{"id":12806,"date":"2010-05-01T20:52:45","date_gmt":"2010-05-01T15:22:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/?p=12806"},"modified":"2026-10-13T13:38:19","modified_gmt":"2026-10-13T08:08:19","slug":"download-install-windows-7-themes-wallpapers-on-windows-vista","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/05\/download-install-windows-7-themes-wallpapers-on-windows-vista\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Download and Install Windows Themes and Wallpapers (11, 10, 7 and Vista)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Want fresh <strong>Windows themes and wallpapers<\/strong>? In 2010 I installed Microsoft&#8217;s new Windows 7 themes on my Windows Vista PC by renaming the .themepack file to .zip and extracting the wallpapers. Windows has moved on to Windows 11 and 10, and themes now come from the Microsoft Store, but that same .themepack trick still lets you grab the wallpapers on any computer. Here is how to download and install Windows themes and wallpapers in 2026, and how to use them on older Windows versions.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12814\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/install-windows7-theme.png\" alt=\"install a Windows theme and wallpapers\" width=\"378\" height=\"342\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/install-windows7-theme.png 378w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/install-windows7-theme-300x271.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 378px) 100vw, 378px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><strong>Quick answer:<\/strong> On Windows 11 or 10, open <strong>Settings &gt; Personalization &gt; Themes<\/strong> and click <strong>Browse themes<\/strong> to get free themes from the Microsoft Store. To use the wallpapers from a .themepack file on any PC, including older Windows versions, rename it to .zip (or open it with 7-Zip), extract the DesktopBackground folder and set the images as your background.<\/p>\n<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_89 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ad7877b580ba\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"ez-toc-cssicon\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #1a202c;color:#1a202c\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6ad7877b580ba\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/05\/download-install-windows-7-themes-wallpapers-on-windows-vista\/#How_to_install_Windows_themes_on_Windows_11_and_10\" >How to install Windows themes on Windows 11 and 10<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-2\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/05\/download-install-windows-7-themes-wallpapers-on-windows-vista\/#How_to_extract_wallpapers_from_a_themepack_file\" >How to extract wallpapers from a .themepack file<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-3\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/05\/download-install-windows-7-themes-wallpapers-on-windows-vista\/#Set_wallpapers_on_older_Windows_versions\" >Set wallpapers on older Windows versions<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-4\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/05\/download-install-windows-7-themes-wallpapers-on-windows-vista\/#More_ways_to_get_great_wallpapers\" >More ways to get great wallpapers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-5\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/05\/download-install-windows-7-themes-wallpapers-on-windows-vista\/#Tips_for_sharp_wallpapers\" >Tips for sharp wallpapers<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-6\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/05\/download-install-windows-7-themes-wallpapers-on-windows-vista\/#Create_your_own_Windows_theme\" >Create your own Windows theme<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-7\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/05\/download-install-windows-7-themes-wallpapers-on-windows-vista\/#FAQ\" >FAQ<\/a><ul class='ez-toc-list-level-3' ><li class='ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-8\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/05\/download-install-windows-7-themes-wallpapers-on-windows-vista\/#Are_Microsoft_Store_themes_free\" >Are Microsoft Store themes free?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-9\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/05\/download-install-windows-7-themes-wallpapers-on-windows-vista\/#Can_I_use_Windows_11_wallpapers_on_Windows_10\" >Can I use Windows 11 wallpapers on Windows 10?<\/a><\/li><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-3'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-10\" href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2010\/05\/download-install-windows-7-themes-wallpapers-on-windows-vista\/#Where_does_Windows_store_theme_wallpapers\" >Where does Windows store theme wallpapers?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_install_Windows_themes_on_Windows_11_and_10\"><\/span>How to install Windows themes on Windows 11 and 10<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ol>\n<li>Open <strong>Settings &gt; Personalization &gt; Themes<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Browse themes<\/strong> to open the Microsoft Store&#8217;s free themes collection.<\/li>\n<li>Click <strong>Get<\/strong> on a theme you like, then <strong>Open<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>Back in Settings, select the new theme to apply its wallpapers, colours and sounds.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p>Themes usually include a slideshow of several wallpapers. Change the timing in Personalization, Background, choosing Slideshow and a change interval.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"How_to_extract_wallpapers_from_a_themepack_file\"><\/span>How to extract wallpapers from a .themepack file<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>A .themepack (or .deskthemepack) file is just a compressed archive. This is the trick we used to get Windows 7 wallpapers on Windows Vista, and it still works for any theme file:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Make a copy of the .themepack file.<\/li>\n<li>Rename the copy from <strong>beaches.themepack<\/strong> to <strong>beaches.zip<\/strong>, or right-click it and open it with the free <a href=\"https:\/\/www.7-zip.