open button, click Ok, and finally click Patch button to Apply the new background. It supports pictures in .jpg, .jpeg, jpe, png, and gif formats.

You can always use the Restore button to revert to the original Start screen background. The current version (2.5) isn’t perfect and may not work. We will update this article once the developer updates the tool.

You might also like to know how to customize Windows 8 Explorer Ribbon UI, and pin web pages to the Start screen.