3 Ways to Clear the Wallpaper History on Windows
When you change the wallpaper on your device, Windows stores a thumbnail of the recently used image in the “wallpaper history” section. Usually, this section contains around five images.
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How to View Your Wallpaper History on Windows
To view the five most recent pictures you’ve used as a background, simply follow these steps:
If there’s anything here you don’t want people to see, it’s time to clean out the wallpaper history.
1. How to Clear the Wallpaper History via the Registry Editor
The Registry Editor is a fantastic tool that allows you to configure some PC settings or troubleshoot system issues. But before you edit the Registry keys, always ensure toback up the Registryfirst. This will ensure that you have something to revert back to if something goes wrong.
Now, let’s explore how it’s possible to clear your wallpaper history using the Registry Editor:
You should see the following five background history paths on the right-hand side:
In this case,Path0represents the first image, whilePath4represents the fifth image in the “wallpaper history” section.
If you’d like to remove the first image from your wallpaper history, right-click on theBackgroundHistoryPath0option and selectDelete. From there, apply the same steps to delete the other images from the “wallpaper history” section.
Want to delete all the images simultaneously? Click on theBackgroundHistoryPath0option, pressShift, and then click onBackgroundHistoryPath4(this will highlight all the options). From there, press theDeletebutton.
Finally, close the Registry Editor and restart your PC to save these changes.
2. Clear Wallpaper History By Using a Registry File
Editing Registry keys can often be a quite tedious task. If you’re looking for an easy way out, thencreate a Registry file.
Wondering how this works? A Registry file allows you to edit Registry keys with just a few clicks. In fact, you won’t even have to open the Registry Editor.
Now, let’s explore how you may create a Registry file that helps you clear your wallpaper history:
Now, navigate to theFiletab and select theSave Asoption. Next, select the folder in which you’d like to save the file. From there, typeClearMyWallpaperHistory.regin theFile namesection
To use the Registry file, simply double-click on it. This should automatically clear your wallpaper history.
3. Overwrite the Previous Wallpaper History
Struggling to clear your wallpaper history? Overwriting the Windows wallpaper history could help. To do that, you’d have to use five new different pictures—one at a time—as your background.
In this case, this will only show your most recently used pictures. That way, you can indirectly “clear” any sensitive images from the wallpaper history and only display what you’re comfortable with.
Here’s how to overwrite your wallpaper history:
Repeat this process five times. From there, you should start seeing different images in the “wallpaper history” section.
Your Previous Wallpapers Are Nowhere to Be Found
Windows allows you to personalize your device to your liking. But then the system often keeps track of the changes you make on your PC. Fortunately, you can easily prevent others from seeing the changes you make on your device. For example, you can remove your wallpaper history using any of the methods we’ve covered.
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