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">7-Zip<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li>Extract the files. You will find a .theme file and a <strong>DesktopBackground<\/strong> folder full of wallpapers.<\/li>\n<li>Right-click any image and choose <strong>Set as desktop background<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12813\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/rename-themepack.png\" alt=\"rename themepack file to zip\" width=\"417\" height=\"129\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/rename-themepack.png 417w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/rename-themepack-300x92.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 417px) 100vw, 417px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Set_wallpapers_on_older_Windows_versions\"><\/span>Set wallpapers on older Windows versions<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>On Windows 7 or Vista, double-click the .theme file to apply it if your system supports it, or set individual wallpapers with right-click, Set as desktop background, and choose Fill or Fit in the background settings. Remember that Windows 7 and older no longer get security updates, so use them offline or upgrade if you can.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-12809\" src=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/wallpaper-style.png\" alt=\"set wallpaper style\" width=\"330\" height=\"81\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/wallpaper-style.png 330w, https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-content\/uploads\/wallpaper-style-300x73.png 300w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 330px) 100vw, 330px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"More_ways_to_get_great_wallpapers\"><\/span>More ways to get great wallpapers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Windows Spotlight:<\/strong> in Personalization, Background, choose Windows spotlight for a new photo every day.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Bing Wallpaper:<\/strong> Microsoft&#8217;s free <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bing.com\/apps\/wallpaper\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bing Wallpaper<\/a> app changes your desktop daily. See how to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2012\/11\/download-bing-homepage-wallpapers-daily\/\">download Bing homepage wallpapers<\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Free photo sites:<\/strong> Unsplash and Pexels offer high-resolution images free to use; read our guide to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/2021\/01\/change-desktop-background-daily-with-full-hd-wallpapers\/\">change your desktop background daily with full HD wallpapers<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Tips_for_sharp_wallpapers\"><\/span>Tips for sharp wallpapers<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Choose images at least as large as your screen resolution (check in Settings, System, Display).<\/li>\n<li>Use Fill for photos and Fit for images you do not want cropped.<\/li>\n<li>On multiple monitors, right-click a wallpaper in Personalization to pick which screen it goes on.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Create_your_own_Windows_theme\"><\/span>Create your own Windows theme<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p>You can also build a personal theme from your own photos. Put your favourite pictures in one folder, then in Personalization, Background choose Slideshow and pick that folder. Set an accent colour under Colors, choose light or dark mode, and pick a mouse cursor and sound scheme if you like. Finally go to Themes and click <strong>Save<\/strong> to keep the combination. Right-click the saved theme to <strong>Save for sharing<\/strong>, which creates your own .deskthemepack file you can copy to another PC or send to family.<\/p>\n<h2><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"FAQ\"><\/span>FAQ<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Are_Microsoft_Store_themes_free\"><\/span>Are Microsoft Store themes free?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Most themes in the Microsoft Store&#8217;s themes collection are free.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Can_I_use_Windows_11_wallpapers_on_Windows_10\"><\/span>Can I use Windows 11 wallpapers on Windows 10?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Yes. Wallpapers are normal image files; set them as your background on any version.<\/p>\n<h3><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Where_does_Windows_store_theme_wallpapers\"><\/span>Where does Windows store theme wallpapers?<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h3>\n<p>Installed theme images are kept in your user profile under AppData\\Local\\Microsoft\\Windows\\Themes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Want fresh Windows themes and wallpapers? In 2010 I installed Microsoft&#8217;s new Windows 7 themes on my Windows Vista PC&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":12814,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"default","_kad_post_title":"default","_kad_post_layout":"default","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"default","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"default","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[23],"tags":[49],"class_list":["post-12806","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-computers","tag-tutorials"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12806","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12806"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12806\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65334,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12806\/revisions\/65334"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12814"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12806"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12806"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.quickonlinetips.com\/archives\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12806"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}